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------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Wed, 27 May 1998 21:18:54 -0400 (EDT)
From:          Ken Mcguffin <asocmaya@interlog.com>
Reply-to:      Ken Mcguffin <asocmaya@interlog.com>
To:            caj-list@eagle.ca
Subject:       Call for freedom of expression in Vietnam (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 19:24:14 -0400
From: Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists <ccpj@ccpj.ca>
To: IFEX Clearing House <canpress@lists.ccpj.ca>
Subject: Call for freedom of expression in Vietnam

NEWS RELEASE
27 MAY 1998

AN APPEAL TO SUPPORT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN VIETNAM

In light of continuing violations against freedom of expression in Vietnam, we,
the Free Vietnam Alliance, PEN Canada and the Canadian Committee to Protect
Journalists, join together to call for solidarity for those imprisoned in
Vietnam for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

We support the World Association of Newspapers' (WAN) decision to award its 1998
Golden Pen of Freedom to a Vietnamese, Professor Doan Viet Hoat, who has been
incarcerated in Vietnam merely for exercising his right to think and speak
freely.

On 1 June, WAN will present the Golden Pen at its 51st annual World
Newspaper Congress in Kobe, Japan. This conference, and other activities of WAN,
contribute significantly to the struggle to protect the freedom of the press and
expression which is violated in many nations, including Vietnam. We join WAN in
calling for supporters to send letters appealing to the Vietnamese authorities
for the release of Professor Doan and the many others imprisoned or persecuted
in Vietnam for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Professor Doan Viet Hoat's case is but one of many similar instances of
oppression and persecution of those who dare to express views contrary to
those of the Vietnamese government. What worries us is that the oppression
and persecution continues in Vietnam, challenging the conscience of
humanity:

1. On 6 September 1996, Tran Hoang, Minister of Information and Culture
announced the resolution of the Eighth Plenum to force journalists to study and
be trained in the policies of the Vietnamese Communist Party. This is meant to
control the thoughts and actions of Vietnamese journalists.

2. All media are required to have a "socialist orientation," praising the
party and communist leaders. Three prominent magazines, "Hanoi Moi" ("New
Hanoi"), "Tien Phong" ("Vanguard") and "Thuong Mai-Phap Luat" ("Commerce and
Law") were raided by police under the pretext that state secrets had been
revealed.

3. Article 22 of the Newspaper and Publishing Law strictly prohibits any
publication which:
a. "goes against the socialist state, and sabotages the solidarity of the
people;"
b. "advocates violence, war or international discord;"
c. "distorts history, negates the revolutionary accomplishments of the
Communist Party, denigrates national heroes, or slanders national
organizations;"
d. "reveals state secrets."

4. On 25 August 1997, Huu Tho, Chief of the department of Culture and
Ideology said in the Party Conference that "...all publications and
publishers need Party leadership and must operate within the law." According to
Huu Tho, newspapers must be "the voice of the Party, the State, the social
organizations, and a forum for the people."

5. On 15 September 1996, Vietnam launched a campaign called "Be alert to the
hostile activities of the overseas reactionaries."

6. In September 1996, a Reuters reporter was beaten up by police when he
photographed a rally held by small-business people outside the People's
Committee of Hanoi. He was later arrested and was interrogated in the
Ministry of Internal Affairs. All his pictures were confiscated.

7. On 23 October 1996, Vietnam expelled a United States reporter, the Hanoi
bureau chief for the "Far Eastern Economic Review".

8. On 1 December 1996, a new law limited the number of foreign journalists
allowed to be active in Vietnam, increased control over the press, and
required that any news report, press conference, or exhibition be approved
by the Ministry of Culture.

9. In October 1997, journalist Nguyen Hoang Linh, editor of "Doanh Nghiep"
magazine was arrested after writing an article exposing corruption
surrounding the purchase of several patrol boats for the Customs Service.

10. In December 1997, writer Pham Van Viem was kidnapped by Vietnamese
secret police in Bulgaria and returned to Hanoi after he had translated a
book named "The Fascist Regime" by Dr. Zheliu Zhelev, the first president of
post-communist Bulgaria. He has not been seen nor heard from since.

11. In March 1998, poet Bui Minh Quoc was harassed and isolated by the Hanoi
government after his anthology "Spontaneous Poetry from the Interrogation Room"
found its way into overseas and underground press. The authorities are forcing
his family into poverty and are subjecting them to extreme psychological stress
with constant surveillance and harassment of visitors.

12. In addition to Bui Minh Quoc, writers Ha Si Phu and Tieu Dao Bao Cu have
also been placed under strict surveillance. The Hanoi government has used Decree
31/CP allowing local police to strictly control all Vietnamese without charge to
isolate these three people, both materially and psychologically.

13. In May 1998, journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan, while en route to the funeral
of dissident Nguyen Van Tran, author of "Write to Mother and Assembly", was
followed and attacked by government agents. He was seriously injured as a
result. In May 1997, Nguyen Van Tran suffered a similar attack when he was
suspected of writing for the underground newspaper "Nguoi Saigon" ("The
Saigonese".)

Beside these outrages, the Hanoi government continues to isolate political
and religious prisoners, forbidding people from visiting or bringing
supplies. Recently, the relatives of professor Doan Viet Hoat went to Thanh Cam
prison near the Laotian border hoping to visit him, but the authorities
steadfastly refused to permit it under the pretext that the professor "has not
progressed in his education." Besides Doan Viet Hoat, the government of Vietnam
has applied the same measures to Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Reverend Thich Huyen Quang,
Reverend Thich Quang Do, and Reverend Thich Khong Tanh.

The repressive nature of the government of Vietnam is revealed as it tries
to slowly stifle all those who would dare to speak out against it. The Hanoi
government's monopolistic control of the media has caused considerable harm to
the nation because people and society cannot progress when free thought and
speech are restricted. Realizing this, many people have stood up to demand
freedom of the press and of speech. Among those are many distinguished former
Party members. They too have been oppressed, isolated and watched by the regime.

We, the Free Vietnam Alliance, PEN Canada, and the Canadian Committee to
Protect Journalists, believe that the struggle for the prisoners of
conscience and freedom of the press in Vietnam will soon be successful if
these oppressed voices are supported by the world community. We therefore
appeal to you, the journalists of the world, and other supporters of freedom of
expression, to follow your conscience in supporting your colleagues and the
people in Vietnam.

Please sign this statement and send your signature to the Free Vietnam
Alliance in Paris at :

B.P.203
75624 Paris Cedex 13 - France
Tel: (33) (1) 46 30 37 85
Fax: (33) (1) 46 30 34 97
E-mail : lmvntd@filnet.fr
Web: http://www.fva.org/

Please circulate this statement to like-minded friends and colleagues. A
full list of signatures will be compiled by 15 August 1998 and sent to the
authorities in Vietnam and to embassies around the world. The statement,
background material and a sample protest letter are available on the CCPJ
website at www.ccpj.ca. We also encourage you to send your own letters of
appeal to the authorities listed below.

Vietnam:
Honourable Phan Van Khai
Prime Minister of Vietnam
VP. Thu Tuong
Hoang Hoa Tham,
1 Bach Thao Street
Hanoi, Vietnam
Fax: +84 4 845 9205

President Tran Duc Luong
Office of the State
VP. Chinh Phu
1 Bach Thao, Hanoi
Vietnam
Fax: +84 4 823 3545

His Excellency  Le Kha Phieu
General Secretary, Communist Party of Vietnam
V.P Trung Uong Dang
Nguyen Canh Chan,
1 A Hunh Vuong
Hanoi, Vietnam
Fax: +84 4 845 9205

In Canada :
Vietnam Embassy
226 Maclaren St.
Ottawa, Ontario,
K2P 0L9, Canada
Tel: (613) 236-0772
Fax: (613) 236-2704

For further information, contact the CCPJ, 489 College Street, Suite 403,
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 Canada, tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879,
e-mail:
ccpj@ccpj.ca
Internet:
http://www.ccpj.ca




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          George Lessard, Media Activist
           Community Communication Arts,
         Training, Management & Mentoring
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