VN News (May 13, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

May 13: Firing squad ready as heroin trial ends 
May 13: Special forest guard force to be set up 
May 13: 1,000 tonnes of Viet rice accepted 
May 13: US Ambassador Peterson to present his credentials on Wednesday
May 13: China Asks U.K. To Get Vietnamese Out Of HK Before July 1 
May 13: Vietnam loses internationally-renown maverick man-of-letters
May 13: HK Court Rejects 6 Of 7 Vietnam Refugee Re-screen Requests 
May 13: Defendants prepare to face death in Vietnam trial 
May 13: Vietnam: Asylum Seekers Reluctantly Head Home 
May 13: Accused heroin gang kingpin asks for speedy execution
May 13: Sweden grants nearly 10 million dollars in assistance to Vietnam 
May 13: Court hears closing arguments in landmark drug trial


Firing squad ready as heroin trial ends 

By GREG TORODE in Hanoi
South China Morning Post

Death by firing squad is a certainty for several accused in the
country's most sensational drugs trial, which closes today, but the
fate of the Laotian dealer who brought them down is unclear.

Sieng Pheng's execution-ground confession has made him a hero to
hundreds of people crowding into Hanoi People's Court each day, where
he observes proceedings with a beaming smile on his round face.

Eight people, including several senior officers, are expected to be
sentenced to death later today or early tomorrow, following 10 days of
unprecedented evidence about Interior Ministry involvement in heroin
trafficking.

Another 14 should receive long prison sentences.

Vu Xuan Truong, an ambitious federal police captain named by Pheng,
has admitted involvement in a syndicate which shipped an estimated 300
kilograms of heroin from the Golden Triangle through Laos to Vietnam
and beyond.

Pheng's confession last July after months of silence earned him a
reprieve from President Le Duc Anh while new investigations were
launched.

Despite violent interrogation, Pheng refused to speak out, waiting for
Truong to free him. His old partner was initially involved in the
investigation.

But instead Truong, with help from other police, stole more than 16 kg
of heroin which Pheng had hidden in a car before his arrest.

Pheng's fate is uncertain. He is likely to face a closed-court hearing
in several weeks' time.

In theory he could face the executioner again, but is more likely to
be deported to Laos where authorities would make him serve a 10-year
sentence, sources said.

Truong says he is ready for the firing squad, but has not fulfilled
promises to name "extremely important people" during the trial. He
reportedly smashed his head on a water cistern in his cell in a bid to
kill himself.

Truong's brother, wife and mistress face jail for helping him hide and
deliver bags of high-grade heroin. His boss, Colonel Vu Ban, is facing
an eight-year jail term.

Truong's seniors have skirted all responsibility and none of the
estimated 140 generals running the notorious Interior Ministry have
been connected to the case, court sources said.
                 ___________________________________


Special forest guard force to be set up 

(SGT-HANOI) - A special armed force comprising forest rangers,
soldiers and policemen will be formed to protect forests efficiently,
said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Cong Tan.

The Government will take measures to strictly deal with those who
destroy forests, kill forest rangers or incite ethnic minority people
to cut down trees and sell wood, Mr. Tan said.

He added there are currently very few forest rangers, so forest
wreckers can easily to commit acts of violence.

Forest destruction in the Central Highlands has reached alarming
levels, he said, noting that the region currently has three million
hectares of forest, of which an estimated 20,000 hectares is
devastated per annum by migrants.
                 ___________________________________


1,000 tonnes of Viet rice accepted 

By GREG TORODE in Hanoi
South China Morning Post

The North has accepted 1,000 tonnes of free rice from Vietnam, after
previously rejecting a more generous offer.

Yesterday, Vietnamese government sources said the latest offer had
been accepted and only transportation had to be finalised.

"We have told them that it should be for the children," a source from
the Government's central office said. "We want to help the young
pioneers of North Korea."

Last month, Pyongyang knocked back an offer of 2,000 tonnes, hoping
for a more generous donation from one of its last fraternal communist
partners.

Other sources said Vietnam, one of the world's biggest grain exporters
after recovering from famines in the early 1980s, would soon offer
more free rice.

Vietnam ran up extensive debts with North Korea during leaner times,
which was complicating the current situation, sources said.

Despite the onset of mass starvation nationwide, Pyongyang refuses to
let Vietnam clear its debts with rice.

The regime is seeking up to 100,000 tonnes of grain on deferred
payment terms.

Some estimates suggest the North needs up to 1.3 million tonnes of
grain before the next harvest to avoid widespread starvation, after
two years of severe flooding.

During last month's mercy dash, North Korean Deputy Prime Minister
Kong Jin-tae left empty-handed, despite official Vietnamese
expressions of "profound sympathy".

Meanwhile, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam, during a
Pyongyang visit last week, reportedly told North Korean leaders Hanoi
wanted to "consolidate and promote" its old friendship.

Ties between the two countries have long been frosty, since Vietnam
drifted closer to the former Soviet Union and the North aligned with
Beijing.

Ideological rifts were compounded by Vietnam taking steps in 1992 to
normalise ties with South Korea.
                 ___________________________________


US Ambassador Peterson to present his credentials on
Wednesday

HANOI (AFP) - Former prisoner of war Douglas "Pete" Peterson will
present his credentials as the first US ambassador to Hanoi to the
Vietnamese government Wednesday sources said Tuesday.

Peterson, who arrived in Hanoi last Friday, will present his
credentials to vice president Nguyen Thi Binh on Wednesday morning at
the presidential palace, a Vietnamese source said.

According to a well informed foreign diplomat, Peterson will meet with
the vice president at 9 a.m.

Apart from a prepared speech which Peterson read to a crowd of
wellwishers who greeted him at the airport, the ambassador has kept a
low profile until being officially received by the Vietnamese
authorities.
                 ___________________________________


China Asks U.K. To Get Vietnamese Out Of HK Before July 1 

BEIJING (AP) -- China urged Britain Tuesday to make sure all
Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong are moved out before the colony
reverts to Chinese rule on July 1.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang decried as 'mistaken'
Britain's policy to allow Vietnamese fleeing their country to take
refuge in Hong Kong while seeking asylum elsewhere. It created
problems for the people of Hong Kong, he added.

'We hope that the British government, with the cooperation of the
international community, will undertake to resolve this problem
completely before July,' Shen told reporters at a routine media
briefing.

A senior U.N. official said Friday that a few hundred of the 4,000
Vietnamese asylum-seekers now in Hong Kong would likely still be in
the territory come July 1.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, assistant high commissioner for refugees, said
about 1,300 are classified as refugees. The Hong Kong government
considers the other 2,700 economic migrants and unqualified for
resettlement.

Some 2.4 million Indochinese fled the region after the end of the
Vietnam War in 1975. All but 5,500 have been resettled or sent back.

Shen said Hong Kong's first post-colonial government will have its own
policies on the asylum-seekers. He declined to elaborate on those
policies or say how the remaining Vietnamese would be affected.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam loses internationally-renown maverick man-of-letters

Hanoi (dpa) - Nguyen Khac Vien, a maverick man-of-letters who was both
a Vietnamese Communist Party member and one of its most pointed
critics, has died at the age of 84, according to the family.

Vien, a French-trained medical doctor who suffered for many years from
tuberculosis, died Saturday.

With a mandarin family background Vien attended French schools in the
colonial period in north-central Vietnam. He later chose to go into
medicine, one of a few professions open to self-respecting Vietnamese
elite.

Through work in a Hanoi hospital he quickly became disillusioned with
the high rate of recurring illness.

He set off to France during the inter-war period for additional
studies and was to remain there for 26 years until, as he recounted,
social conscience impelled him to return home.

``Modern studies in French schools had not succeeeded in blotting out
from my mind a very traditional idea which seemed to be deep-rooted in
each of us; how to repay one's debt to the country, to society,'' he
would write later.

But for all his services to building modern medical institutions in
Vietnam he never forgot his adopted home and remained a valuable link
between Hanoi and others sympathetic to Vietnam's cause and to the
sizable Vietnamese communities overseas, especially in France.

He reached a wide audience through his numerous writings about the
history and literature of Vietnam, and his editorship of the Vietnam
Courier, a newspaper that was published in several lanaguages for
friends of Vietnam around the world.

``He was a great Vietnamese writer who made major contributions to
cultural exchanges,'' said Mai Ly Quang, the director of the World
Publishing House, on Tuesday.

Among the numerous posts he had over his prolific life Vien served as
director and editor-in-chief of the World Publishing House.

He also devoted much of his attention and many of his books to the
psychological development of children.

Active in his retirement, Vien also used his unique prestige to
petition the party for greater openness and measured democratic steps.

According to at least one account, he first became disillusioned with
the Comunist Party's leadership as far back as 1982 when he wrote a
letter to the leadership calling for more real power be bestowed on
the elected, but essentially rubber-stamp, National Assembly.

Some of his most memorable attacks came in the form of poems and were
sometimes directed at members of the Politburo, the inner circle of
power in a commmunist system.

``He was part of the resilient opposition - he criticized the party
but in a very intelligent way which made people pay attention ...
unfortunately we have no one really like him nowadays,'' a party
intellectual lamented recently.
                 ___________________________________


HK Court Rejects 6 Of 7 Vietnam Refugee Re-screen Requests 

HONG KONG (AP) -- A Vietnamese asylum-seeker who says he fought for
the U.S. military in the Vietnam War won a court battle Tuesday to be
re-screened for refugee status, but six others were rebuffed.

They are among some 4,000 Vietnamese facing deportation to their
homeland, having been classed by the Hong Kong government as economic
migrants, not genuine refugees.

They carried out clandestine operations for U.S. Special Forces, but
kept their involvement secret from the Vietnam government until
fleeing to Hong Kong in 1990-91, said their lawyer, Wonyong Lai
Austin.

The court said it would issue a detailed verdict next week, and did
not explain why it accepted the petition of Tran Di Thuong, 50, but
not those of Moc A Pao, 46; Diep Hoai Sung, 47; Chenh Nhi Cong, 47;
Chieng A Ung, 70; On Canh Phong, 63, and his wife, Vong A Mui, 59.

They face deportation under the Hong Kong government's forced
repatriation program.

They are test cases for a larger group of 31, all of whom belong to
the Nung, an ethnic Chinese group from Vietnam, renowned as fiercely
anti-Communist fighters.

During refugee screening, their true identities were revealed, and all
feared political persecution by the Communist government in Vietnam,
Austin said.

Including family members, a total of 140 Nung are involved, she said.
The lawyer appealed to the U.S. government to give them all asylum.

Hong Kong is anxious to clear out all Vietnamese boat people before
China takes over on July 1.

According to government figures, 197,167 Vietnamese have arrived in
the British colony since 1975, of whom 142,925 were resettled
overseas.

All but 4,000 have been repatriated to Vietnam.
                 ___________________________________


Defendants prepare to face death in Vietnam trial 

By Adrian Edwards

HANOI, Vietnam (Reuter) - Judges met Tuesday to consider death
sentences in a drug case which has rocked the Communist country's
security establishment.

Judges were expected to follow a prosecution recommendation calling
for eight people to face death by firing squad. But court sources said
leniency might be shown toward two women who pleaded innocent.

Eight of the 14 others are expected to face life imprisonment, with
the rest set for terms of up to 20 years.

After a 10-day media frenzy surrounding the trial, state dailies
carried details of last statements made Monday by the 22 accused
shortly before court proceedings closed.

``There has been no injustice for me,'' said Vu Xuan Truong, the key
defendant and former captain in the Interior Ministry's anti-crime
unit. ``I ask the judges for my execution to be carried out quickly.''

Truong, who failed to make good on a promise to expose some
``extremely important people,'' called for lenient sentencing for his
wife and brother, also defendants.

But he said the judges should not hesitate to deal sternly with him
and two other leading players.

``They were involved in crime with me,'' he said. ``It was they who
asked me to share the dirty money.''

Final sentencing in the drug scandal was expected late Wednesday, but
the tone and content of officially sanctioned media has left little
room for doubt about verdicts.

``No matter where they might work... if they are involved in drug
trafficking or storage they must be punished, harshly punished,''
Communist Party chief Do Muoi was quoted as saying by the Ho Chi Minh
City Police newspaper.

In a stark commentary, Voice of Vietnam radio also criticized the
defense lawyers for defending their clients even after they had
admitted guilt.

``Public opinion raises the question: whether in the current market
economy lawyers work for defendants so that they are not
objective...and continue to defend the accused.''
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam: Asylum Seekers Reluctantly Head Home 

HANOI (IPS) - As the deadline nears for the June 30 clearing by Hong
Kong of its refugee holding camps, the Hanoi government and United
Nations officials are stepping up a campaign to convince Vietnamese
asylum seekers to return home.

The repatriation of Vietnamese asylum seekers is expected to
accelerate in the next several weeks, as the Chinese government has
said it wants first-asylum camps in Hong Kong closed when it regains
control over the territory on the midnight of June 30.

Some 2,600 Vietnamese asylum seekers still remain in Hong Kong's
crowded camps, and many doubt that all can be sent back to the country
by the June 30 handover.

The first asylum seekers were those who took part in the mass exodus
of more than 250,000 Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon in 1975. That
flood of refugees triggered an international effort to shelter and
then resettle the "boat people" in western countries.

But unlike the waves of boat people that washed up on shores of
neighboring countries then, most of the Vietnamese who fled in the
late 1980s were economic migrants and not political refugees. Many
countries view them as illegal immigrants.

Screening for genuine political refugees eligible for resettlement in
third countries was adopted under the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of
Action. Since then, the countries hosting Indochinese refugee camps,
along with Vietnam and the U.N., have been trying to persuade asylum
seekers to return to Vietnam.

At first, only a trickle volunteered to return home, since most
asylum-seekers were still hoping to resettle in the west. This led to
their forcible repatriation from camps in Hong Kong and the
Philippines amid protests and violence.

But the numbers of returnees began picking up as the prospects of
gaining asylum began to grow slimmer. As of last month, 109,199
Vietnamese have returned here from camps in Indonesia, Hong Kong,
Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, Thailand. All were
adjudged economic migrants.

Of that number, nearly nine-tenths or 94,241 persons returned
voluntarily while the rest were forced back, said the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Now, Vietnam is trying to convince remaining asylum seekers that
coming home is not as bad as they feared. Asian diplomats often point
out that the country is undergoing an economic boom.

In late April, Sergio Vieira de Mello, assistant U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees, told a press conference here that there
have been "no instances" of persecution of returning Vietnamese boat
people reported by its monitoring teams.

The Vietnamese government continues to adhere fully to its
commitments, ensuring that returnees enjoy amnesty concerning their
illegal departure from the country, he says.

Hopefully, he added, the saga of the Vietnamese boat people, one of
the most tragic examples of human suffering in the region's recent
history, is finally coming to an end.

Since 1989, UNHCR has been monitoring individual returnees, in some
cases visiting them repeatedly, to ensure that Vietnam keeps its
promise of amnesty for those who left the country illegally.
Monitoring activities by its eight international staff, fluent in
Vietnamese, will continue at least for the next two years.

But while the UNHCR efforts are laudable, Human Rights Watch/Asia said
in a recent report that returning to Vietnam is not without risk. It
details several cases of harassment and intimidation of returnees
after they resettled in Vietnam.

It reported that in September 1995, a weekly paper published by the
Hai Phong Security Police said officials had identified 79 political
suspects among 1,432 recent returnees.

Asylum seekers who have military backgrounds or were involved in
anti-communist activities while in Hong Kong camps have also been
harassed upon their return to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch/Asia added.

One returnee said the police often asked him about his involvement in
New Democracy, an anti-communist political group in Hong Kong's camps.
"Local police often come to see us. Living becomes relatively
complicated," he wrote in a June 1996 letter quoted by the Human
Rights Watch report.

At special risk are Vietnamese with security backgrounds who have been
interviewed by the Hong Kong Security Branch or U.S. defense officials
about Vietnam's command structure or internal security.

Often, Vietnamese officials find out who have been interviewed,
creating "a degree of danger for those asylum seekers who have been
involved in these types of activities," the Human Rights Watch report
pointed out.

In one case, a father in Vietnam wrote to his son in a Hong Kong camp,
saying public security officers searched their home and put them under
surveillance after learning he had provided documents to the Hong Kong
Security Branch.

At the very least, these suggest "the need for more vigilant
monitoring," Human Rights Watch said.

UNHCR officials said majority of the returnees have resumed their
normal lives in what they called a "truly remarkable achievement."

In 1996, UNHCR supported 129 reintegration projects at a cost of $2.8
million and is spending $5.3 million for this purpose in 1997. UNHCR
has spent $59 million for reintegration over the past seven years.

Catherine Bertrand, UNHCR chief representative in Hanoi, says the boat
people issue was largely resolved by the end of 1996. Indeed, last
year had marked the winding down of much of the network serving
Indochinese asylum seekers.

The UNHCR had cut funding for camps in Southeast Asia by June 30 last
year, leading to the closure of these camps throughout 1996, except in
Hong Kong. However, the territory's major camp, Whitehead Detention
Center, was closed in January 1997.

And despite China's June 30 deadline, more than a third of the 2,600
Vietnamese still there have not yet been cleared for return by the
Hanoi government, officials say. Even those Vietnamese found to be
refugees may not be resettled fast enough in time for Hong Kong's
handover.

This means that come midnight of June 30, a good number of Vietnamese
asylum seekers are likely to still be in Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch
says this opens up an uncertain future for them, since no one knows
how Hong Kong's new rulers will deal with the last of the boat people.
                 ___________________________________


Accused heroin gang kingpin asks for speedy execution

HANOI (AFP) - The alleged kingpin and former police captain who faces
a probable death penalty in Vietnam's biggest heroin smuggling trial
asked the court to make his execution speedy, reports said Tuesday.

"I would like my death sentence to be implemented quickly," the Quan
Doi Nhan Dan daily newspaper quoted Vu Xuan Truong as telling the
court on Monday.

Handcuffed and dressed in prison blues, the 37-year-old defendent
spoke calmly and clearly, asking the five presiding judges for
leniency towards his wife and younger brother.

"My wife and brother were dragged by me into this sinful business. The
truth is that they don't know anything and have no role in my
activities," said Truong, who has reportedly tried to take his own
life twice during the trial which began on May 2.

Truong's wife Nguyen Thi Lua, who is likely to receive a prison
sentence of 20 years, was arrested with him in July 1996, when
authorities found 4.9 kilograms (10.8 pounds) of heroin and 80,000
dollars.

His younger brother, Vu Thuong Kiet faces a possible life jail
sentence.

However Truong made no pleas on behalf of his mistress, Ta Thi Hien
who faces a possible life sentence and who admitted to the court "she
did everything for Truong out of love."

Twenty two people in all have been on trial for their alleged role in
a sophisticated heroin trafficking syndicate believed to have smuggled
as much 414 kilogrammes (910 pounds) into Vietnam since 1992.

Earlier this week it was reported that the prosecution had recommended
the death penalty for eight persons including Truong, police captain
Vu Phong Ma from Lai Chau province, and two women.

However sources on Tuesday told AFP that as many as 10 people may
receive the death penalty.

Possession of at least 100 grams of heroin in Vietnam is punishable by
death. The previous minimum level of kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin
was replaced with the stiffer limit last week by the National
Assembly.

While Truong sought leniency for nearly all of the people involved, he
singled out two other police officers who deserved harsh penalties for
their role in the syndicate.

"I'd like to ask the court to be lenient on other people except Chinh
and Tuan Anh. Those two have lied and they are the ones who helped
push me into the crime."

Vu Huu Chinh is a major in the economic police and Do Tuan Anh is a
lieutenant captain and driver in the anti crime police who both face
life sentences.

The court is expected to announce verdicts early Wednesday afternoon,
a process which may take several hours to allow judges to read
statements.

The case dates back to 1995 when two Laotians were arrested with 15
kilograms (33 pounds) of heroin. One of them, Sieng Pheng, earned a
last-minute reprieve from the firing squad in exchange for the names
of those involved in a massive drug-smuggling ring last June, leading
to the eventual arrest of 43 people.
                 ___________________________________


Sweden grants nearly 10 million dollars in assistance to
Vietnam 

HANOI (AFP) - Sweden signed two agreements Tuesday granting Vietnam
around 10 million dollars in financial assistance for research and
environmental protection projects, a diplomatic source said.

The agreements were signed during the visit of Swedish Environment
Minister Anna Lindh to Vietnam.

Sweden will initially earmark 5.5 million dollars from 1997 to 1999 to
fund research projects particularly in protected areas and other
sectors including oceanology, forestry and health, the Swedish
ambassador to Vietnam said.

The second accord worth 4.3 million dollars from 1997 to 2000, is
aimed at strengthening Vietnamese environmental protection structures,
particularly improvements in planning and personnel training for the
National Environment Agency.
                 ___________________________________


Court hears closing arguments in landmark drug trial 

HANOI (AP) -- Faced with the likely prospect of the death penalty, the
top defendant in a landmark drug trial used his closing remarks to
plead for mercy for his wife and brother.

Jurors on Tuesday retired to determine the fate of Vu Xuan Truong and
21 other defendants including Truong's wife and brother who are
accused of participating in a heroin smuggling ring.

Eleven police officers, border guards and customs agents are among the
defendants who allegedly helped ferry hundreds of kilograms (pounds)
of heroin and raw opium into Vietnam across the border with
neighboring Laos.

``My wife and brother were drawn into the criminal circle by me,'' the
state-run People's Army newspaper quoted Truong as telling the court.
``Please forgive them with your mercy and your generosity.''

Truong, a former police inspector, is likely to be sentenced to die
before a firing squad for his alleged crimes. Presumption of guilt is
the norm in Vietnamese trials, which generally focus on sentencing and
plea bargaining.

``I am in the courtroom to receive the highest sentence given to a
drug criminal,'' said Truong with a faint voice.

Guards at Truong's prison holding cell have been placed on a 24-hour
suicide watch. Earlier in the nine-day trial, he tried to kill himself
and on a separate occasion fainted while answering the prosecution's
questions.

Before the trial, Truong was full of bravado, threatening to implicate
senior Interior Ministry officials in his testimony.

Fearing what Truong might say, Vietnam's central government barred
foreign journalists and all but a few handpicked local reporters from
state-run media from the courtroom.

On Monday, a senior court justice stopped a defendant from testifying
that he sold raw heroin to a ranking Vietnamese police officer, the
state-run radio reported.

The judge did not explain her actions, and told the defendant he could
confess his dealings to police investigators in private.