Vietnam vows action against pro-democracy activists

HANOI: Communist Vietnam, under pressure over its human rights record, stressed through its state-controlled media on Thursday that it would take action against dissidents who challenge the one-party state.

The deputy security minister said Vietnam would defend its political system against pro-democracy activists, several of whom have recently been detained, according to a lengthy English-language online newspaper report.

"The Vietnamese constitution states that Vietnam has a one-party political system," Deputy Public Security Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Huong was quoted as saying in the Thanh Nien daily.

"It's illegal if some people want to establish another party, not to mention secretly inciting other people to join their organisation and aim to overthrow the existing government," he was quoted as telling a US diplomat this month.

According to the report on the meeting, Huong said Vietnam was right to prosecute activists such as Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly and members of the pro-democracy 'Bloc 8406,' named after its April 8 launch last year.

"Vietnam will continue to take action against people who incite others to act against the Vietnamese state," he said, adding that these included Hanoi lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, detained early last month.

The three have been accused of breaching article 88 of the criminal code, which bans 'defaming' the government and carries a maximum 20-year jail term.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week raised human rights questions with Vietnam's visiting Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem following protests from US Congress members and Swedish parliamentarians, among others.

Foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said on Thursday both sides had different views on human rights due to their different political systems and levels of economic and cultural development, but he said the dialogue would continue.

New York-based Human Rights Watch two weeks ago accused Vietnam of launching "one of the worst crackdowns on peaceful dissidents in 20 years."

Vietnam had been 'emboldened' to act against its opponents after achieving the long-sought goal of joining the World Trade Organization in January and hosting an Asia-Pacific summit last November, the US group said.

The online article of Thanh Nien, which like all Vietnamese media operates under state control, represented an unusually detailed and open rebuttal from the Vietnamese government to its critics.

The article said Huong stressed the desire for good US ties but also said "the US side has interfered too deeply with Vietnam's internal affairs."

The deputy minister had asked the US diplomat to elaborate on "why the US was interested in some criminals imprisoned in Vietnam."

Huong said that Father Ly, who is expected to face trial soon in the central city of Hue, had contacted US-based Vietnamese dissidents to found the Bloc 8406 and other anti-government groups.

"Ly always claims he is a priest, which makes it easy for people to mistakenly think we are suppressing religions," he said, charging instead that "he is a conspirator planning violent activities to cause public disorder."

Sending a conciliatory signal, Huong also said prominent dissident journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, jailed since 2003, may be considered for amnesty, reiterating a comment made previously by the foreign minister.

Former enemies the United States and Vietnam have done much to restore ties since their war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.

"A blossoming era of bilateral relations will surely come," Huong reportedly said, "and these 'people of interest to the US' cannot undermine it and are not worthy of consideration by the leaders of the two countries."