Ðằng Vân

When former US President Ronald Reagan labeled the now defunct Soviet Union the “Evil Empire”, despite the initial furor from certain socialist elements of the world community, he actually hit the nail on its head.

The so-called Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was not only an evil empire, but was the citadel par excellence of an even more extended communist evil alliance, including nations the like of Cuba, North Korea, Mainland China, and (unfortunately for Mr. Do and the entire Vietnamese people) the so-called Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Indeed this is the nation, possibly the only nation in the world, where the motto “independence, freedom and happiness” must be prominently displayed on all official documents of the regime. The reasoning of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), behind this bizarre mandatory requirement, appears to be that under their eternal monopoly of political power, the state of the nation must be so perfect that it should be impossible, thus untrue and unlawful, for the nation to be in any shape or form dependent on other nations, or any citizen to be other than deliriously free and happy.

In consequence, as individuals of sane disposition in a free world, we have no alternative but to conclude that CPV leaders are either demented or evil. Given the many novel tricks they are able to resort to in order to oppress political dissidents, to hang on to power, and to exploit the labor of their people, I would argue that they are more likely to be evil than demented. After all, Communist Vietnam is nothing but an exact, if miniature, mirror image of the evil Stalinist Soviet Union of old.

Let us go through the case of Mr. Do to argue our proposition out.

The relevant undeniable facts appear to be as follows:

He is a democracy activist
He is an American citizen of Vietnamese origin
His philosophy of action is non-violent
He is a member of the Central Committee of the People’s Democratic Party of Vietnam (PDP) whose aim is to achieve multi-party democracy for Vietnam through non-violent means
During his visit to Vietnam he met with other members of the PDP

The CPV arrested him and made the following fanciful allegations:

That the Vietnamese regime has received written information from an individual (Name withheld ) that he is a member of a group under (Name withheld)
That he acted pursuant to orders by (Name withheld) and with the aim of blowing up the quarters of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City

On the basis of the above allegations, and pursuant to an alleged cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese and US governments on Anti-terrorism measures, the Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Department wrote a letter to the US Consul General to request cooperation and more detailed information on Mr. Do.

Within days, the US Consul General issued statements to the effect that there is no evidence of any activities by Mr. Do linking him to any plans to blow up the US Consulate General. Of course Mr. Do himself denied the above allegations.

At the same time, the Vietnamese community across the world has voiced strong support for Mr. Do and has demanded his immediate and unconditional release. The US government, under pressure from its law makers, has made strong representations to the Communist regime in Vietnam, urging his immediate and unconditional release. A number of US Law-makers (Especially Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, who champions his cause) have urged the Congress to refuse PNTR status to Vietnam given its appalling track record on human rights.

The CPV can lie impudently to its own people. But it cannot do so to the US government. The CPV had no alternative but to release Mr. Do.

However, it is an evil regime. Thus one day before releasing him, the CPV, through its cronies in the state-owned press, published the following which included even more fanciful allegations:

“Statement by the Investigative Security Bureau-Department of Police:

The Activities of Do Thanh Cong which are in breach of national security

7:56, 20 September 2006

(Extract from –Name of Media Outlet omitted by me)

Official(s) of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City are of the opinion that: The fact that the Anti-Terrorist Bureau of the Police Department has uncovered and arrested Do Thanh Cong on suspected terrorist activities is well founded, and the present activities (aimed at) overthrowing the Vietnamese government by Do Thanh Cong are in breach of Vietnamese laws (emphasis mine).

On 14 August 2006 the Vietnamese Security Bureau has arrested Do Cong Thanh (aka Do Thanh Cong) an American citizen, entering Vietnam, on the basis of his activities which are breaching Vietnamese national security.

Through its investigations, Vietnamese security affirms that Do Thanh Cong was born in 1959, original place of residence at Ham Thuan district, Binh Thuan Province. He escaped in 1982, settled in America in 1984. He is an electronic engineer and lives at (address omitted by me), CA, USA.

Because he is a born political evil-doer, right at the date of his arrival to America, Do Thanh Cong has joined the terrorist organization of (Name omitted by me). In April 2003, following orders by (Name omitted by me), Do Thanh Cong established the so-called “Democracy club website” in the hope of uniting certain targets inside Vietnam and certain reactionary targets of the Vietnamese Diaspora in order to oppose the Vietnamese government.

Through documentation, evidence (resulting from) the investigation by security organs, Vietnam confirms that the duty of Do Thanh Cong in Vietnam this time is to carry out terrorist plans, among which is the plan aiming at the Quarters of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and avenge (the fact that) (Name omitted by me) was arrested by the (Name of nation omitted by me) authorities at the request of Vietnam.

The result of the investigations by the Vietnamese Security Bureau also discovers that in 2005 Do Thanh Cong made contacts with two targets Nguyen Hoang Long and Tran Hoang Le to issue a “declaration” establishing a reactionary organization with the aim of opposing and bringing down the present people’s government.

At the office of the Investigative Security Bureau, Department of Police, Do Thanh Cong has confessed to breaching Vietnamese laws, especially he did not hide the activities aiming at overthrowing the Vietnamese government.

Because Do Thanh Cong is an American citizen, the Anti-terrorist Bureau of the Vietnamese Police Department has worked with Mr. (Name omitted by me)- a regional security official of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and Mrs. (Name omitted by me) his assistant. During this working session, the Anti-terrorist Bureau has handed to Mr. (Name omitted by me) the complete documentation, evidence of the unlawful activities of Do Cong Thanh.

Mr.(Name omitted by me) has thanked the Vietnamese Anti-terrorist Bureau for having informed him fully on this matter, for actively proceeding with investigating the suspected terrorist activities of Do Cong Thanh. (Emphasis mine)

The fact that the Anti-terrorist Bureau has uncovered and arrested Do Cong Thanh on the basis of suspected terrorist activities is well founded, and the activities of Do Cong Thanh are in breach of Vietnamese laws relative to activities (aiming at) overthrowing the present Vietnamese government.

The security (bureau) of the US Consulate applauds the Anti-terrorist Bureau of the Vietnamese Police Department in its continued (effort) to gather evidence relative to the suspected terrorist (activities) of Do Cong Thanh. (Emphasis mine)

At present, Vietnamese security organs are investigating urgently, to uncover the activities of Do Cong Thanh which are in breach of Vietnamese laws, in order to proceed in accordance with Vietnamese laws and in accordance with international conventions- Investigative Security Bureau”

The fact that the above information (or similar versions) was published in several state-owned media outlets is not extraordinary, given the totalitarian nature of the regime. But unfortunately it included startling allegations involving:

Alleged “opinions” of officials of the US Consulate General that the suspected terrorist activities of Mr. Do are well founded
A US official Mr. (Name withheld) allegedly thanking the Vietnamese Anti-Terrorist Bureau for actively proceeding with investigating the terrorist activities of Mr. Do
And the security bureau of the US Consulate General allegedly applauding the Anti-terrorist Bureau of the Vietnamese Police Department in its continued effort to gather evidence relative to the suspected terrorist (activities) of Mr. Do.

The above allegations were published on 20 September 2006. Yet the very next day (21 September 2006), the regime released Mr. Do.

The circumstances could be viewed either as a contest between the US democratic government and the Vietnamese dictatorial regime, ultimately resulting in the defeat of the later and the release of Mr. Do from incarceration. But more to the point, this is a contest between good and evil, and in these circumstances, the forces of evil are defeated.

Indeed, by making the above allegations the CPV has made serious errors of judgment:

It assumes that by publishing these blatant lies in the Vietnamese language, in government-owned media outlets inside Vietnam, to a captured Vietnamese audience which comprises only of sitting ducks, it believes that it is on perfectly safe grounds and it is effectively consolidating its grips on power. But such assumptions are completely wrong. Within minutes of this information being available to the public, copies of it were emailed across the world and translated into various foreign languages and landed into the hands of outraged law-makers of all western democracies in the world, especially in the USA.
The CPV, being the only and absolute ruler of its unfortunate people, through its Security and Armed Forces, is unable to understand that not only the US government, but each of its diplomatic official, has a legal and possibly constitutional duty to protect US citizens overseas, not to protect dictators or dictatorial regimes in foreign lands.
The CPV, being what it is, also fails to understand that (contrary to the CPV), the US government and each of its official, in the performance of their legal and constitutional duties, both within and outside US soil, must be transparent and accountable. In addition, they must not only refrain from wrong-doing, but must also take reasonably speedy remedial action if wrongs have been committed.

Thus by making these apparently unfounded allegations involving the US administration and its officials, the CPV has put the US government in an awkward position. Instead of earning US favors, the CPV has apparently hardened US resolve in opposing it. Like any true democracy, the US administration, in any test on transparency and accountability, has to answer ultimately to the US judicial system epitomized by the US Supreme Court. Before a court of law, the government of the USA or any of its officials will be reduced to the status of a mere legal entity on par with any US citizen, including Mr. Do.

The CPV and its officials have no such control or independent arbiter to adjudicate on their actions and are thus free to terrorize their citizens in any way they wish.

Naturally, the same cannot be said of any US government of any political persuasion whatsoever.

The above being said, I must say that I am not a lawyer practicing in the USA, nor am I qualified to give legal advice on this matter. I urge Mr. Do and his family to seek proper legal advice with a view to consider possible legal action against the following potential defendants:

The Vietnamese government
The CPV
The alleged CPV informant (Name withheld) if he lives in the USA

In relation to the alleged CPV informant, Mr. Do and family should seek expert legal advice on whether the identity and full particulars of such informant could be properly disclosed to them, either for the purpose of litigation, or on the basis of US laws similar to Freedom of Information legislations currently existing in Australia.

Given the immense suffering endured by Mr. Do and his family, we can anticipate that damages would run into the millions. Since the Vietnamese regime must have assets on US soil, it will have to pay in hard cash, for the evils it inflicts on innocent citizens of the world.

The CPV is an absolute ruler and stands above the law inside Vietnam. This is not the case outside of Vietnam. It is now time for a US court of law to reduce it to the status a mere legal entity on US soil, and forces it to answer for its evil and cavalier treatment of its citizens, in the persons of Mr. Do and his family. This will awaken the CPV to the realities of the 21^st century and significantly speed up the process of democracy in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, for Mr. and Mrs. Do, their struggle is not yet over. They should be at the forefront of a continued campaign to free not only the six remaining members of the PDP still in custody, but also to free all political dissidents from CPV jails and bring about true democracy to Vietnam.

Ðằng Vân

25 September 2006