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

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VIETNAM E Thanh Tu (also known as Thien Sau) in Ho Chi Minh City, as he tried to depart on an international flight, and questioned him about his affiliation with Bui Chat. In June authorities detained Chat overnight in Ho Chi Minh City and prevented his attendance at a foreign embassy ceremony in Hanoi. In August a court sentenced Phan Ha Binh, deputy managing editor of Tien Phong, to seven years in prison for extortion. Authorities had arrested Binh in October 2010 and accused him of soliciting a VND 220 million (approximately $10,500) bribe from a cement company and threatening to write negative articles. Multiple reporters for foreign news organizations reported harassment by security officials, including threats not to renew their visas if they continued to publish stories on sensitive topics. Censorship or Content Restrictions: The Ministry of Information and Communication and the Propaganda and Education Commission frequently intervened directly to dictate or censor a story. More often, however, the party and government maintained control over media content through pervasive self - censorship, backed by the threat of dismissal and possible arrest. As long as the government did not deem their content to have been "sensitive," authorities permitted some private investors to operate television channels and news - aggregator Web sites and publish certain pages in newspapers. Despite the continued growth of Internet blogs, the party and government increased efforts to suppress press freedom, continuing a three - year -old "rectification" campaign. In February Prime Ministerial Decree Number 2, "Sanctions for Administrative Violations in Journalism and Publishing" went into effect. It stipulates fines between VND one million and 42 million (approximately $50- 2,100) for journalists, newspapers, and online media which fail to comply with broad, vague provisions that require "providing honest domestic and international news in accordance with the interests of the country and the people." The decree- - which officials described as "simply an administrative act " -- authorizes branches of the government to impose fines on journalists and newspapers at any time, based on arbitrary determinations by ministries and officials at various levels about what constitutes "the interests of the country and the people." Article 7 of the decree imposes fines of VND 10.5 million to 21 million ($500- 1,000) on journalists who fail to publish their sources of information and similar fines on journalists and newspapers that "use documents and materials from organizations and personal letters and materials from individuals."