all over the country to assist the police in mass arrest operations, and the use of fire-arms and brutality bv the militarv to repress peaceful demonstrations organized by peasants and students in the provinces. 7. Recently, the armv was mobilized to join police and security forces in a wave of arrests launched in December 1989 to implement "Directive 135". This Directive (chi chi) issued by the Council of Ministers calls for a clamp down on "all violations of national security" and the maintenance of a "firm control over national security and political stability". Five operations were launched over a period of six months, during which 26,747 people were "arrested and punished", of whom 2,151 were sentenced to hard labour and six E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/NGO/19 oage 3 were condemned to death. Althouqh the crimes were qenerallv described as "economic" by the official press, the IFHR and the Viet Nam Committee are informed that a larqe number are human riqhts campaiqners, religious diqnitaries and suspected Government critics who were arrested solely on account of their non-violent political views or reliqious beliefs. The Hanoi weekly "Dai Doan Ket" (No. 1, 2-8 January 1990), reported that an important proportion of the 8,600 arrested during the first operation in December were tried for "spreading illicit, counter-revolutionary culture". 8. In May, a further 6,000 people were arrested and sent to re-education camps, and a number of prominent religious dignitaries and non-violent opposition leaders were sent to prison or detained under house arrest. Nguyen Ho and Ta Ba Tong, former Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the "Club of Former Resistance Fighters", an organization of top-level South Vietnamese former military heroes and revolutionaries calling for wider political reform, were placed under house arrest in Ho Chi Minh City, as was former student 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the political situation in Vietnam, specifically the government's actions against peaceful demonstrations and opposition leaders. The use of military force, arrests, and re-education camps suggests that the focus is on political repression rather than economic development or social welfare.

**Category**
Humanitarian aid and relief, Human rights