Jury still out on ``unprecedented'' Hanoi amnesty
HANOI - Vietnam has freed the most
trenchant critics of the ruling Communist Party in a mass
amnesty, but analysts said on Thursday it was unclear if
this heralded a clear loosening of political controls.
They said it could be months before concrete signs
emerged that the government would permit greater civil
liberties, with all eyes focused on how the group of
released dissidents and Buddhist monks fared as free
men.
Of five top critics released quietly this week, four appear
to want to live in Vietnam. One has left for the United
States.
Setting free such hardened critics showed Hanoi had
been under intense pressure from Western governments
and human rights groups -- and was also keenly aware
that the incarcerations would impede better ties with the
U.S. and Europe, the analysts said.
Demelza Stubbings, Southeast Asia researcher at the
London-based rights group Amnesty International, said
the releases were ``unprecedented'' in Vietnam for key
critics who had been tried and convicted by the
country's courts.
``These people were the most well-known and basically
the most long-serving political and religious dissidents in
Vietnam. They are Vietnam's Wei Jingshengs,'' she said,
referring to the Chinese democracy campaigner exiled to
the U.S. late last year.
``The release of so many important people critical of the
government is very significant.
``But the test will come in the weeks and months to
follow as to whether this is an unconditional release or if
their freedom is conditional on them keeping silent,'' she
told Reuters.
So far Hanoi has only confirmed the release of dissidents
Doan Viet Hoat, a writer, and Nguyen Dan Que, a
doctor.
But several human rights groups and diplomats have said
prominent Buddhist monks and government critics Thich
Tri Sieu, Thich Tue Sy and Thich Quang Do have also
been freed.
One diplomat said how much freedom Que and the
monks have would be crucial. All four are believed to be
either in or heading for southern Ho Chi Minh City,
formerly Saigon. Hoat has left for the United States but
said he was forced to go.
Que and the monks have not been reachable for
comment.
The release of the five was part of an amnesty for 5,219
inmates to coincide with Vietnam's anniversary of
independence. Speculation persists that more dissidents
could be released although the government has given no
details.
The U.S. State Department, in a report on human rights
released in January, said reliable sources had put the
figure of political prisoners in Vietnam at around 200.
``The key is to move beyond the release of individuals
and get systemic human rights improvement. That is a
more difficult proposition,'' Sidney Jones, director of the
Asia Division of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said
by telephone from New York.
The Communist Party, one of the last ruling
Marxist-Leninist organisations left in the world, remains
unchallenged in this still poor country and denies that any
people have been jailed for their political or religious
beliefs.
It has also tolerated little political dissent, although
people have widespread economic freedoms following
reforms adopted in the late 1980s to stave off national
bankruptcy.
State media is firmly controlled and while newspapers
have reported the overall amnesty, they have barely
mentioned the critics, who are probably better known
aboard than at home.
In an interview with Reuters on August 28, Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam
defended Vietnam's human rights record and said Hanoi
had invited many people to visit the country to exchange
views on the issue.
The amnesty already appears to have borne fruit. On Wednesday the United States said the release of Hoat
and Que would improve ties between Washington and
Hanoi.
And there are important events ahead.
The United Nations special rapporteur on religious
intolerance is due to visit the largely Buddhist nation next
month, a visit diplomats say Hanoi wants to be a
success.
Then in December Vietnam hosts the summit of leaders
from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
Stubbings from Amnesty said a key test centred on laws
that allowed the imprisonment of the dissidents in the first
place.
``The most critical thing that would show a sea change
would be repealing laws that allow for the imprisonment
of people like this, people who advocate change
peacefully,'' she said.
By Dean Yates - REUTERS - September 03, 1998.
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