August 15, 2007
Fetch the aspirin, because the communist regime in Hanoi has a new human-rights headache. A monthlong land protest in Ho Chi Minh City that was dispersed in July won’t bring down the authoritarian government. But it does expose the pressures economic development is placing on the Vietnamese Communist Party and how the proliferation of modern technology is intensifying those stresses.
Land was the flashpoint for the 27-day protest that stretched from June to July. Protesters converged in front of the National Assembly’s Ho Chi Minh City offices to air a range of grievances. Some claimed compensation for land seized decades ago. Other complaints related to corrupt local officials who have seized farmland for conversion to industrial uses in Vietnam’s booming economy.
For years, farmers have turned to the central government for help combating local corruption, and the latest protest was no exception. But aggrieved Vietnamese who thought their allegedly democratic National Assembly would help were sorely mistaken. Despite recent “elections,” it appears that not a single assembly delegate could be bothered to meet with his “constituents” during the month the protesters were in front of the National Assembly. Protesters, who were toughing it out in miserable, rainy weather much of the time, had to start a petition just to get permission to use the toilets in the building.
The regime in Hanoi eventually reverted to form, shutting down the protest with the help of security forces, tear gas, batons and some arrests, and most protesters were bused home. Some have been arrested at their homes in the weeks since, such as Ngo Luot, a 71-year-old protest leader who is currently being held without charge. His “crimes” include writing protest banners and wielding a megaphone. There are no signs that any of the grievances have been resolved.
Despite these setbacks, the protest could turn out in retrospect to mark an important development for Vietnam’s human-rights activists. Most notably, what started out as a peasant land protest ended up featuring a speech by a leader of the country’s nascent democracy and religious-rights movement, Thich Quang Do, head of the persecuted Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. This marks the first convergence of basic land protests and the human-rights movement. It may be a sign that some aggrieved peasants are starting to view their complaints as connected to the more abstract principles of freedom and democracy.
The role of modern technology was also more readily apparent than in previous protests. At least one protester told a pro-democracy radio station that she had first heard about the protest on the Internet. That may help explain why the protest gained numbers over the first few weeks — from a couple of hundred of individuals at first to more than 1,000 at its peak.
Protest leaders, who came from 19 of Vietnam’s 59 provinces, were able to exchange cellphone numbers to stay in touch.
Protestors were also able to use their cell phones to disseminate news of events on the ground in real time. One woman spoke to a dissident radio station about the mood of the protesters and what had drawn her to participate. Rights activists abroad received updates as often as hourly. Observers of Vietnam’s rights movement say this was one of the best-reported protests in the country’s recent history.
The protest shows that the Vietnamese people are growing more willing to air their grievances with the regime publicly and that they’re learning how to organize themselves to protest against it peacefully. The communist government won’t topple tomorrow, but Hanoi does have something to worry about.
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