VN-DEMOCRACY: Thai Binh Rose in Protest

FREE VIETNAM ALLIANCE
PRESS RELEASE

Large-scale Protests Across Thai Binh Province

For several days, people in Thai Binh province have risen up in various
locations to protest against oppression and injustice. The protests have
spread to nearby provinces, particularly Thanh Hoa province. 

Eyewitness accounts cited disturbances in early May of this year when people
from several districts of Thai Binh loudly denounced the government's
heavy-handed policies on compulsory labor contribution and taxation, as well
as government officials' arrogance, corruption, and autocratic behaviors
toward local residents. 

In June, thousands of people demonstrated orderly in front of the office of
the People's Committee of Thai Binh (provincial administration). The
Communist government publicly responded with a number of promises to look
into the grievances while quietly unleashing a brutal hunt for leaders of
the protest. Angry at the government's shady trick, people in various
districts staged civil disobedience in front of the People's Committee
offices in their respective districts and hamlets.
 
The situation was particularly tense at the Thai Thuy and Quynh Phu
districts in July. All administrative operations there have stopped
functioning. Most protests lasted beyond July 20, the date of the National
Assembly elections. A total of 52 hamlets no longer have People's Committees
and thus held no elections. Temporary self-directing committees were elected
to maintain order.

In mid-July, 1997, thousands of people staged sit-ins in front of the office
of the People's Committee of Thai Binh for several days despite Hanoi's
dispatching of military and anti-demonstration Public Security units to this
province. The Vietnamese Communist Party also sent Pham The Duyet, a member
of the Politburo from Thai Binh, to extinguish the protests in his home town. 

After a long silence, on July 24, 1997, Hanoi admitted to foreign
journalists of disturbances in Thai Binh and emphasized the government had
implemented measures to "resume order." These measures, according to
eyewitnesses, included the demotion of a number of local cadres to appease
the masses and waves of Public Security hunts which have detained hundreds
of people to date. In the last few days, some of those arrested were brought
on local TV to read their "confessions."

The non-violent protests by people of Thai Binh against heavy taxation and
government corruption were responded with quiet, yet brutal punishments from
the Vietnamese Communist Party and its government. Vietnamese across the
globe and international human rights organizations have closely monitored
the situation and expressed their support for the peaceful protests in Thai
Binh.

The Free Vietnam Alliance strongly condemns the oppression of people in Thai
Binh by the Vietnamese Communist authorities. We urgently call on all
Vietnamese inside and outside the country and the freedom-loving people of
the world to support the struggle of people in Thai Binh by demanding that
the Hanoi regime release those who have been detained and redress people's
grievances.

Paris, July 24, 1997
FREE VIETNAM ALLIANCE
Tel : (33) 01 46 30 37 85
Fax : (33) 01 46 30 34 97
email : lmvntd@filnet.fr



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|   \    / /\    /                                                       |
|    \  / /  \  /  The Free Vietnam Alliance (Lien Minh Viet Nam Tu Do)  |
|     \/ /    \/   Email: vndemo@fva.org - Web: http://www.fva.org/      |
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