Vietnam blocks relatives' access to U.S. envoy

By Grant McCool
Wed Apr 25, 7:33 AM ET


For the second time this month, police prevented relatives of Vietnamese political activists from meeting the U.S. Ambassador, the envoy said on Wednesday.

Ambassador Michael Marine, who has called on the communist government to free people arrested in a "crackdown on dissidents" this year, told reporters only one out of five invited made it to his Hanoi residence on Monday.

"The others were prevented from coming either by being called in to the police station or police outside their homes preventing them from coming," Marine said.

One of those was hit and injured by a car believed to be driven by a plainclothes police officer, other diplomats and a U.S.-based group that supports the activists said.

They identified her as Vu Thuy Ha, wife of cyber-dissident Pham Hong Son, who was freed from prison last year after his cause was championed by the United States and the European Union.

Three weeks ago Marine said police manhandled the wives of activists who he had invited to have tea at his residence.

Hanoi rejects accusations of a crackdown, which rights groups say was initiated after the government won entry to the World Trade Organization and hosted an Asia-Pacific summit in November.

Amnesty International said it has recorded more than 20 arrests since November, the latest on April 21 of writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy.

The 47-year-old was described by state-run media as "a hostile female element" charged under article 88 of the criminal code with "spreading propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."

Last month, a court jailed a long-time dissident Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly for 8 years under the same statute.

Two lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, were arrested on March 6 and face similar charges at their trial, which is scheduled for May 11 in Hanoi People's Court.

Marine said the arrests were discussed in talks between U.S. and Vietnamese officials in Washington on Tuesday, part of a regular "human rights dialogue" between the former enemies, whose strong ties are founded mostly on trade.

He described the talks as frank and constructive.

Monday, April 30 is the 32nd anniversary of the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam when Washington backed a South Vietnam government against the communist North. Diplomatic ties were restored in 1995.

"We have made clear to Vietnamese officials that the government's crackdown on individuals whose sole crime is peaceful expression of their political views works against U.S.-Vietnamese efforts to strengthen the relationship," Marine said at a briefing in the U.S. Embassy.

He said he expected a visit to the United States this year by Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet to go ahead as planned.