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News release by Forum Vietnam 21

Vietnam After 37 Years in Peace Time

In the last few days, we marked for the 37th time the day, when 37th years ago, Communist troops from North VN took over South VN. 37 years have since gone by. Since then, what has become of the country re-unified by force ? 

During those 37 years, the winners from the North had ample time, more than enough, to presumably re-build the country from scratches and promote ensuing developments. But, real results have come out so inadequate, if not to say so disappointing and so far below all expectations ! The Hanoi regime chose, since 1975, the motto : INDEPENDENCE - FREEDOM - HAPPINESS to show (the world) the guideline for their government.

But then, there is definitely no question as to Independence: The communist regime in HN has never been more depending on China ! The mighty neighbor to the North has, despite all sovereignty-related conventions as recognized by the whole world, appropriated sizable territories from VN, e.g. areas along the Sino-Vietnamese border as well as the islands Hoang-Sa (Paracel) and Truong-Sa (Spratly) ... which rightfully belong to Vietnam ! Thereby, the SRV chose to close their eyes, making absolutely no move to counteract ! Worse still, they chose to arrest patriotic young Vietnamese who dared express their protest against China's acts of agression. Among such patriotic activists were Bui-Thi Minh-Hang, Viet-Khang (the composer of the song "Who are you ?", now widely-known in the world), and also Tran Thi Huong, a German citizen of Vietnamese origin who, within hours after an anti-China demonstration in Hanoi, was taken into police custody and quickly discarded out of VN.

Now, as to Freedom, there is also absolutely no such thing with Freedom of Opinion, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Religion ! Tens of thousands of dissidents, Human Right activists, ... have been, against all customary rules, put to jail. People who preached Human Rights on a non-violence basis like the French-educated Lawyer Cu Huy-Ha Vu, Medical Doctor  Nguyen Dan Que, Lawyer Le Cong Dinh,  Buddhist Reverend Thich Quang Do, Catholic Priest Nguyen van Ly, Blogger Dieu Cay, ... to name just a few, have been under dubious accusations and then disposed of, in jail or under long-term house arrest.

How about Happiness for the people ? A big, shameful disaster. Behind all the seemingly booming/nice-looking, facade of the capital of Hanoi, and Saigon too, the vietnamese people continue to live a life of poverty, of backwardness. The gap between the rich and the poor is only more and more widening. There came into being a "New Class" made up of "government servants" of all echelons, members of the Communist Party sitting in the government and running the government; they bluntly route all sources of public money, including funds for development, into ... their own pockets, and they did an excellent job with that ! They made corruption the "main evil problem" for VN, at this time. All platforms of the economy are impacted by corruption. Without "lubricating" funds everything would come to a hold!Everything would stay put, that is. Many Vietnamese farmers see their lands appropriated by agencies at very low compensations, or none at all, just confiscated in the name of "development for the people". A lawyer in the defense for such a case, by the name Tran Quoc Hien, was even himself sentenced to 5 years of prison.

So, in brief, in the place of Independence-Freedom-Happiness, as promised to the people by the totalitarian regime, what the Vietnamese people get in return turned out to be only: Dependence-to-China, Oppression, Suffering-and-Poverty, Lawlessness under Evil guidance.

For us Vietnamese, the way to Democracy, Freedom and Justice is still a long way ahead. We Vietnamese must struggle hard. Please help us in our Task, and together with us, demand the SRV Government to free, immediately, all political prisoners in VN.

Germany, April 30 2012 

Dr. Hong-An Duong

Forum Vietnam 21

Email: forumvietnam21@googlemail.com