VI:Texas Friends support Thai Binh protests

Texas Friends For A Free Vietnam Committee
P.O. Box 262323, Houston, Texas 77207-USA
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 Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An
provinces. 

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 Texas Friends For A Free Vietnam Committee 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.

Houston,  August 11, 1997

Contact: David Stockman, Secretary General, Texas Friends For A Free Vietnam
Commitee: (713) 687-1625 (p)