The government showed improvement in its human rights record in the past year. In an unusual display of tolerance, police did not arrest almost 100 peasants who camped in front of the prime minister's office for over four months to protest corruption and abuse by provincial officials. The government also showed increased tolerance of criticism by intellectuals and awarded amnesty to some 12,000 prisoners believed by human rights groups to have been held for political or religious reasons. More than a decade of economic reform has also brought greater freedom to Vietnamese citizens. Individual economic rights have expanded.
People are free to travel within the country.
Foreign language newspapers and magazines are available in big cities and many people have access to Western news on satellite television. Access to the Internet has also expanded and the government places no restriction on Western news sites and message boards. It gained independence in 1954 and was divided into the Republic of South Vietnam and the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north. After years of fighting, North Vietnam crushed the U.S.-backed South in 1975 and reunited the country under a Communist government in 1976. In 1986, the government began decentralizing economic decision making, encouraging small-scale private enterprise, and dismantling collectivized agriculture.