2002 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

Vietnamese Canadian Federation Joins in World Campaign During the past 25 years, the Vietnamese communist leadership has systematically suppressed the fundamental right of religious freedom of the Vietnamese people. Many religious organizations -- Catholic, Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Buddhist, Protestant, and Cao Dai -- have had their activities severely limited and in many cases completely suppressed, their properties confiscated and expropriated, and their leaders restrained or jailed. Many exemplary religious leaders continue to stand above the forces of hatred and authoritarianism gripping Viet Nam, advocating instead for compassion and tolerance. Among them are the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, and Father Nguyen Van Ly.

Like the Reverend Desmond Tutu of South Africa and his Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, these spiritual leaders exemplify the best of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Currently Secretary-General of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (UBCV), the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do has been jailed, placed under house arrest, and jailed again simply for advocating basic human rights. Since June 2001, he is under house arrest after he announced his intention to escort the ailing 83-year-old UBCV patriarch Thich Huyen Quang to Ho Chi Minh City for urgently needed medical care. Security police currently maintain a 24-hour cordon around the pagoda where he is staying.

On his part, Father Nguyen Van Ly has been repeatedly arrested, isolated, and jailed for advocating religious freedom since 1977. Early this year, he was placed under house arrest and banned from running his church for providing testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, urging a delay of the ratification of the U.S. - Vietnam bilateral trade agreement until Viet Nam eases restrictions on religion. On October 19, 2001, in a two-hour trial without the presence of a defence lawyer or independent witnesses, he was sentenced 15 years in prison for "undermining the country's unity and violating a detention order."

In recognition of their courage, sacrifices, and beliefs in the sanctity of religious freedom, and in conjunction with the Vietnamese communities in other countries, the Vietnameselate Canadian Federation mounted in late December a campaign in Canada for the Nobel Peace Prize for these religious leaders. The Federation is working with all its member associations to urge Members of Parliament to join in this campaign.

Following are some documents pertaining to this campaign.

Media Background
Vietnam detains dissident monks - support group
By David Brunnstrom

HANOI, June 2, 2001 (Reuters) - Vietnam's communist authorities have placed a prominent Buddhist dissident under house arrest for two years and arrested three other monks after they vowed a showdown on rights, a Buddhist support group said on Saturday.

Penelope Faulkner, spokeswoman for the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau, told Reuters Thich Quang Do had telephoned her to say the detention order confining him to his pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City was effective from May 31.

Faulkner said three other monks from Ho Chi Minh City who had intended to accompany Do on a mission on June 7 to bring their detained 83-year-old patriarch Thich Huyen Quang to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment had been arrested.

Do, 73, is the deputy head of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, which Quang heads.

Faulkner said the three other monks, Thich Khong Tanh, Thich Quang Hue and Thich Tan An, from different pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City, were being held in jail in the southern city.

Police had been sent to many other pagodas in central and southern Vietnam to prevent monks joining Do on his mission, she said.

The report of the crackdown came two days before an historic trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam was expected to go to the U.S. Congress for ratification. Vietnam's religious rights record has been cited as a factor that could complicate the ratification process.

The UBCV says Quang has been under under house arrest for 19 years in central Quang Ngai province, despite being officially released in November 1997. It says he is in poor health and needs urgent medical care.

PAGODA SURROUNDED

Faulkner quoted Do as saying that 30 police officers and communist officials came to his pagoda to inform him of the detention on Friday.

"He says there are now 100 security police outside the pagoda and 10 more inside," she said. "It's a formal order. He has been official sentenced to two years' house arrest."

Government officials could not be reached for comment.

Faulkner said she understood Do had been placed under "administrative detention," barring him from moving outside a set area without permission.

His detention followed the May 17 arrest of Nguyen Van Ly, a dissident Roman Catholic priest accused of spreading propaganda against the government.

Ly had called on the U.S. Congress not to ratify the trade pact until human rights conditions in Vietnam improved.

Faulkner said Do's vow to bring Quang back to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment had not been politically motivated.

"It has nothing to do with the trade agreement," she said. "He is concerned about the health of the Patriarch and is very worried he would not survive, that's why he has called for his release. This has nothing to do with international politics."

Hanoi insists its citizens have full religious freedom but has frequently been criticised by human rights groups for harassing clergy.

James Kelly, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs, was in Vietnam last month and raised the religious freedom issue with Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien. He specifically referred to Ly.

He said afterwards that Ly's arrest would not help ratification of the trade pact between the former Vietnam War enemies.

A Democratic Senate aide in Washington told Reuters this week U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had indicated that the agreement, which was signed last July, would go to Congress for ratification next Monday.

Vietnam Sentences Catholic Priest

( The Associated Press)

HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 19, 2001 (AP) - Vietnam sentenced a dissident Catholic priest on Friday to 15 years in prison on charges he undermined the country's unity and violated a detention order.

Vietnam's Communist government earlier rejected a U.S. request for the release of the priest, Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, saying his arrest was purely a Vietnamese internal affair.

Ly had urged in testimony to a U.S. government committee in February that the U.S. Congress delay ratification of a bilateral trade agreement until Vietnam eases restrictions on religion.

His harsh sentence could speed up U.S. Senate action on a separate Vietnam human rights act that Vietnam's Communist Party has severely criticized.

The act, already passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives, would halt future U.S. non-humanitarian aid unless Vietnam's government improves its human rights record.

Ly was placed under administrative detention, the equivalent of house arrest, after his testimony to the U.S. committee in February. In March, the government also banned him from running his church.

In a one-day trial, a court in central Hue city sentenced him to two years in prison for de~ling the detention order and 13 years for "undermining the national unity policy of the state."

Vietnam's state-owned television network, VTV, showed a gaunt Ly listening to the verdict with his eyes closed. He was then led out of the courtroom by two police.

The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment on the sentencing.

Congress has now approved the trade agreement, which was signed into law on Wednesday by President George W. Bush.

Ly's sentencing is the latest in a series of tough actions by Vietnam's government against members of non-approved religious groups.

In September, Ho Tan Anh, a 6l-year-old farmer and a leader of the Buddhist Youth Movement in central Vietnam, burned himself to death to protest restrictions on his group.

The Buddhist Youth Movement was founded in the late 1930s by the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, one of a number of independent religious groups now banned by Vietnam's government, which allows only seven recognized religious organizations.

In June, security agents encircled several of the church's temples and placed Thich Quang Do, a prominent priest, under house arrest after he announced plans to escort church patriarch Thich Huyen Quang to doctors for medical treatment.

Quang, 83, who suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach ulcers, has been under house arrest since 1992.

Vietnam's government says its citizens enjoy religious freedom and insists it holds no prisoners of conscience. But it forbids any independent organizations that might challenge its political and social control.

There have also been persistent reports of harassment of minority groups in Vietnam's Central Highlands who belong to unapproved Protestant "house churches".

The Communist Party has orchestrated almost daily rallies against the Vietnam human rights act being considered by the U.S. Congress. It says the U.S. government has no right to interfere in Vietnamese affairs after violating human rights during the Vietnam war.

Biography of the Most Ven. Thich Quang Do

Born Dang Phuc Tue on November 27, 1928, in Thai Binh province, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do has devoted his life to achieving peace and freedom in Vietnam. When the communists came to power in Hanoi in 1954, he fled south and became a highly respected Buddhist leader known for his scholarship and vision. Eleven years later, Ven. Thich Quang Do was elevated to the post of Secretary General of the Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma -- the executive office of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). After 1975, in this capacity, he protested against the revolutionary government's infringements on religious freedoms and confiscation of UBCV properties, such as the takeover of the Quach Thi Trang Orphanage in March 1977. For what was considered "obstructions" to the work of the government in religious matters, on April 6, 1977, he and five other prominent leaders of the UBCV were arrested. They were tortured and, in October of that year, asked to admit that they worked for the CIA.

On November 11, 1977, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong issued Resolution 297 severely restricting religious practices in Vietnam and allowing the government to confiscate church properties and to forbid the "spread of superstitions." Even then, when the monks were brought to trial on December 8, 1978, the government could not find them guilty of any crimes except "disturbing the peace and spreading misinformation." Ven. Thich Quang Do was released.

To undermine the UBCV influence in the population, in 1981 the government created its own Buddhist Church of Vietnam. In 1981, this state-run church tried to incorporate the UBCV into its structure. The attempt ran into the fierce opposition of Ven. Thich Quang Do, who was overwhelmingly supported by all the leaders present. One month later, Ven. Thich Quang Do and various other Buddhist leaders were detained for 24 hours so that the incorporation could proceed.

The government then announced the unification of the Buddhist Church had been "complete" and the UBCV was banned. That was how the government justified its arrest on Feb. 25, 1982 of Ven. Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang, the two most prominent figures of the "recalcitrant opposition UBCV " They were subsequently exiled to separate locations. Ven. Thich Quang Do was sent to his birth place of Vu Doai in Thai Binh province. His mother, then in her 90s, was also exiled with him and died of freezing three years later in the winter of 1985.

In March 1992, after more than ten years in exile, Ven. Thich Quang Do took it upon himself to return to Saigon. He continued to struggle for religious freedom. In August 1994, he wrote a 44-page document addressed to party general secretary Do Muoi detailing the persecution of the UBCV since the communists came to power in Vietnam. For this writing, he was arrested on January 4, 1995.

On August 15, 1995, Ven. Thich Quang Do and five other monks and laity were tried by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City and convicted of "sabotaging government policies and damaging the interests of the state." The chief evidence, presented by the prosecutors, was the defendants' attempt to organize a convoy bringing emergency food to flood victims and the distribution of letters written by the patriarch of the UBCV, Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, currently under house arrest. Ven. Thich Quang Do received a prison term of five years .

His detainment was widely protested by human rights groups. Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience. In January 1996, the Dalai Lama wrote: "It therefore gives me pain to learn that eminent leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam have been punished with imprisonment for doing no more than their Buddhist vocation demands. These Buddhists have been prosecuted for organizing a humanitarian mission to distribute relief aid to 500,000 victims of flooding in the Mekong Delta and for proclaiming the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam's rights to exist. Such acts are simply the legitimate expressions of the fundamental rights to freedom of religion." In May 1998, four Nobel prize-winners publicly called for his release along with other Buddhist leaders.

In August 30, 1998, Ven. Thich Quang Do was released from prison as part of a general amnesty of what the government called "common criminals". He returned to the Thien Minh Zen Center in Ho Chi Minh City to worship, but was closely watched by security officials. According to Abdelfattah Amor, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance, he was physically barred from meeting with Ven. Thich Quang Do on his visit to Vietnam in October 1998.

Ven. Thich Quang Do, however, has continued to peacefully insist on religious freedom in Vietnam. On March 23, 1999, he was detained and interrogated for six hours after travelling to Quang Ngai province to meet with the 80-year old patriarch of the UBCV. He was then forcibly escorted back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Since June 2001, he is under house arrest after he announced his intention to escort the ailing 83-year-old UBCV patriarch Thich Huyen Quang to Ho Chi Minh City for urgently needed medical care. Security police currently maintain a 24-hour cordon around the pagoda where he is staying.

Biography of Father Nguyen Van Ly

Born August 31, 1947 in Quang Tri province in central Vietnam, Father Nguyen Van Ly was ordained in 1974 and served as secretary to the late Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien.

In September 1977, Father Ly was arrested for distributing two essays by Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien critical of the government's religious repression. He was given a 20 year sentence and sent to a labour camp near Hue. Several months later, authorities released Father Ly, but prohibited him from engaging in religious activities.

Father Ly continued religious teaching and in January 1983 was ordered into internal exile by authorities. He sent a letter in reply which exposed the government's religious repression and pledged to stay at his parish where followers gathered around his residence in support. On the morning of May 18, 1983, security forces forcibly removed Father Ly from his home. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 4 years probation. Released in July 1992, Father Ly was placed under police surveillance and again banned from conducting religious activities.
On November 24, 1994, he issued a "10-point Statement on the State of the Catholic Church in Hue Diocese" detailing the government's violations of religious freedom. Authorities exiled him to Thuy Bieu village (near Hue) with only a small Catholic community.

Father Ly re-released his 10-point Statement in November 2000 followed by an appeal titled "We Need True Religious Freedom in Vietnam." In these documents, he described the communist government's long-standing policy on religions in general and the Catholic Church in particular as a "noose around the neck of the religions."

On December 4, 2000, in protest of the government's seizure of church property and restrictions on their activities, Father Ly and parishioners Nguyet Bieu planted a large banner with the words "We need freedom of religion" on the church's land and started to sow seed. Public Security cadres arrived immediately and engaged in acts of intimidation.

In early 2001, authorities increased the harassment and isolation of Father Nguyen Van Ly. His telephone line was intermittently cut off. Father Ly, however, continued to speak out. In February, he provided written testimony for a hearing by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He also submitted written remarks for a briefing by the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus on May16.

On May 17, 2001, over 600 security police stormed An Truyen Parish to arrest Father Nguyen Van Ly. In a two-hour trial on October 19, 2001, authorities sentenced Father Ly to 15 years in prison and 5 years of house arrest. He is currently detained at Nam Ha Prison, Phu Ly Village, Nam Ha Province, Vietnam.

Statement by the Vietnam Human Rights Network on the occasion of the 53rd Anniversary of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2001
Since the Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris on December 10, 1948 and the ratification of the International Bill of Human Rights in 1976, human rights have been a constant concern and hope for the majority of people worldwide. With the presence of the UDHR and the continuous struggle of numerous people from all walks of life, progress has been made in certain areas and basic human rights has been enjoyed in many countries.
Unfortunately, despite its responsibility as a signatory of the International Bill of Human Rights, Vietnam has been systematically violating all basic and universal freedoms of its people, causing Vietnam to be one of the poorest countries on Earth. Among serious violations are the imprisonment and house arrest of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, a peaceful and elder monk with poor health, for 20 years and the recent sentence of a dissident Father Nguyen Van Ly to 15 years in prison and 5 years of house detention for fabricated crimes for his non-violent struggle for religious freedom.
The Vietnam Human Rights Network, a worldwide consortium of individuals and organizations advocating human rights in Vietnam, in coping with these severe violations by the Hanoi regime, eagerly calls on:
1. The Vietnamese people, inside and outside the country, to determinedly continue to fight for human rights in Vietnam, following the examples set by the peoples in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union in their effort to abolish dictatorship; and to be grateful to democratic nations' support while exerting all potential to maintain the struggle;
2. The United Nations and governments around the world as well as non-governmental organizations to physically and spiritually to support Vietnam in its difficult fight for human rights;
3. The Vietnamese communist authorities to immediately stop their violations of human rights, however concealed and disguised, and release all political and religious prisoners.
A government such as the Hanoi regime that disregards its people's human rights and rules the country by force does not deserve to be called a government of the people, for the people and by the people, and eventually, will be discarded by the people and history.
The Vietnam Human Rights Network vows to work closely with friendly individuals and organizations to restore human rights in Vietnam.
Made in Little Saigon, California, USA on December 8, 2001.

Pressuring Vietnam on human rights

(by Jessica C. McWade and Nam Van Pham, the Boston Globe, 12/25/2001)

CHRISTMAS BOMBING. That's a term loaded with paradox. Twenty-nine years ago this week, the United States bombed North Vietnam. The Nixon administration was frustrated over what it saw as North Vietnamese obstinance at the Paris peace talks. It believed that bombing would force Hanoi back to the table. It was a highly disputed strategy, but it seemed to work. Talks resumed, and a peace pact was reached in January 1973.

It is useful to examine where democracy stands today in Vietnam, almost 30 years later. A national obsession for decades, Vietnam has virtually disappeared from the scope of our war on terrorism.

Yes, Vietnam has made some tangible and laudable reforms, chiefly in normalization of diplomatic and trade relations. American business leaders and elected officials understand the value of doing business with Vietnam.

Expansion of trade relations, however, does not mask the tortured path to democracy. As is the case with China today, some will argue that effective trade relations is a precursor to actual democratization. They will say, ''take it one step at a time,'' and they are not entirely wrong. However, patience has its limitations. The Bush administration must ask how long it will take to build democracy. Indeed, when will we know that Vietnam is getting serious about it?

Just days before the events of Sept. 11, the House of Representatives passed the Vietnam Human Rights Act by a 410-1 vote. The act would make granting non-humanitarian aid conditioned upon Vietnam's human rights performance. It would also assist democratic forces in the country, while authorizing additional funding for Radio Free Asia to penetrate jamming by the Vietnamese government.

The bill has been bottled up in the Senate for more than three months. If we've learned anything since Sept. 11 it is that our ideals transcend commerce. Yes, open markets are integral to our system, but human rights are indispensable. And Vietnam's record, under an elderly and repressive regime, would not meet the standards of most Americans. Let's look at the facts: Vietnam has yet to evolve beyond the tyranny of one-party rule.

The Communist Party remains the official voice of some 80 million people. Before Russia, the Czech Republic, and other reform-minded states got serious about democracy, they rejected one-party rule and opened their systems to the ballot box.

Vietnam's persecution of its Montagnard population also continues without hesitation.

Earlier this fall, 14 Protestant Montagnards from the Central Highlands were sentenced for up to 12 years in prison for participating in protests calling for religious freedom. Their trials were closed and lasted one day.

In October, Father Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His crime? He has advocated a brand of Catholicism not sanctioned by the government, assisted in flood relief measures not approved by the government, and advanced democratic reforms not welcomed.

Last month Vietnam deported two German nationals for attempting to preach political and religious freedom. This followed the deportation of a Belgian national earlier in the year for wanting to meet with a detained Buddhist dissident, as well as the removal of a Norwegian parliamentarian after he dared to meet with Father Ly and others. Shades of the Taliban?

What is Hanoi's reaction to those who oppose its repression of political, religious, and press freedoms? It makes them very nervous. They tell us to mind our own business. They even placed blame for the events of Sept. 11 on what they call ''isolationist US foreign policy.''

Two days after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, the official People's Army Daily condemned America's chauvinism and linked it directly to brazen interference by the United States in Vietnam's human rights performance.

OK, so let's not be isolationist. Let us take a firm stand wherever universal human rights are denied. That's why the US Senate must follow the lead of its House colleagues and pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act. That's why Senator John Kerry must act in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs. With apologies to Calvin Coolidge, the business of America is not just business. Trade relations are a good place to start, but true progress must ultimately reflect the passions of people and not just the promise of profits. That's why human rights can never be just business as usual.

Jessica C. McWade is CEO of Lexington Communications Group and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Nam Van Pham is a vice president at Citizens Bank and chairman of the Governors' Asian-American Commission.

World Bank Presses for Economic Reforms in Vietnam

(by Emad Mekay, Asia Times, 14/12/01)

The World Bank is pressing Vietnam to speed up economic reforms it says will help the country on its rocky path from central planning to free market. "Vietnam has taken significant steps in the past year to restore growth and reduce poverty, but in light of the current global slowdown, [it] needs to act quickly and seize the opportunity to gain in competitiveness and position itself for the decade ahead," said Andrew Steer, the bank's country director.

The urging comes as Vietnam prepares for increased commerce under a bilateral trade pact signed on Monday with the United States. It also follows last week's meeting of Vietnam's donors, at which Hanoi won pledges of US$2.4 billion in aid for next year so long as it toes the bank's line on economic restructuring and consults the lender on how best to spend this money.

The bank is pushing a raft of policy reforms. It argues, in a new report entitled "Implementing Reforms for Faster Growth and Poverty Reduction", that these will help Hanoi in "establishing itself as a stable and predictable location of high-return investment" and "enhancing their international reputation as a country open to business". The recommendations - privatization, improved governance for companies and the fledgling stock market, and the like - are not new. Rather, the bank itself acknowledges it is trying to goad Hanoi with a simple message: open fully and quickly to international investors or fall victim to the global recession.

The slowdown, although cyclical, is the worst in two decades, the bank says. It projects global economic growth of 1.3 percent for this year, one-third last year's 3.8 percent and the lowest rate in eight years.

Prospects for recovery have been pushed back to late 2002 by the events of September 11 and their aftermath. Growth in the volume of world trade has fallen from 13 percent in 2000 to around 1 percent in 2001 - the sharpest decline in two decades - and is expected to recover to only 4 percent next year. In its report, the Bank urges Vietnam to speed economic restructuring the US and Chinese export markets, and move to boost depressed rural incomes.

Despite the uncertainty that shrouds the global economy, the lender sounds upbeat about Vietnam, saying the country's medium- term prospects for growth "remain good - internal factors driving growth are more favorable today than at any time in the past five years".

For their part, Vietnamese officials appear to be banking on their new bilateral trade agreement with the United States to double the country's US exports, despite signs of political and business resistance to key products such as Vietnamese catfish. US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Vietnamese Minister of Trade Vu Khoan exchanged implementation letters on Monday, thus bringing into effect the bilateral trade treaty signed by the US Congress in October."This is an example of how two nations once divided by war can employ trade as a tool to work toward reconciliation," Zoellick said. "It's good that we are talking business now," said Duong Le, a trade officer at the Vietnamese embassy here. "People of the two countries will get to know each other better this way."

The Vietnamese diplomat said his country's exports to the US market since 1994, when former president Bill Clinton lifted a trade embargo against Vietnam, mainly have consisted of agricultural commodities like coffee and fish. Under the new trade terms, Washington has promised to lower tariffs for Vietnamese companies from its current 40 percent, 10 times those imposed on products from other counties, to 4 percent. Le said this would ease the way for Vietnamese footwear, garments, ceramics and handicrafts, boosting the poverty-stricken Asian nation's balance of trade. In return, US companies in banking, transportation, and telecommunications will be allowed to sell to Vietnam's 80 million consumers and tap the country's investment potential.

Last year, the United States exported US$368 million of goods including industrial machinery, fertilizers, and semiconductors to Vietnam. The same year, Vietnam exported $821 million worth of goods to the United States, according to Zoellick's office. The agreement, which covers virtually every aspect of bilateral commerce -from trade in services to intellectual property rights and investment -also commits Hanoi to a number of multilateral disciplines on customs procedures, import licensing, and sanitary measures. It took six years for the proposed bilateral pact to work its way through the US and Vietnamese political systems and in both countries the agreement faced considerable opposition from protectionists out to shield constituent industries and ideologies from the other side.

Even as Congressional approval was won and the sides worked to finalize the paperwork for Monday's exchange of letters, US lawmakers introduced legislation that would force Vietnamese exporters of catfish to sell their goods in the United States under some other name. Thus it seems the World Bank's job going forward will be to continue to hold Vietnamese feet to the fire on economic restructuring - and hope that protectionists in the United States and elsewhere do not stand in the way of the gains for which Vietnam's reformers embarked on their journey to market.

Compte-rendu

Viêt Nam : le dossier noir du communisme de 1945 à nos jours

Par Michel Tauriac ; Paris :Plon, 2001.

L'auteur de ce dossier noir, auteur de plusieurs romans sur l'Indochine et président de l'Association des Écrivains Combattants, voulait faire le portrait d'un Viet-Nam méconnue des occidentaux en présentant la face cachée d'un Vietnam crucifié. Et ce depuis cinquante cinq ans! Michel Tauriac nous a dévoilé quelques cruelles réalités jusqu'ici inconnues ou cachées par le régime communiste vietnamien avec la complicité des occidentaux des plus intellectuels tels que Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell,... aidé par l'appareil de propagande communisme international et de leur sympatisant. Parmi des crimes et des mensonges dénoncés, on peut noter les suivants :

- Les immenses camps de concentration au Nord Vietnam et le massacre délibéré et organisé des paysans vietnamiens après 1954 ;

- La disparition de huit cent mille à deux millions de sud-vietnamiens après la prise du pouvoir à Saigon par les communistes en avril 1975 ;

- Le paiement exigé par les communistes vietnamiens à la France pour rapatrier les restes des cadavres des français ramassés dans les rues et dans les cimetières nord-vietnamiens (chose unique dans l'histoire de l'humanité) ;

- La disparition quasi-totale des cimetières au Sud du Vietnam ;

- Les falsifications de l'histoire : légende inventée de l'oncle Hô (Hô Chi Minh), celui que l'on croyait au-dessus de tout soupçon, aussi était un criminel contre l'humanité au même titre que Lénine, Hitler, Staline et Pol Pot;

- Les communistes au pouvoir à Hanoi avaient perpétré, au fil des années, un génocide plus discret et sournois, mais aussi plus meurtrier, que leurs frères, longtemps alliés avant de devenir ennemis, les Khmers Rouges du Cambodge voisin.

L'auteur a accusé ce régime d'avoir commis des génocides. Il s'agit "d'abord d'un génocide de classe", dans la tradition soviétique, avec pour but
"d'exterminer les 'riches' au profit des 'pauvres', la classe sociale des 'bourgeois', des mandarins, au profit d'une société idéale sans classe". C'est aussi, poursuit-il, "un génocide de race de style nazi quand il s'agit de réduire tous ceux qui ne sont pas de purs Vietnamiens", les minorités ethniques des
hautes régions du nord et du centre du Vietnam.

Selon Michel Tauriac, la guerre du Vietnam est loin d'être terminée. Elle continue à faire rage depuis bientôt vingt-sept ans, et cela dans l'indifférence générale... Le tourisme, le commerce, la mondialisation,...font oublier la face
cachée d'un Viet-Nam en guerre contre la liberté d'statement et de croyance, contre des droits fondamentaux de l'homme. Le régime marxiste-léniniste lance sans arrêt des actes de terrorisme contre toutes les religions du Vietnam :

- le communisme vietnamienne est en fait une religion, sectaire et cruelle. La liberté religieuse est bien inscrite dans la soi-disant Constitution mais une " liberté " dirigée par des membres du Parti déguisés en religieux, moines, etc. Des lourdes condamnations ont été infligées au père Ly, à la suite d'un procès sans témoins où il n'a pu être défendu ou se défendre lui-même : quinze ans de prison ferme suivis de cinq ans de résidence surveillée pour avoir " saboté l'union nationale ". Contre un prêtre pourtant nommé par son supérieur, qui a " osé " accrocher un calicot à son clocher avec ces mots : " La liberté religieuse ou la mort ".

Qui sait que 80% des Vietnamiens vivent avec moins d'un dollar par jour, que 12 millions d'entre eux connaissent parfois la disette, que 69,5% des enfants souffrent de malnutrition alors que le Viêt Nam est le second exportateur mondial de riz et compte entre 500 et l 000 membres du P.C millionnaires en dollars ? Qui sait que tout Vietnamien peut être emprisonné sans procès ou isolé économiquement ? Que 300 000 lépreux croupissent sans soins, que les bons hôpitaux sont réservés à la Nomenklatura ... ?

Le Viet-Nam est depuis quelques temps, ouvert au tourisme et aux dollars, mais Michel Tauriac y a vu que "des policiers grouillant comme de scolopendres, des prêtres opprimés, des bonzes immolés, de petits mendiants dans la rue, des jeunes sans repère, des emprisonnés sans jugement, des écrivains privés de quoi écrire, des journalistes sommés d'écrire n'importe quoi, des corrompus aux poches pleines, des paysans au ventre vide".

À lire par toux ceux qui veulent bien comprendre l'histoire du Viet-Nam. Un dossier dans la foulée des recherches de vérités historiques, tel que le Livre noir du communisme : crimes, terreur et répression de Stéphane Courtois, Rémi Kauffer (Paris : Laffont 922 p.) publié en 1999.

Vy-Khanh Nguyen, Montréal