The human rights situation worsened in the Central Highlands following demonstrations by members of ethnic minority groups (Montagnards) in April. The ensuing government crackdown resulted in the deaths of at least eight protesters and many injured. This was followed by tight government controls on access and communications with the region. Freedom of expression nationally remained severely limited. Trials of political dissidents continued throughout 2004. Repression of religious denominations not sanctioned by the state continued. A high number of death sentences and executions were reported.


Background

Indicators such as life expectancy, literacy, health and living standards suggested real progress towards the realization of economic, cultural and social rights. However, ethnic minority areas fell behind national trends.

Corruption scandals involving government officials dominated the domestic news. In the first stage of the most significant prisoner amnesties since 1998, more than 8,000 prisoners were given early release. No prisoners of conscience were known to have been released. In October Viet Nam hosted the biennial Asia-Europe (ASEM) meeting. A parallel non-governmental organization People's Forum attended by some Asian and European human rights and development groups also took place under tight control and media restrictions. The Vietnamese authorities prevented one Cambodian group from taking part. Vietnamese participation was restricted to organizations under state control.

A new Criminal Procedure Code came into effect on 1 July. A raft of new Internet regulations were introduced to further control access to information, especially sites run by overseas Vietnamese opposition groups. Viet Nam continued to deny access to independent human rights monitors.

Central Highlands

On 10 and 11 April, thousands of Montagnard people, including women and children, protested against government policies in three provinces of the Central Highlands. Most of the protesters were Christians who had planned five days of peaceful protests about long-standing land ownership and religious freedom issues, and about additional restrictions on freedom of movement, communication and religious practice imposed since the last major protests in 2001. Disproportionate and brutal force was used to break up the demonstrations. At least eight people were unlawfully killed and many hundreds injured in the ensuing crackdown.

The Central Highlands was effectively cut off for several months after April. All communication, including telephone contact, was extremely difficult. Diplomats and journalists were permitted to visit the region only under close supervision.

Arrests and trials continued of those linked to the 2001 unrest, its aftermath, and the April 2004 incidents. Hundreds of Montagnard asylum-seekers continued to attempt to flee to neighbouring Cambodia . At least 142 people have been sentenced to long prison terms since the 2001 unrest, including 31 in 2004. The fate of hundreds of others arrested was not known.

Nine members of the Ede ethnic group – Y Hoang Bkrong, Y K'rec Bya, Y Kuang E Cam, Y Nguyen Kdoh, Y Ruan Bya, Y Tan Nie, Y Tlup Adrong, Yben Nie and Y Som H'mok – were sentenced to between five and 12 years' imprisonment by Dak Lak Provincial People's Court on 11 and 12 August under Article 87 of the Criminal Code. All were accused of “on many occasions, [having] gathered a large group of Ede people to persuade them to oppose the state policy on nationalities”.



Detention and trial of government critics

Dissidents critical of government policies who used the Internet to share information continued to be prosecuted. In January a decree was issued classifying as “state secrets” official documents related to trials of people accused of national security offences.

In July Dr Nguyen Dan Que, 62, a former prisoner of conscience and human rights advocate arrested in March 2003, was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment following a three-hour trial at which he had no legal representation. He was charged with “abusing democratic rights to jeopardize the interests of the State” under Article 258 of the Penal Code. After the trial he was moved to a prison camp in northern Viet Nam , more than two days' journey from his family home. Dr Que had previously spent 18 years in prison, also for his public opposition to government policies. He was in poor health.

Pham Que Duong, 73, a well-respected military historian critical of government policies, was tried in July and sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment under Article 258 of the Penal Code. He had already spent this period in pre-trial detention and was released shortly afterwards.



Suppression of religious freedom

A new religious decree came into effect in November. It was criticized by several religious groups in Viet Nam as codifying existing state control over all aspects of religious life.

Members of unauthorized religious denominations continued to face repression including harassment, forced renunciation of their faith, administrative detention and imprisonment. Members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) faced particularly harsh treatment and their leadership remained under house arrest. Members of evangelical protestant churches also faced harassment.

• Mennonite pastor and human rights activist Nguyen Hong Quang was arrested and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in November. Pastor Quang had been outspoken about the situation of religious freedoms in the Central Highlands for ethnic minority groups, and had defended farmers in land rights cases.
   
• Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest and vocal critic of government policies, had his prison sentence reduced for the second time, to five years, in response to international criticism. He had been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 2001 under vaguely worded national security legislation.
   
• Thich Tri Luc, a UBCV monk, was tried in March and sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment on charges of having “distorted the government's policies on national unity and contacted hostile groups to undermine the government's internal security and foreign affairs”. He was released in late March having already spent 20 months in pre-trial detention, and gained asylum in Sweden . He had been recognized as a refugee by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cambodia in 2002, but was abducted from Cambodia by Vietnamese agents and held for almost a year incommunicado before his trial. On his release, Thich Tri Luc confirmed both the Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities' role and collusion in his abduction.

• Tran Thi My Ha, 31, was executed on 17 November by firing squad at Tan Xuan execution ground in Quang Nam province. She had been sentenced to death in August 2003 after being convicted of running a network trafficking counterfeit money.
• Nguyen Thi Ha, 48, was executed at Long Binh execution ground in Ho Chi Minh City on 9 April in front of hundreds of spectators. She had been sentenced to death for smuggling heroin.