Vietnam steps up 'chilling' crackdown on dissent ahead of
key Communist Party congress
By James
Pearson - Reuters
2021-01-18
* 170
political prisoners in Vietnam, most since 1996 - Amnesty
* Crackdown
has intensified; longer, harsher jail terms - data
* Vietnamese
military runs anti-dissident cyber unit Force 47
* ‘Chilling
effect’ - U.N. human rights office
* Comes amid
growing muscle for Vietnam in global trade
HANOI, Jan
19 (Reuters) - As Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party gears up for its most
important meeting in years, its leadership has presided over an intensified
crackdown on dissent, according to rights groups, activists and data collated by
Reuters.
A record
number of political prisoners, longer jail terms, and increased harassment of
activists in recent years have contributed to the crackdown ahead of this week’s
Communist Party congress, a gathering to determine national leadership and
policy that takes place once every five years.
The
crackdown has left some international human rights groups and lawmakers
questioning whether Vietnam has breached the spirit of trade agreements with
Western countries - accords that have helped propel the country to a position of
economic strength in Southeast Asia.
“I have been
summoned by the police several times since December 9, 2020,” said Nguyen Quang
A, a veteran activist in Hanoi, declining to detail the circumstances saying he
was subject to an ongoing investigation. He told Reuters Vietnam’s security
ministry had in recent weeks rounded up other government critics without saying
why, citing his contacts with activists.
“They (the
police) summon them and find reasons to convict them under those very fuzzy
articles of criminal law. It completely violates the law but they use it very
regularly,” said Quang A. “I’ve told them they can’t shut me up.”
Vietnam’s
foreign ministry, which handles inquiries from foreign media, did not respond to
Reuters’ request for comment on activist detentions.
‘ANTI-STATE’
Despite
reforms and increasing openness to social change, the Communist Party of
Vietnam, led by 76-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, tolerates little criticism and
controls domestic media tightly.
Vietnam drew
international condemnation this month when it sentenced three freelance
journalists known for criticism of government to between 11 and 15 years in
prison, finding them guilty of spreading anti-state propaganda.
The
country’s constitution says it protects “freedom of opinion and speech, freedom
of the press, access to information, to assemble, form associations and hold
demonstrations”.
In reality,
public criticism of the Party is not tolerated, and groups which promote
democratisation are targeted by the authorities in a battle playing out online
on platforms like Facebook, Vietnam’s premier platform for both e-commerce and
dissent.
A Reuters
tally based on state media reports found 280 people were arrested for
“anti-state” activities over the five years since the last Party congress: 260
were convicted, many being sentenced to more than 10 years in jail. In the five
years leading up to the 2016 congress, there were 68 arrests and 58 convictions.
‘FORCE 47’
Last year,
Amnesty International said it had recorded the most “prisoners of conscience” in
Vietnam since it began publishing figures in 1996 - 170, close to double the 97
recorded in 2018. Of the 170, some 70 were detained for online activism, Amnesty
said.
In late
2017, Vietnam unveiled a 10,000-strong military cyber unit, Force 47, to counter
what it said were “wrong” views on the internet. According to rights groups, the
unit also recruits volunteers online to target dissidents and activists.
Reuters
reviewed dozens of posts across multiple Facebook groups and pages from December
and January that claimed links with Force 47. Many attacked prominent activists,
including Nguyen Quang A, accused by one group of creating anti-state
propaganda.
Some group
moderators were dressed in military uniform in their profile photos while others
ran pages for official local branches of Communist Party organisations.
Last
November, Vietnam threatened to shut Facebook down if it didn’t toughen rules on
local political content on the platform.
Facebook’s
local servers had been taken offline by the government earlier last year until
it agreed to significantly increase policing of “anti-state” posts by local
users, a request with which Facebook previously said it complied.
A Facebook
spokesman said the company faced “additional pressure” from Vietnam to restrict
content last year.
‘DRIVER’S SEAT’
For some,
the crackdown has a connection with fluctuations in global trade ties with
Vietnam.
“During the
(former U.S. President Barack) Obama administration, pressure on rights
connected with TPP (trade) negotiations helped the cause of human rights
activists and political dissidents,” said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director
at Human Rights Watch.
“The early
visit of Prime Minister (Nguyen Xuan) Phuc in 2017 to the Trump White House saw
human rights completely dropped from the agenda,” he said.
Robertson
said trade tensions with China have also left Vietnam “in the driver’s seat” as
U.S. and European Union companies look for alternative supply chains, helping
the Vietnamese economy thrive.
“The EU had
an important opportunity to make real changes through the EU-Vietnam Free Trade
Agreement,” said Robertson, referring to a pact that has been a boon for
Vietnam. Instead, he said, the EU “fell short, settling for vague promises ...
instead of substantive changes.”
EU officials
didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
After the
jailing of the three journalists earlier this month, the U.N. human rights
office said, “Coming just weeks ahead (of the Party congress), the convictions
and long sentences are not only a blatant suppression of independent journalism
but also a clear attempt to create a chilling effect among those willing to
criticise the government.”
The United
States described the sentences as the “latest in a troubling and accelerating
trend of arrests and convictions of Vietnamese citizens exercising rights
enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution”. (Reporting by James Pearson; Additional
reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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