COUNTYWIDE : Protesters Decry Policies in Vietnam

Wearing white smocks with the words “Opposition is a right, not a crime” and other slogans printed on them, 14 local Vietnamese-Americans began a 24-hour vigil and hunger strike in Santa Ana on Thursday to protest political repression in Vietnam.

“Lately, the news written about Vietnam covered mostly the prospect of investment and trade and the booming of Hanoi’s ‘open-door policy,’ ” said Nguyen Tu Mo, a spokesman for the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Vietnam, the group that organized the protest. “Almost none concerned the human rights violations in Vietnam and Hanoi’s policy of political repression, which is as deplorable as ever.”

Mo’s remarks came during a press conference in front of the Federal Building in Santa Ana, as part of a three-day protest ending today aimed at urging the United States to demand that Vietnam free thousands of political prisoners.

The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Vietnam also called upon the United States to use diplomatic and economic pressure to force Vietnam to promote democracy and free speech, including that which criticizes the government. The local protest is part of an international campaign that began in September and has included protests in New York, Houston, Boston and London, said Diem Do, another committee member.

At noon Thursday, the hunger strikers spread out a blue tarp and cushions on which they planned to remain until noon today. Their vigil’s commencement coincided with the end of a similar 24-hour protest in San Diego that began at noon Wednesday.

Nearby, a mock wall displayed the names of more than 500 political prisoners being held in Vietnam. More than 70 people attended the rally. Dozens of them marched on the sidewalk along Santa Ana Boulevard, carrying signs denouncing Vietnam and calling for the country to respect human rights.

Nu Tinh Hien, 37, joined Thursday’s hunger strike in part to protest Vietnam’s punishment of her father. She said through an interpreter that he was imprisoned for 10 years for publicly demanding democracy and was released two months ago without ever having been tried.

“I hope to make the world aware of what is going on in Vietnam,” Hien said. She said the protest here was important because no such criticisms of the government are permitted in Vietnam. “There, they will do whatever they please--arrest you, kill you, whatever,” she said.

Vo Khoi, 63, who said he was imprisoned for eight years in Vietnam, demanded that the United States exert its political power to help the citizens there. “The U.S. needs to support democracy there, because now there is no such thing,” Khoi said.