At least 56 prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience continued to be held throughout the year. At least 15 prisoners of conscience were released. At least a further 10 possible prisoners of conscience were arrested, tried and sentenced. A further 40 people were imprisoned for political offences following unfair trials. Fifty-three new death sentences and 18 executions were reported, but the actual numbers were believed to be much higher.

The government announced that revisions to the criminal code would be introduced; no details were given. Some senior members of the Vietnamese Communist Party publicly issued letters critical of the party's policies and calling for reform. Social unrest in Dong Nai province, prompted in November 1997 by local anger against perceived official corruption and land disputes, continued in January. President Tran Duc Luong approved two major prisoner amnesties in September and October, which included some political prisoners.

In October the UN Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance visited the country. He was prevented from meeting most religious dissidents. Viet Nam became an official member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in November.

Lack of official information and restrictions on freedom of expression made obtaining details of human rights violations difficult.

At least 56 prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience arrested in previous years and known to Amnesty International continued to be detained. During the year, it was learned that 17 members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who were expelled from Cambodia to Viet Nam in December 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), remained in detention without charge or trial in Ho Chi Minh City. Two others expelled at the same time were quickly released. It was also learned that four other members of the PAP who visited Viet Nam fromCambodia had been arrested in 1997 and were still detained. All were possible prisoners of conscience. The trial of newspaper editor Nguyen Hoang Linh, a prisoner of conscience who was arrested in October 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998), took place in October. He was found guilty of "taking advantage of democratic freedoms to damage the interests of the state, social organizations and the public" and sentenced to one year and 13 days in prison. He was released after the trial, having served his sentence in pre-trial detention.

Nguyen Dinh Huy, a former professor of English and history serving a 15-year prison sentence for his leadership of the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy (mupbd — see Amnesty International Reports 1996 and 1998), remained in prison throughout the year, as did 78-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Tan, a fellow mupbd member. Other elderly prisoners of conscience serving sentences for their peaceful political activities included Do Van Hung and his brother Do Van Thac, members of the Greater Viet Nam People's Party.

Prisoners of conscience remained in detention for their religious beliefs. Among them were the Supreme Patriarch of the unofficial Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (UBCV) Thich Huyen Quang, held without charge or trial for almost 14 years; and four members of the Catholic Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, including Brother Mai Duc Chuong (Nghi), who was serving a prison sentence of 16 and a half years for holding training courses and distributing religious books without permission. The government denied that it held any political prisoners.

At least 15 prisoners of conscience were among more than 7,000 prisoners who were released in two amnesties in September and October. They included Dr Nguyen Dan Que, an endocrinologist serving a 20-year prison sentence for founding the High Tide of Humanism Movement which called for peaceful political and economic change (see Amnesty International Reports 1991 and 1997). Membership of Amnesty International was the basis for one of the charges against him at his trial.

Doan Viet Hoat, a former English professor serving a 15-year prison sentence for his involvement in the Freedom Forum newsletter, was released and forcibly exiled to the USA.

Nguyen Van Thuan, a writer and former teacher imprisoned for his involvement in both the High Tide of Humanism Movement and the Freedom Forum, and who suffered serious health problems in prison, was released.

ubcv monks Thich Tri Sieu and Thich Tue Sy, who had been in detention since 1984 and were convicted in 1988 of "conducting activities to overthrow the people's administration", were released in the September amnesty. Thich Quang Do, Secretary General of the UBCV, and Thich Nhat Ban, both of whom were convicted in 1995 of involvement in an unofficial charitable mission to flood victims in 1994, were also released. So too were Brother Nguyen Chau Dat and Reverend Dinh Viet Hieu (Thuc) from the Cath-olic Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, who were both serving long sentences for holding training courses and distributing religious books without permission.

Ten followers of a Taiwan-based religious group were sentenced to prison terms of between 10 months and two years by a court in Bac Lieu province for "engaging in heretical propaganda and taking advantage of the people's rights to freedom and democracy to transgress state and public interests". They were possible prisoners of conscience.

At least 40 people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 11 years after unfair trials for offences relating to social unrest in Thai Binh province in 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998). The group — believed to include some public officials — was charged with disrupting public order, abuse of power while carrying out a public mission, and illegal arrest.It was believed that some of the defendants were involved in protests against local officials, some of which were violent. Information on the trial was limited. However, trials in Viet Nam, especially those relating to political offences, are routinely unfair, with defendants denied the right to call and question witnesses, and defence lawyers permitted only to plead for clemency.

Fifty-three death sentences and 18 executions were reported, but the actual numbers were believed to be much higher. Among those sentenced to death were four people convicted in June of drug trafficking in a continued crack-down by the authorities on so-called "social evils". One death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Among those executed were three men convicted of corruption in 1997. The executions by firing squad took place in public, with the victims blindfolded and gagged with a lemon in their mouth. Six men and one woman were executed in March following conviction for drugs offences in 1997. Witnesses reported that the woman fainted three times before the execution.

Amnesty International continued to call for the release of all prisoners of conscience, for fair trials of political prisoners, for the commutation of death sentences and for an end to the use of the death penalty. The organization wrote to President Tran Duc Luong welcoming the amnesties which led to the release of prisoners of conscience. In a report published in December, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: A step forward for human rights?, Amnesty International appealed to the authorities to release all remaining prisoners of conscience and ensure that proposed law reforms meet international human rights standards.