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Country Advice Country Advice Vietnam Vietnam – VNM39109 – Viet Tan – Vietnam Progression Party – Pro- Democracy Advocates – Father Thadus Nguyen Van Ly – Bloggers – Treatment by Authorities – Attempts to Establish a Farmers‟ Union in 2005 – Attitude of Authorities Towards Vietnamese who Travel Overseas 22 August 2011 1. Please provide information on the Viet Tan, including its history, structure, policies and leadership. The Viet Tan1 is a political organisation which advocates nonviolence and democracy. However, the group has its historical roots in armed resistance. Academic Carlyle Thayer states that both the Viet Tan and the Vietnamese government agree that a former Navy Admiral, Hoang Co Minh, founded the National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (NUFLV) in April 1980. He later founded the Viet Tan in September 1982. The aim of both organisations was to overthrow the government, using violent means. However, in September 2004, the NUFLV disbanded and the Viet Tan began conducting its activities openly, with its leaders releasing a new platform which stressed democracy and nonviolence.2 Between 2004 and 2007, the Viet Tan reportedly lobbied international donors and leaders, engaged in public demonstrations and set up a range of businesses and programs to fund their activities. In 2007 a wave of reporting in state-run media dubbed the Viet Tan a “terrorist organisation”. Thayer argued that the state‟s strong response to organisations such as the Viet Tan during 2006-07 indicated that civil society groups were growing and becoming increasingly networked.3 The modern Viet Tan is based in the United States.4 Whilst the Viet Tan has both exile-based and in-country membership, the movement is mainly managed from outside Vietnam.5 The 1 Also known as: „Vietnam Canh Tan Cach Mang Dang‟; see „Vietnam – Daring to Speak Out‟ 2003, Foreign Correspondent, 28 October http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s977284.htm – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 1 2 Thayer, C. 2009, „Vietnam and the Challenge of Political Civil Society‟, Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, Vol. 31, No. 1, p. 17-18 http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/contemporary_southeast_asia_a_journal_of_international_and_strategic_affairs/v031/31 .1.thayer.pdf – Accessed 17 August 2011 –Attachment 2 3 Thayer, C. 2009, „Vietnam and the Challenge of Political Civil Society‟, Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, Vol. 31, No. 1, p. 17-18 http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/contemporary_southeast_asia_a_journal_of_international_and_strategic_affairs/v031/31 .1.thayer.pdf – Accessed 17 August 2011 –Attachment 2 4 „Australian arrested over Vietnam protest: opposition group‟ 2010, ABC News, 12 October http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-12/australian-arrested-over-vietnam-protest/2293714 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 3 Page 1 of 18 Viet Tan website states that the organisation works with both Vietnamese and diaspora-based pro-democracy groups.6 In 2008, the Asia Times reported that the Viet Tan claimed that it did not receive Western government funding, however it did appear to have good political connections as its chairman was called to a meeting with then President George W Bush in 2008.7 Formally, the Viet Tan states that it is directed by a Central Committee which is led by a chairman and general secretary. The party is then organised by local chapters.8 In January 2008, the Asia Times reported that, whilst the Viet Tan declined to reveal its membership figures, it claimed to be Vietnam‟s largest political organisation outside of the ruling communist party. 9 In 2003, a Viet Tan spokesperson stated that there were “thousands of members across the country and offshore”, and Viet Tan supporters from within government. The spokesperson further stated that these members were organised into grassroots cells, which collected information on arrests and party corruption, and mobilised youth.10 Some commentators have suggested that by the time the Viet Tan publicly committed to nonviolence, the first generation of Viet Tan members were being replaced by Western- educated professionals.11 Viet Tan‟s website states that it welcomes new members, and that it communicates via a mailing list and social media.12 As of 2009, Viet Tan also reportedly had a radio station called New Horizon Radio, which broadcast into Vietnam, in Vietnamese language. 13 According to its website, the Viet Tan still seeks democratic change in Vietnam through nonviolent means.14 In addition to this overarching goal, the website lists three public campaigns organised by the Viet Tan: a campaign for internet freedom; a campaign critical of bauxite mining in the Central Highlands; and a freedom for prisoners of conscience campaign.15 These three issues are mentioned, passim, in this country advice as issues sensitive to the Vietnamese government. 2. Please provide similar information in relation to the Vietnam Progression Party. 5 Crispin, S. 2008, „Democratic pebble in Vietnam‟s shoe‟, Asia Times, 18 January – Attachment 4 6 „Why Viet Tan‟ (undated), Viet Tan website http://viettan.org/spip.php?article9226 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 5 7 Crispin, S. 2008, „Democratic pebble in Vietnam‟s shoe‟, Asia Times, 18 January –Attachment 4 8 „Who We Are‟ (undated), Viet Tan website, http://viettan.org/spip.php?article9230 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 6 9 Crispin, S. 2008, „Democratic pebble in Vietnam‟s shoe‟, Asia Times, 18 January –Attachment 4 10 „Vietnam – Daring to Speak Out‟ 2003, Foreign Correspondent, 28 October http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s977284.htm – Accessed 11 August 2011 –Attachment 1 11 Crispin, S. 2008, „Democratic pebble in Vietnam‟s shoe‟, Asia Times, 18 January –Attachment 4 12 „How to Get Involved‟ (undated), Viet Tan website http://viettan.org/spip.php?article9229 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 7 13 Thayer, C. 2009, „Vietnam and the Challenge of Political Civil Society‟, Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, Vol. 31, No. 1, p. 17-18, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/contemporary_southeast_asia_a_journal_of_international_and_strategic_affairs/v031/31 .1.thayer.pdf – Accessed 17 August 2011 –Attachment 2 14 „Why Viet Tan‟ (undated), Viet Tan website http://viettan.org/spip.php?article9226 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 5 15 „Current Campaigns‟ (undated), Viet Tan website, http://viettan.org/spip.php?article9228 – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 8 Page 2 of 18 More limited information was located regarding the Vietnam Progression Party (VPP), or “Dang Thang Tien Vietnam”.16 The VPP was founded on 6 September, 2006. According to one academic, Father Nguyen Van Ly, whose activities are discussed in the responses to Questions 3 and 4, was an adviser to the fledgling party. Of the four other founding leaders, the most high profile was lawyer Le Thi Cong Nhan, who was a signatory to the Bloc 8406 manifesto as described in the response to Question 3. Nhan had been hired by the British Embassy in relation to a drug smuggling case. The leadership of the VPP represents links to both Bloc 8406 pro-democracy movement and the city of Hue.17 According to academic Carlyle Thayer, two days after its official founding, the VPP issued an interim platform, which called for multi-party democracy, general elections, freedom of religion and protection of private property. 18 Another source also states that the party‟s primary goal was “restoring freedom of religion, speech, and association” in order to support a society which values human rights.19 The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has added that the VPP sought ties with foreign democracy activists.20 Thayer wrote that the VPP represented “a younger generation of political dissidents who rejected Ho Chi Minh‟s legacy”.21 With regards to organisational structure, one source merely describes the VPP as “small”.22 Another paper by Thayer argues that describing groups such as the VPP as political parties is problematic, given their lack of a large and geographically dispersed membership base.23 BBC News reported that support for the party, even after the merger, was limited to “a core of democracy activists” in Vietnam‟s major cities.24 In 2007, the VPP merged with another party 16„Father Ly‟s Biography‟ 2007, **FREE** Father Nguyễn Văn Lý website, 1 March http://fathernguyenvanly.blogspot.com/2007/03/father-lys-biography.html – Accessed 11 August 2011 – Attachment 9 17Thayer, C. A. 2008, „One-Party Rule and the Challenge of Political Civil Society in Vietnam‟, Viet Tan website, 3 December, p. 14-15 http://www.viettan.org/IMG/pdf/Civil_Society_in_Vietnam_-_Carlyle_Thayer.pdf – Accessed 1 April 2011 – Attachment 10 18 Thayer, C. A. 2008, „One-Party Rule and the Challenge of Political Civil Society in Vietnam‟, Viet Tan website, 3 December, p. 14-15 http://www.viettan.org/IMG/pdf/Civil_Society_in_Vietnam_-_Carlyle_Thayer.pdf – Accessed 1 April 2011 – Attachment 10 19 US Commission on International Religious Freedom 2008, Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, May, p.47 – Attachment 11 20 United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 2009, „Opinion No. 14/2010 (Socialist Republic of Vietnam)‟, Amnesty International Volunteers USA website, 29 May http://www.amnesty- volunteer.org/usa/group19/Working-Group-Opinion-3-September-2010.pdf – Accessed 17 August 2011 – Attachment 12 21Thayer, C. A. 2008, „One-Party Rule and the Challenge of Political Civil Society in Vietnam‟, Viet Tan website, 3 December, p. 14-15 http://www.viettan.org/IMG/pdf/Civil_Society_in_Vietnam_-_Carlyle_Thayer.pdf – Accessed 1 April 2011 – Attachment 10 22 Grinter, L. E. 2007, „Vietnam‟s Security Challenges: Dilemmas of Reform Communism‟, Southeast Review of Asian Studies, Vol. 29, p. 92 http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2007/06_Grinter_2007.pdf – Accessed 17 August 2011 – Attachment 13 23Thayer, C. A. 2009, „Challenges to the Legitimacy of Vietnam‟s One Party State‟, Paper presented to the international workshop on ‘The Search for Legitimacy: Managing the Consequences of Asian Development,’ Singapore, July, p.
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