Vietnam moves to counter 'cyber-dissidents' on the Web
HANOI - One of Vietnam's best-known dissidents was
arrested last week for trying to post documents on the Internet, in a
sign of the regime's growing fear of losing control of the Web.
Pro-democracy activist Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a thorn in Hanoi's side
for the past three decades who was released from nearly 20 years'
jail in 1998, was arrested at his home in southern Ho Chi Minh City
on March 17. On Thursday, the foreign affairs ministry confirmed
that the veteran campaigner would be prosecuted.
"Que was caught at an Internet cafe handing over documents
criticising the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to a US-based
organisation called 'High Tide humanist movement'," the official
Vietnam News (VNA) agency reported.
"He has been prosecuted by the Municipal police department
investigation office and his case will be brought to court," VNA said,
adding that police had discovered incriminating documents at the
home of the "agitator."
The endocrinologist's history of political activism goes back to the
first years of reunified Vietnam. According to several sources, Que,
a co-founder of the Cho Ray hospital in the former Saigon, was
detained without trial in 1978 after criticising the country's political
system.
After he was freed, he founded the High Tide humanist movement
before being sentenced to 20 years' jail in 1991 for "activities aimed
at overthrowing the government of the people."
According to the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights,
he was released in 1998 on condition that he went into exile in the
United States. But he refused to leave.
"This type of person is closely watched. If he does not do anything,
ok. But if he leaves his home, meets people or acts suspiciously, he
is arrested," a foreign diplomat told AFP.
Que is one of a long list of activists who have been silenced by the
regime in recent months.
Tran Dung Tien, a former guardsman from Ho Chi Minh, was
detained on January 22. He had called for the release of former
colonel Pham Que Duong and military historian Tran Khue,
democracy advocates who were jailed at the end of December.
Former North Vietnam army officer Nguyen Khac Toan, 47, was
also sentenced to 12 years' jail at the end of 2002 after being
arrested in an Internet cafe. And "cyber-dissident" Le Chi Quang
was given four years on November 8 in similar circumstances.
"By arresting Dr Nguyen Dan Que, the government continues to
show that it will not tolerate people peacefully exercising the most
basic of rights enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution and in
international law," said rights group Amnesty International.
About a million Vietnamese have regular access to the Internet,
according to estimates by foreign agencies, but many sites are
blocked.
The government has given out mixed messages about the Web.
On October 10, the ministry of information and culture ordered all
Vietnamese sites to submit their content to the authorities before
going on-line. But shortly afterwards, the post and telecoms ministry
announced that 2003 would be the year of e-business.
Many diplomats believe that Vietnam's progression to high Internet
penetration is inevitable given time. Many also feel the regime's
attempts to control the Web are illusory.
"Any vaguely competent student can jump over the firewalls and
access the sites he wants. The authorities know it," an expert said.
But if Hanoi cannot stop everyone from accessing politically
incorrect sites, it is keen to keep a close eye on those who do - and
punish those suspected of 'endangering national unity'.
By Didier Lauras - Agence France Presse - March 23, 2003.
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