CORRESPONDENCE - 85A COMBINED REPORTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM 2012

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VIETNAM 17 democracy; or questioned policies on sensitive matters such as human rights, religious freedom, or sovereignty disputes with China. Freedom of Press: The CPV, government, and party- controlled mass organizations controlled all print, broadcast, and electronic media. The government exercised oversight through the Ministry of Information and Communication, under the overall guidance of the CPV Propaganda and Education Commission. Private ownership of any media outlet continued to be prohibited. Foreign journalists must be approved by the Foreign Ministry's press center and based in Hanoi, with the exception during the year of one correspondent reporting solely on economic matters who lived in and worked from Ho Chi Minh City while accredited to Hanoi. Foreign journalists are required to renew their visas every three to six months. The allowed number of foreign media employees was limited, and Vietnamese employees working for foreign media are required to register with the Foreign Ministry. The procedure for foreign media outlets to hire local reporters and photographers and receive accreditation approval continued to be cumbersome. The press center nominally monitored journalists' activities and approved, on a case -by -case basis, requests for interviews, photographs, filming, or travel, which must be submitted at least five days in advance. Reporters temporarily on assignment in the country are typically assigned a Foreign Ministry minder - -with the cost paid by the news organization. By law foreign journalists are required to address all questions to government agencies through the Foreign Ministry, although this procedure often was ignored in practice. Foreign journalists noted that they notified authorities about their travel outside Hanoi when it involved a story that the government would consider sensitive or where the travel was in an area considered sensitive, such as the Northwest or Central Highlands. Violence and Harassment: During the year security officials attacked or threatened several journalists reportedly because of their coverage of sensitive stories. For example, in February Ho Chi Minh City police detained freelance reporter Ta Phong Tan, a member of the Free Journalists Club, for 24 hours and allegedly beat him for writing articles critical of government policies. In April police arrested publisher Bui Chat after he returned from overseas where the NGO International Publishers Association had given him their Freedom to Publish Award. Police held Chat for four days and later summoned him for further questioning by security officials. Several days later police detained blogger Ngo