Vietnam's Talk/Fight Strategy in play on Human Rights Negotiations

By Michael Benge, The AmericanThinker

For decades, the Vietnamese communists' negotiating strategy has been "Talk/Fight" -- first in dealing with the French, then with the U.S. during the Vietnam War, and now in the current U.S.-Vietnam Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The "Talk/Fight" strategy is to engage their opponent in negotiations, stalling for time, all the while replenishing, repositioning, and resupplying their troops, as they gain ground and concessions. According to Ernest Bower, senior advisor on Southeast Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "[t]he American government admires Vietnam's strategic thinking."

The TPP includes nine other countries besides Vietnam and is touted as a new-generation, high-standard trade agreement of the 21st century. The finalization and implementation of this trade deal would give a huge boost to U.S.-Vietnam economic relations, granting Vietnam even greater access to its largest export market -- the U.S.

While the State Department continues to meander and vacillate in its negotiations regarding human rights abuses, communist henchmen have ratcheted up the repression in Vietnam. As a distraction, the Vietnamese communists are playing the need-to-contain-China card, while seeking lethal weapons from the U.S., supported by both of Vietnam's major advocates -- Senator John McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry.

American TPP negotiators are mouthing toothless concerns about Hanoi's ongoing gross human rights abuses, so one can assume that stipulations on the improving freedoms for the Vietnamese people will be incorporated into the agreement before it is approved. However, history shows that the Vietnamese communists have never lived up to any agreement with the U.S., so it is reasonable to expect the communist henchmen to go merrily on their way, continuing their repression, while thumbing their noses at the U.S.
The TPP is a done deal if one is to believe Scott Busby, the acting deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, who recently stated in Falls Church, VA, "The United States and Vietnam continue to improve economic and trade ties, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... free trade agreement."

Vietnam is a police state where one in six working people are employed either full- or part-time in the massive state security network.

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." (The more things change, the more they remain the same.)

Here are just a few human rights abuses committed recently by communist Vietnam:

September 3rd: It started out as a peaceful protest until Vietnamese police attacked hundreds of Catholics protesting in front of their church in My Yen Parish, Nghe An Province, using live ammunition and throwing grenades. Protesters were demanding the release of two parishioners arrested in June and held without charges. An unknown number of people were rushed to hospital with critical head, hand, stomach, and neck injuries after being beaten by police who tried to stop people from receiving treatment.

August 1st: After three years' imprisonment in Gia Lai province and suffering continual beatings, Protestant pastor Pyap Rolan died from starvation after being denied food and water. Pyap was being persecuted because he was a house church pastor and because his father Bre Puih had escaped and fled to the U.S.

August 1st: House church members Beu Siu and Pet Ksor from Plei Pong Village Gia Lai province were arrested by police. Pet was beaten and released, but Beu's fate is unknown.

August 19th: House church members Kla Rmah, Sop Rahlan, and H'Bleng Rmah (female) from Plei Sur village, Gia Lai province, were arrested by police and beaten, Sop so severely that he cannot walk. Kla remains in jail, while the other two were released. Reports about above came from relatives in North Carolina.

March 17th: Hmong Christian Church Leader Vam Ngaij Vaj of Cu Jut District, Dak Nong Province, was tortured with electrical batons and died of beatings while in police custody, according to sources.

April 12th: Hoang Van Ngai, an elder of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, also from Dak Nong Province, died of beatings, according to his brother, who was imprisoned in an adjacent cell. Additionally, "over 300 witnesses saw Ngai's body with bruises, deep cuts and broken skull."

According to its recent report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms (USCIRF) said that Vietnam, under one-party communist rule, is expanding control over all religious activities, severely restricts independent religious practice, and represses individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its authority. "The Vietnamese government uses a specialized religious police force and vague national security laws to suppress independent Buddhist, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai activities, and seeks to stop the growth of ethnic minority Protestantism and Catholicism via discrimination, violence and forced renunciations of their faith."

Internet freedom has gone from bad to worse in Vietnam as an online censorship law known as "Decree 72" went into effect this month, allowing people to post online only personal information. The new law punishes anyone who discusses current affairs or news sensitive to the life of the state. It bans bloggers and users of social media from quoting, gathering, or summarizing information from press organizations or government websites. In addition, internet providers are tasked with blocking stories that criticize Vietnam or that could endanger "national security." In 2013 alone, Hanoi has arrested more than 40 activists for these so-called "crimes against the state."

While the Obama administration vacillates, the European Parliament recently strongly condemned the violations of human rights and of freedom of expression, religion, and assembly in Vietnam, including the political intimidation, harassment, assaults, arbitrary arrests, heavy prison sentences, and unfair trials brought against political activists, journalists, bloggers, dissidents, and human rights defenders. The condemnation included the "severe religious persecution" against Catholics as well as "non-recognized" religions such as the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the Protestant churches.

Ironically, Vietnam is bidding for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for 2014-2016.

White House Visit

As all eyes and ears are turned to President Obama and Syria, nearly everyone has forgotten Obama's White House meeting in July with Vietnam's President Truong Tan Sang, and the ridiculous utterings of both men. Sang peddled the lie that the communist nation's founder, Ho Chi Minh, was a nationalist inspired by the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson. Sang and the other communist Vietnamese leaders adhere to Joseph Goebbels' "Big Lie" postulate -- people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one, and if you repeat it often enough, people will eventually believe.

Not to be outdone by his communist counterpart, President Obama agreed that the hardcore communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh was inspired by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, as well as the words of Jefferson and our founding fathers. He went on to say that both countries share a mutual admiration for Thomas Jefferson and our founding principles.

Au contraire, mon président. The Vietnamese regime's creator was not Jefferson's God, but Ho Chi Minh himself, an unscrupulous Comintern agent paid by Moscow whose loyalty was only to the World Communist Movement. And our founding principles did not include the murder of tens of thousands our people, as did theirs. Rather than "all men are created equal," Sang's regime is closer to George Orwell's satirical allegory of communism in "Animal Farm," where some animals are much more equal than others.
Michael Benge spent 11 years in Vietnam as a Foreign Service officer and is a student of South East Asian politics. He is very active in advocating for human rights, religious freedom, and democracy for the peoples of the region and has written extensively on these subjects.
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Cambodian Tweets Lead the News

By Luke Hunt, September 18, 2013, The Diplomat

Following the protests in Cambodia from abroad this week was astonishing. On Twitter, Facebook and email, the coverage had immediacy, clarity and a ubiquitous presence that even live television could not compete with, even when seen from Kabul.

From the outset, when protesters began arriving at Freedom Park, the scuffles, tear gas and water cannon – and sadly the death of Mao Sok Chan during a confrontation after the rally had ended – the coverage was slick and on par with great coverage by any wire service in its heyday.

Unfortunately, however, social media geeks who believe the role of iReporter or citizen journalism is a fundamental cornerstone of digital media have gotten it wrong.

What emerged was hundreds of protesters armed with smart phones throwing live accounts onto the Internet where they were disseminated fast by foreign journalists from local and international publications who were not working in unison. Far from it, they were competing for the best line.

Important information about roadblocks, crowd movements, speeches, violence and confrontation were tweeted in one-liners, details and photos were Facebooked, and personal evidence observed that day was emailed privately in a telling and professional manner.

Largely absent were the shrill and sometimes hysterical voices of activists turned civilian reporters or the hardline partisan politicians who like to hear and swamp the Internet with their own pontifications. They were simply sidelined by genuine journalists covering the event.

In short, I didn’t need to see it on CNN or BBC.

But on a much wider front the professionalism that is emerging in the digital era of journalism is a serious challenge for Cambodian authorities whose failure to reconcile themselves with the realities of this generation warrant comparisons with those saintly women of old who disfigured themselves in order to protect their chastity.

In the run-up to the July 28 election, powerful factions within the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) wanted Facebook banned. The same could probably be said for the myriad of social media sites similar to Facebook, if the bureaucratic boffins could just figure out how they work.

There were at least two attempts to block social media websites, but in the end greed won out. Too many business interests with political connections that rely on Facebook and the Internet for income carried the day, much to the unintended delight of those at Sunday’s protest.

Had those responsible for security at the protests been tuned in to the very product many would have banned, they just may have realized that crowds were dispersing by early evening, although the roads were clogged and it was difficult getting home. That was the time to pull the police with loaded guns back to barracks. If they had done so, much of the violence and bloodshed in the evening might have been avoided.

Luke Hunt can be followed on Twitter at @lukeanthonyhunt.
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Stifled Southeast Asian Voices: NGOs Unite Against Criminalization of Free Expression on the Internet

11 September 2013 (FIDH)

As concerns grow in Southeast Asia over the use of national security, anti-terrorist and defamation laws to limit freedom of expression on the Internet, a coalition of international and local NGOs and activists from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia urged governments to stop using vague legislation based on ill-defined concepts such as “national security”, “sovereignty” or “lèse-majesté” to intimidate, harass and imprison independent voices. Speaking at an event in Geneva, which coincides with the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council, FIDH, IFEX, Article 19 and PEN International united to call for the urgent revision of these laws to bring them into line with international human rights standards.

Independent and dissenting voices, including bloggers and netizens, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, have increasingly been subjected to repression in Southeast Asia.

In Vietnam, bloggers and journalists, such as Điếu Cày and Phan Thanh Hải, have been jailed for peacefully advocating for reform, denouncing power abuses and reporting on human rights. The recently adopted Decree 72 banned sharing news stories on social media and quoting news from press agencies. “Vietnam is pursuing the worst ever crack-down on pro-democracy activists and bloggers. At least 48 dissidents were convicted in 2013 alone”, said Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, who was sitting as a panelist today.

The Thai authorities have mostly been using the lèse-majesté law (Article 112 of the Criminal Code, which punishes any word or deed which “defames, insults or threatens the King [...]”) and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act to lock up journalists and critics. The most notorious case is that of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for authorizing the publication, as editor, of two articles that were considered insulting to the royal family. Ironically, Somyot was arrested just a few days after launching an online petition calling for a review of Article 112. “In its commitment to cooperate with the UN, Thailand needs to go beyond words, immediately release Somyot and protect the right to freedom of expression of all citizens”, said Somyot’s wife, Sukanya.

The Cambodian government has also taken steps towards seriously limiting the use of the Internet. In 2012, it started drafting a cyber law, whose official aims included preventing “ill-willed people” from “spreading false information”. This draft law has yet to be publicly circulated, and there are serious concerns that it will mirror the restrictive laws within the region. Websites and blogs critical of the government are routinely blocked by Internet service providers on the basis of “instructions” from the government. “I believe in the power of the Internet to spread information and opinions. The Internet should always be free and uncensored”, said Ramana Sorn, Program Coordinator at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and a panelist today.

“Authorities in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have been manipulating vague, malleable concepts to crack down on dissent and stifle independent voices online. They have done so in complete violation of international law”, said FIDH, IFEX, Article 19 and PEN International. “We call on them to immediately and unconditionally release all bloggers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders detained for peacefully expressing their opinion, and to stop harassment and intimidation of free voices. Everyone has a right to discuss―and challenge―government policies and matters of public interest”.

Background information:

Thailand, despite commitments made during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2011, has failed to improve its freedom of expression record during its term as Human Rights Council member, which it will complete on 31 December 2013. Vietnam is running as a candidate for membership in the Human Rights Council (2014-2016) and will be reviewed in the framework of the UPR in early 2014, at the same session in which Cambodia will be reviewed.
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Vietnam's social media censorship takes effect

CBC News Posted: Sep 1, 2013

A controversial internet law prohibiting Vietnamese citizens from posting any content online that harms national security or opposes the state took effect Sunday.

The new law, dubbed Decree 72, limits what Vietnamese citizens can post on their online personal pages, including Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Decree 72 does not elaborate on what constitutes a breach.

The law also demands all foreign websites maintain at least one server in Vietnam, which would give the government greater control of content.

Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders criticized the decree before it became law, calling it "the harshest offensive against freedom of information" in the country since its prime minister signed a tough round of sanctions against media in 2011.

The organization urged nations to impose heavy sanctions against Vietnam if the country allowed the decree to become law.

Vietnam has been criticized by the United States and leading internet firms like Google and Yahoo! over the controversial internet decree, which it said had been misunderstood and did not breach human rights.

Reporters Without Borders has previously labelled Vietnam an enemy of the internet and ranks the nation 172 out of 179 in its press freedom index. Vietnam jails the second most bloggers and cyber-dissidents, according to the organization — with 35 people currently imprisoned.
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