VIETNAM: Law Leads Two Women Leaders to Different Worlds

Both chose the legal profession for their career path, and both are bent on fighting for more rights for the people. But the fortunes of Vietnamese women lawyers Tran Thi Quoc Khan and Le Thi Cong Nhan cannot be more different: One enjoys prominence in the National Assembly, while the other was just recently released from jail.

Their divergent tales show two faces of courage in Vietnam, where battling for rights remains a task that has to be handled not only with passion, but also great skill.

At 51, Quoc Khanh has two decades of experience over Cong Nhan. Aside from a master's degree in law, she holds two other diplomas, one in politics, the other in journalism. The mother of two children, Quoc Khanh began working at the Hanoi Department of Justice in 1995. By 2002, with the support of the Hanoi Bar Association and the Hanoi Fatherland Front, she had won a seat at Vietnam's National Assembly.

As a member of the Presidium of the Vietnam Women's Union and chief of its legal committee from January 2006 to December 2007, Khanh was endorsed by the Union and reelected to the legislature in 2008. She is now the permanent member of the Assembly's committee of science, technology and environment, and leader of the group of 12 women deputies.

To Quoc Khanh, too many loopholes have made this South-east Asian country's legal system ineffective. She has said that some laws "lack quality" and has been vocal about the need for the legislature to produce better ones.

"A law should be short, easy to understand, it should be workable and could be implemented at once when it is promulgated," she said at one Assembly session on the issue of "the results of law in the daily life".

Quoc Khanh has also told VietnamNet: "I think I must pay close attention to what's concerning the people in general, and prepare high quality comments, especially on the execution of the law in a way that both protects the national interest and the legal rights and interests of the people as well."

Her interest in advancing women's rights is well-known. She has commented, "Several clauses in the law on marriage and family had not been enforced yet. For instance, the rights of women on children and property after divorce have been sometime left aside, while issues like women and children trafficking and abuse have been neglected."

She piqued public interest, though, when she asked Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung about the rampant corruption in Vietnam's bureaucracy and received this reply: "I recall that in the past three years, I have not punished a single comrade."

Dung's answer prompted sour comments from the media – and from Quoc Khanh herself. She said in a VietnamNet interview, "Some constituents are quite aware that some local officials don't do their jobs well and commit violations that ought to be punished by superiors."

Yet while her strong views have only enhanced Quoc Khanh's reputation as an exemplary legislator, a similar stance has landed fellow lawyer Cong Nhan in trouble with the authorities.

The 30-year-old Cong Nhan was stripped of her status as a lawyer three years ago, when she was arrested and convicted for carrying out propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Born to a peasant family, Cong Nhan was released from jail on Mar. 6, just before International Women's Day. But she still has to complete another three years of house arrest.

In 2008, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch offered Cong Nhan the Hellman/Hammet award for courage in the face of political persecution.

Vietnam's media, however, either ignore her or disparage her. One short article in ‘People Police' newspaper shortly after her arrest in 2007, for example, described her as a "blind, stubborn lawyer". Her release from jail did not merit local media coverage.

After passing the bar in 2004, Cong Nhan worked at the Hanoi Bar Association for one year. In 2005 she joined Thien An, an independent law agency run by human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai. She soon followed Dai's steps.

Starting with articles that said the Trade Union of Vietnam was betraying workers' rights, Cong Nhan went on to criticise the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) itself and to question Article 4 of the constitution, which defines the party as "the loyal representative of the working class, labourers and the whole nation".

Cong Nhan took active part in a movement for pluralism and multiparty in Vietnam, becoming the official spokeswoman of the Vietnam Progressive Party, one of several opposition groups that came up when the government temporarily eased some restrictions in 2006. This was deemed illegal since only the VCP can operate legally in Vietnam.

Cong Nhan also joined Block 8406, a pro-democracy group named after the date it first publicly called for a political transition toward more participatory democracy.

Cong Nhan took issue with Premier Nguyen Tan Dung's directive that tightens media control (Directive 37). She said, "As a lawyer, and based on my own understanding, I declare that Directive 37 is totally unconstitutional."

At her trial, Cong Nhan admitted being a member of a banned political organisation. But she denied having violated the law, insisting that while the constitution gives the Communist Party a leading role, it has "no provision that forbids the foundation of a party in Vietnam".

Since her recent release, she has been detained by police for speaking to two international news organisations and violating the terms of her house arrest.

There are no indications that she and Tran Thi Quoc Khanh have ever crossed paths