Diary for Justice: A journal on the days of protest with aggrieved citizens at the National Assembly Office II on 194 Hoang Van Thu Street, Phu Nhuan, Ho Chi Minh City.
Monday, July 2, 2007
This is my first time coming to the National Assembly Office – Southern Region. Living in Saigon and spending the past ten years of my life fighting to resolve grievances, I am too well aware of the puppet role of the members of the National Assembly: They cannot do anything other than sit back and collect their monthly paychecks. As for the meetings, they either sleep through them or raise their hands like a machine. Once in a while, they pretend to be democratic by questioning other officials. After the meetings, all things stay as they were, all societal problems and issues remain unresolved. Injustice and grievances are escalating day by day.
I was told by others citizens that the government does not accept grievances here and we were told to go to 210 Vo Thi Sau Street, Ward 7, District 3 to submit our grievances. The aggrieved citizens adamantly refused to go away, they insisted on staying on location until Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung came and personally resolved their grievances by returning to them properties that were illegally confiscated by the local government.
As they have done before, the corrupted officials used tricks to disperse the protesters, asking them to return to their home provinces, and then submitted reports to the central government and the media saying that the grievances are groundless therefore the complaints were dismissed. I am surprised because I have encountered this experience before even when we have legitimate documents. The officials only practice the rules of the jungle.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
I met Miss Vu Thanh Phuong from Dong Nai Province at the protest. After many years of living temporarily at 1 Mai Xuan Thuong – Ha Noi, Thanh Phuong returned with so many documents and government orders. But the government is still sluggish with action while proclaiming its “anti-corruption successes,” leaving citizens moving back and forth trying to obtain justice.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
I arrived late to the protest area. The government has shut the gate, leaving a small gap for one person to enter or exit at a time. The protesters told me that the government no longer permits the protesters to stay in the front yard and it closed all the toilets.
Hearing calls for help by the protesters, I ran out onto the street and saw the police was beating a street sandwich vendor because he was selling sandwiches to the protesters without a government permit. Perhaps this is the new law recently issued in order to deal with the protesters by forbidding the sale of sandwiches in Ward 9 of the Phu Nhan District?
In the evening, several government representatives of the Phu Nhuan District came with representative of the National Assembly Office to meet the protesters and tell us that we should return to our home provinces. But I responded: “We were robbed of our homes, that’s why we live on the street. We came to demand the government to return our properties.”
The government representatives were puzzled by the crowd surrounding them with questions. They left by the back door, unable to answer any questions.
Friday, July 6, 2007
It rained today. Several protesters were soaked and became sick because they did not have shelter. Older women were given space near the front porches to escape the storm. The protesters encouraged each other to try to hold out and wait until Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung return from his trip to India. Everyone put in money to buy tarps because the number of aggrieved citizens coming from other provinces were increasing each day.
The plain-clothed police prevented a young man from selling water to the protesters, but he waited until the police left for the day and came back later when it was dark. What a group of cowards! Each year they promote each other with all kinds of medals and resounding titles such as “heroes of the armed forces exceling in protecting the country for the peace and happiness of the people!”.
Saturday, July 7, 007
Today I saw the posted announcement saying that the government would accept complaints of the aggrieved citizens at the Public Reception Office of the National Assembly located at 210 Vo Thi Sau, Ward 7, District 3. The protesters laughed when reading the announcement for it could only fool a three-year-old, because they have submitted complaints with many government agencies yet their grievances were tossed into trash bins or sold to recycling. The protesters said that they would draft a petition requesting the prime minister to shut down this agency to save the public’s budget.
It rained hard this afternoon so that no one could go out to buy food. We called the local restaurant to request delivery. The woman who delivered food to us had to look around first before she could bring in the food. Today is the weekend and therefore less plain-clothed police are patrolling around. Among the police force, there are a few who still have a conscience; they sympathize with the protesters and ignore themfffff.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Aggrieved citizens from other provinces such as Long An and Tien Giang have returned to their home town to check on their families and re-supply. In the past four days, the government locked the door to prohibit anyone from coming into the front yard. It is painful to see the elder women lying on the ground. Due to lack of water for bathing and cleaning, many began to have diarrhea and have itchy inflammatories all over their bodies while the majority of the protesters is having a cold or a headache. As for myself, as the youngest among the aggrieved citizens, I have to take pain reliever everyday. Ignoring the secret police’s propaganda that I am a spy planted among the protesters to collect information to arrest the protesters later, I and Miss Vu Thanh Phuong bring medicine to the protesters each day knowing that they (the secret police) would find any means possible to take revenge on me, because I was robbed yet I now stand up to expose the Vietnamese Communist government.
Monday, July 10, 2007
This morning, several officials of the Central Party’s office came to deliver a notice inviting the protesters from Tien Giang to return to their home town to resolve the grievances locally. The protesters discussed among themselves and sent a few people back to check on what would happen in their home town, while the rest stayed put because they know that if all return home, other protesters would be oppressed easily. If the government manages to silence the aggrieved citizens this time, they would surely permanently close the National Assembly Office II because the many protesters camping out in the front yard and on the street of this office nearly caused all of its activities to a cease.
Tuesday, July 11, 2007
This morning, the protesters from Ben Tre Province marched on the streets of Saigon while other protesters aimed amplifiers at the National Assembly Office II calling on Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to come out and resolve the grievances. The protesters also requested officials to open the door so that the aggrieved citizens could come in during the rain, but there was no response. That’s how the Vietnamese Communist government, which claims that is is of the people, for the people and by the people, looks like.
Wednesday, July 12, 2007
My sister Lu Thi Thu Trang and I marched on the streets in the center of Saigon with the aggrieved citizens from Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Kien Giang, Binh Thuan and Binh Dinh.
In our group, we have 39 people. We were accompanied every step by the Police 113, the traffic police, the “Volunteer Youths” and the local police. Wherever the protesters passed, the soldiers of the Military Command mobilized to block civilians from making contact with the protesters. When it was raining, we sought shelter inside Saigon’s Notre Dame Church, but they still followed us to see if we made contact with anyone. At 1:00 p.m., I returned to the Public Reception Office and learned that the police has robbed us of 50 boxes of instant noodle donated to the protesters by an anonymous donor.
Today is the ninth day since I joined the protest and I don’t know until when the prime minister will hear the cries of the southern farmers who were robbed of their homes, land and were brutally beaten for many years…and resolve them??? Corruption is escalating and spreading by the hour yet the central government is still apathetic and does not have a solution to resolve the issues. The government can only muzzle the truth with the people inside Vietnam, but it can not hide from the international community and the Vietnamese people abroad. After this protest, they will have a different view of the highest ranking government organization of Communist Vietnam, while the injustices that the Vietnamese people are bearing will be the hot topic that the government must face in the international court of opinion.
Written by a protester in Saigon
Citizen Lu Thi Thu Duyen
