Vietnam Dissident Headed for U.S.

Vietnam’s most prominent political dissident was headed to the United States on Tuesday after being released under a government amnesty program announced last week, while a human rights group reported the release of a prominent Buddhist monk and scholar.

Writer and journalist Doan Viet Hoat boarded a plane for Bangkok, Thailand, and hoped to reunite with family members in Minnesota this week. Thich Tri Sieu, of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was reportedly also freed Tuesday.

Vietnamese officials had announced Friday that Hoat, along with fellow political dissident Nguyen Dan Que, would be released as part of a general amnesty for 5,219 prisoners to coincide with the country’s anniversary of independence today.

Hoat told reporters in Bangkok on Tuesday that he had been forced to leave his homeland. “I regret that they don’t let me stay in Vietnam,” he said. “I don’t want to leave my country. I love my country. I want to contribute to freedom and democracy.”

Hoat and Que have been accepted for resettlement in the United States, according to U.S. Embassy officials in Hanoi. Que was released to family members in Vietnam but has indicated that he does not plan to leave for the United States.

Though international observers lauded the releases, they said it is premature to consider the move a signal of restrictions on political and religious freedom being eased by the Communist government.

“This amnesty should be seen as a very significant step by the Vietnamese authorities, but it’s still too early to say whether this was a one-time gesture or whether it marks a real change in human rights policy,” said Demelza Stubbings of Amnesty International.

In its latest country report, the group estimates that there are at least 49 prisoners of conscience being held, including top Buddhist religious leaders.

Sieu was arrested in 1984 along with Buddhist scholar Thich Tue Sy and 10 other monks and nuns from the United Buddhist Church. Sieu and Sy received death sentences in 1988 on charges of trying to overthrow the government, but both sentences were commuted to 20 years’ imprisonment after international protests.

Two Vietnamese Americans, Jimmy Tran and Ly Tong, also were released Tuesday. Tran, who flew to San Jose, was arrested in 1993 for trying to blow up a statue of Ho Chi Minh. Tong, a onetime resident of Orange County who flew to San Francisco on Tuesday, drew international attention in 1992 when he hijacked a commercial plane over Ho Chi Minh City and tossed out 50,000 leaflets calling for the overthrow of the Communist regime. He was arrested after parachuting from the plane.

Officials at the Foreign Ministry this week reiterated their claim that Vietnam has no prisoners being held for their political or religious beliefs. Amnesty was granted to inmates who had shown good behavior and had served at least a third of their sentences, the officials said.

“There are only prisoners who were punished for criminal violations,” government spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said.

Human rights groups had been lobbying for several years on behalf of Hoat and Que, who have won international citations for their human rights work. Both cases were cited by the European Parliament in a July 16 resolution condemning the two dissidents’ sentences.

Hoat, a writer and academic, was arrested in 1990 for his role in producing the Freedom Forum newsletter, which was critical of the government. In 1993, he received a 20-year sentence--later reduced to 15 years--on charges of trying to overthrow the government. Previously, he had been detained without trial from 1976 to 1988, accused of being an “anti-Communist reactionary.”

Que, an endocrinologist, also was arrested in 1990 and sentenced to 20 years for founding the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights in Vietnam, which advocates democratic change. Prior to that, he had been detained from 1978 to 1988 for criticizing the country’s health care policy.

International observers say the amnesty program appears to have been undertaken with an eye toward gaining Western approval and investments. Nearly three-quarters of foreign investment in Vietnam comes from other Asian nations, but with the economic crisis in the region draining funds, Vietnam is probably on the lookout for new investors from outside the region.

“It’s difficult to say what the long-term implications are,” said Mike Jendrzejczyk, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch/Asia. “Clearly, Vietnam would like to improve diplomatic and especially economic ties with the U.S. and Europe.”

On the other hand, Jendrzejczyk noted, there hasn’t been a loosening of controls on freedom of speech and the press. Last year, the Vietnamese government passed legislation that allows citizens to be detained for two years without a court order, under its all-encompassing national security law.

The release of religious prisoners seems timed to avoid a scheduled October visit by a United Nations special investigator on religious intolerance.

“I think Vietnam is very concerned right now about its image,” said Penelope Faulkner of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights. “I think it’s very hopeful that they do respond to sustained international pressure.”