VietNamNet Bridge – “Whether the Tien Lang land revocation case is a warning about the appearance of undercurrents among people, if the case is not solved reasonably,” lawyer Le Duc Tiet wrote in his diary on the field trip to Tien Lang, Hai Phong.

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Lawyer Tiet is a member of a working group of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee that recently made a field trip to Tien Lang to inspect the land seizure. He is vice chair of the Advisory Council on Democracy and Law of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.

Lawyer Tiet’s following article was published on online newswire VnExpress.

The land revocation on January 5 in Vinh Quang Commune, Tien Lang District of Hai Phong City has upseted local residents and people in other regions. Though the lunar New Year was very near, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee still sent a working group to Tien Lang to talk with local people, to learn about the situation and to help stabilize the situation.

Initial surveys show two completely opposite views of the cases between the local authorities and local people.

The purposes of land revocation: The Chair of the People’s Committee, the Chair of the Fatherland Front Committee, the chief of the PR Committee of Tien Lang District and the Chair of Vinh Quang Commune People’s Committee confirmed that land was revoked to build the Tien Lang Airport. The Director of Hai Phong Police Agency told the media that land must be revoked in advance so when the airport is built in the future, the state would not have to compensate many more billion dong to Vuon. The Party Secretary of Vinh Quang Commune said that land was revoked to serve the second sea encroachment plan to build a new residential area. The head of the Tien Lang District People’s Committee Office told the press curtly: “Revoking land first. Those who will be allocated with this land will be considered later.”

The local people said: Doan Van Vuon’s shrimp lagoon had been handed over to someone already even when the lagoon was not revoked yet. The land was not yet revoked but it had been divided into plots for sales. Many households have to face the fact that their aqua cultic lagoons would be revoked to share to officials.

Vuon’s personal record: The chief of PR Committee of Tien Lang District said that Vuon is an extravagant man who has lost all humanity. Vuon benefited a lot from the lagoon but he did not contribute highly to Vinh Quang commune. The Party Secretary of Vinh Quang commune said that Vuon is an “alien”, not a local man.

Local people said: In the past, they had to live in fear during the stormy season. Whenever storms came, they had to evacuate to avoid storms. Since Vuon’s family built the two kilometer dam, they have escaped from that fear. The shrimp lagoon also created more jobs for locals. Vuon is an educated man, a forestry engineer who could do the task that the local voluntary youth forces could not do. Vuon is not a local man but the local people are grateful to him. The dam, the coastal forest to prevent waves and the shrimp lagoon do not appear suddenly. Vuon’s family gambled with the God for tens of years. His child and his nephew drowned in that lagoon. Vuon now owes billions of dong. He had just harvested some fruits when his land was revoked. The fate of Vuon’s family is pitiful!

The local government’s decision to revoke Vuon’s land by force: The Chair of the People’s Committee, the Chair of Party Committee, the chief of PR Committee of Tien Lang District, the Chair and the Party Secretary of Vinh Quang commune said that Vuon is a criminal who resisted the law enforcement officers so he must be punished severely.

Hai Phong police officials said that it was a perfect plan to have the combination of police, border guard and military forces to deter those who opposed the law enforcement forces.

Hai Phong city’s Vice Chair said that Vuon’s house was destroyed by local people who were discontented with Vuon’s behaviors against the law enforcement forces.

In meeting with the working group of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, representatives of Vinh Quang commune’s authorities, Party Committee and Fatherland Front Committee said that the situation has become quiet.
Apparently, Tet atmosphere came to local people but talking with them, we clearly saw their disagreement against the local government.

They said: “The authorities mobilized bulldozers to destroy Vuon’s house but the city’s Vice Chair confirmed that local people did it. The government did the wrong thing but they shifted responsibility on people.”

Whether this is a warning of the appearance of undercurrents of storms among the people, if the case is not solved quickly and reasonably.

It was the last day (29th) of the lunar year so the working group could not stay there longer. On the way back, I kept thinking why there were two totally different views of the same incident. What made the difference between the views of officials and people?

Live and work according to the law is the basic rule of a state of law. In this case, the local executive and judicial bodies did not obey this principle so they made administrative decisions and verdicts that were not based on the law. It is a failure of the local government when they mobilized armed force to revoke land, which forced people to the dead end so they had to oppose the government by force. They cannot blame the people and cannot vindicate by any reason.

The discrimination between immigrants and locals was buried along with the feudal and colonial regime over 65 years ago. Now, through the statement of the Party Secretary of Vinh Quang commune, this discrimination which violates human rights has revived in not only thoughts but also in acts.

There are other different views between the local government and local people over this case. But the above points are the main ones. It is the task of relevant agencies in defining who did wrong and punishing them. As the “representative for the people to supervise the conformation of the law of state agencies, officials and citizens”, the Vietnam Fatherland Front will support the right and will protest decisions that are contrary to the law, if they are made.

Natural resources ministry probes Tieng Lang case

A Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment delegation Tuesday started working with Hai Phong officials to investigate the land revoking case in Tien Lang district, which drove farmers to shoot at six policemen and soldiers early January.

Le Van Lich, deputy head of the General Department of Land Management, serves as the delegation chief. The delegation deputy head is Le Quoc Trung, the ministry’s chief inspector.

Deputy Minister Chu Pham Ngoc Hien did not join the mission but said that after the delegation makes a report, the ministry’s leaders would promptly work with Hai Phong authorities.

The mission is to clarify who is responsible for the coercive land seizure in Vinh Quang Commune, Tien Lang District.

According to a report by the Hai Phong administration, the district People's Committee on January 5 mobilized more than 100 policemen to coercively confiscate land belonging to local man Doan Van Vuon. Vuon erected three barriers around the land, set off homemade mines, and opened fire on the police. Six officers were injured during the incident.

On January 10, he and three other members of his family were detained and prosecuted for attempted murder.

The incident has caused a stir among the community.

VNE