From: vinsight@netcom.com (Chan T. Vninsight)
Subject: VI: Campaign for VN's Political Prioners strikes high spirit
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: vinsight@netcom.com
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 14:09:57 GMT



**********************
Campaign for Vietnam's Political Prisoners strikes high spirit
**********************

Several hundred Vietnamese from the United States and Canada, some
traveled over a thousand miles, gathered at the Ralph Bunche Park, New
York, in front of the United Nations for the three days of September
10-12 to demand for the release of their compatriots in Hanoi prisons
and the end of oppression in Vietnam.

The event, organized by a leading resistance organization -- the
National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (NUFRONLIV) -- was
supported by more than 300 Vietnamese and friends' organizations around
the world.

"Our purpose is to raise world concern about rights violations and
political oppression in Vietnam," said Mr. Ngo Trong Duc, a principal
organizer.

In July, the National United Front For the Liberation of Vietnam
launched its campaign on behalf of the political prisoners with the
release of its first verified list of 275 prisoners. The list is only a
tiny fraction of Hanoi's imprisonment which is estimated around 32,000.
NUFRONLIV is compiling more information on the prisoners to release to
the world, according to Dr. Tran Xuan Ninh, a NUFRONLIV member.

The rally with a makeshift wall that listed names and locations of the
275 political prisoners, rows of colorful flags and 24 hunger strikers
attracted scores of supporters from the United Nations across the
street, both U.N. officials and international visitors.

The 3-day demonstration marked by a press conference, two vigils for
freedom, continuous petitions for signatures of support was highlighted
by the 48-hour protest-fast. Participants included both Vietnamese and
American friends whose ages ranged from the oldest 82 to the youngest
21.

An Appeal on behalf of the political prisoners in Vietnam was also
given to the U.N. secretary-general on September 10.

A UPI correspondent at the U.N. told demonstrators later that Hanoi's
ambassador Trinh Xuan Lang was totally embarrassed when he was
confronted with information on the political prisoners. All he could say
was "no comment."

Braving heavy shower and chill, Vietnamese protestors spent two nights,
mostly sleepless, on the sidewalks near the United Nations, tasting some
hardship their compatriots at home often endure.

The outpouring support for the campaign was reflected in the 6,000
signatures of support collected in the three days, and scores of
enthusiastic promises to further the cause, including that of many U.N.
officials.

Most moving, according to the rally participants, was the surprised
joining of a Cuban delegation led by Mrs. Carmen Maria Rodriguez,
chairwoman of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights. Mrs. Rodriguez
brought roses for the four female fast participants and gave NUFRONLIV a
gift of a crystal with a light representing Freedom. She expressed her
wish that one day the Vietnamese and Cuban peoples will join together in
freedom and happiness. Radio Free Cuba made an impromptu interview of
the Vietnamese demonstrators and broadcast the event to Cuba on the
evening of September 11.

A French tourist gave NUFRONLIV a US$25 cheque of contribution to the
cause, revealed Mr. Duc. Motorists passing by also honked in support of
the rally, creating a very excited atmosphere especially on the U.N.
Day, September 11, when the flow of visitors to the U.N. was most
congested.

Lawyer John Gunning, vice-chairman of Canadian Friends for a Free
Vietnam (CFFV), coming from Toronto, said CFFV will also hold a
protest-fast in front of the Toronto City Hall in support of NUFRONLIV's
campaign.

Stand at the podium, Mrs. Nguyen Si Binh and her daughter brought tears
to the demonstrators' eyes. Mr. Nguyen Si Binh is the leader of a
democratic force called the Vietnamese People for Action Party. He was
arrested by Hanoi, together with 16 others, in April this year. Mrs.
Binh was too emotional to say much but few words of thanks for support.

News of the event was later broadcast by television 47, radio WBAI-FM,
the New York Post, the Syracuse, the Sekai Nippo and the Yomiuri of
Japan, UPI and AP. It was also broadcast to Vietnam by the Voice of
Freedom in Moscow and the Radio French International (RFI).




*******************
Message from Senator Robert Hill, leader of the Opposition in the Senate
and Shadow Minister for foreign affairs, Australia.
*******************

This message was sent in support of the Vietnamese rally in New York for
the release of political prisoners in Vietnam organized by the National
United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam on September 10-12, 1992.

September 10, 1992

I regret that I am unable to be with you today but thank the organizers
for their kind invitation to attend the rally.

You are gathered here to protest Vietnam's violation of the fundamental
rights and freedoms of its people and to call for the release of all
political prisoners in Vietnam.

We in the Federal Opposition in Australia believe that Vietnam must
improve its human rights position. It is simply unacceptable for Vietnam
to continue to violate human rights and expect to be accepted as a
legitimate partner in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reports from organizations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch
indicate that many prisoners of conscience and political opponents have
been detained by the Vietnamese Government -- some since 1975 -- without
being tried in a court of law or given access to the legal process.

These prisoners include writers, poets, intellectuals, dissidents,
journalists, Buddhist monks, Roman Catholic priests, professionals,
business people, public servants, politicians and former military
personnel -- people imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their
view.

In addition, Vietnamese Government restrictions on the media have
stopped the reporting of death sentences, torture, ill-treatment and
detentions.

Political reform in Vietnam is imperative. It is not enough for the
Vietnamese Government to pursue economic liberalization without a
similar commitment to instituting political reform.

Only when a democratic political system is adopted can Vietnam be fully
included in regional processes vital to its prosperity and growth.

As a first step towards this, Vietnam must release all political
prisoners and recognize that political freedom is a fundamental human
rights of all people.

*****************
Message from Senator John Seymour
United States Senate
*****************

This message was sent in support of the Vietnamese rally in New York for
the release of political prisoners in Vietnam organized by the National
United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam on September 10-12, 1992.


September 9, 1992

I applaud your efforts and congratulate the United Front for the
Liberation of Vietnam for organizing a series of events that will
demonstrate to the Hanoi regime that the world remains aware of its
oppressive policies.

I thought that you might be interested in my perspective on
U.S..-Vietnamese relations as they stand today. I strongly believe that
the continuing problems of political repression and human rights
violations by the Hanoi regime pose a major impediment to the full
normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam. We
cannot close our eyes and turn our backs on the fact that the Vietnamese
leadership has frozen its own people in a Stalinist bubble of tyranny
and squalor.

Vietnam requires development aid and foreign investment from America to
revive its sagging economy. But as a condition for receiving this
assistance, the communist regime in Hanoi should improve its abysmal
political and civil rights record. In measuring the progress of the
Vietnamese government towards these important goals, U.S. officials must
pose the following questions:

Why should article Four of Vietnam's 1980 constitution guarantee the
permanent rule of the communist party?

Why should Vietnamese citizens have to join organizations dedicated to
celebrating the rule of tyrants?

Why should writers and preachers become slave workers because Hanoi has
classified their ideas as "deviant?"

Why should those accused of a crime have to endure a party-orchestrated
trial with party-appointed judges and party-loyal lawyers?

Why should the people of Vietnam have to forego democratic elections
when the voters of the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, and other former
socialist countries can now choose their own leaders?

Furthermore, while the psychiatric hospitals and prisons of Eastern
Europe become public museums, Amnesty International estimates that at
least one political re-education camp exists in each of Vietnam's forty
provinces.

In light of these ongoing abuses, the United States has an obligation to
insist upon fundamental political liberties for the Vietnamese people
before we offer the American taxpayers' money or technology to the
dictators of Hanoi.



-- 
Vietnam Insight (vinsight@netcom.com)
Chan Tran, editor