AMBASSADOR'S INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF PROTESTANTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002838

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM VM RELFREE HUMANR
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF PROTESTANTS
IN QUANG NINH AND OTHER RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ISSUES


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Ambassador visited Quang Ninh Province
October 17-19. During this visit he discussed religious
freedom issues with the People's Committee and met with
Protestant and Catholic leaders. Police harassed the
Protestants prior to the Ambassador's visit, but his
intervention with the Committee resulted in a police apology
to the Protestants and commitments to register their
heretofore-unregistered congregation. The Ambassador also
visited the priest of the local Catholic church, who noted
that only five priests serve Quang Ninh's (potential) ten
parishes because the local authorities have prevented the
Bishop from assigning more priests. General shortage of
priests is also a problem, the priest reported. Another
difficulty the priest described is the recovery of a number
of Catholic Church properties in the Province that are now
used as local housing. However, he asserted that the
situation for the growing number of Catholics in Quang Ninh
has improved dramatically since the church reestablished its
presence in 1989.


2. (SBU) Summary continued: The Protestants' difficulties
in Quang Ninh were a clear illustration of the GVN's
continuing difficulties with enforcing local implementation
of central policies on Religious Freedom, but the rapid
solution demonstrated that a small amount of pressure on
local authorities can positively change their behavior.
Catholic officials offered the valuable insight that the
number of Protestants in Quanh Ninh is relatively small, and
has a large percentage of refugees who converted to
Protestantism in refugee camps in Hong Kong before being
returned to Vietnam. These refugees are an automatic source
of suspicion to Vietnamese police because of their previous
efforts to seek refugee status. Quanh Ninh Catholics are
far better off, despite their difficulties in training and
assigning priests to parishes. The problem over
ecclesiastical properties is not likely to be settled
anytime soon. End Summary.

Problems Right Away in Meeting Protestants
--------------


3. (SBU) The Ambassador traveled to Quang Ninh Province from
October 17-19. Prior to this visit, the Embassy formally
requested permission from the People's Committee for the
Ambassador to meet with Catholic and Protestant leaders in
Halong City to learn more about any Religious Freedom
difficulties faced by their followers in this usually less-
problematic region. The Quang Ninh People's Committee
immediately granted permission to meet with Catholic leaders
but expressed dismay over the request to meet with
Protestants because it had not been part of the original
trip agenda, though they did not outright reject the
request.


4. (SBU) The Ambassador planned to meet with Protestant
leaders to learn more about the refusal of the Evangelical
Church of Vietnam North's (ECVN) June request to the local
Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) to register a House
Church of 30 believers in Halong City. On Sunday, October
16, twenty-four hours before the Ambassador's party departed
for the Province, the ECVN informed poloffs that their
followers had been hassled by plain-clothes police at their
place of worship that morning. That evening, officers
questioned individual leaders in their homes and made vague
threats about future "problems" if they persisted in meeting
with the Ambassador.


5. (SBU) Before departing for Quang Ninh on the morning of
October 17, poloffs conveyed the Ambassador's strong
displeasure about these developments directly to the foreign
relations officer of the Provincial People's Committee and
reiterated his desire to meet with the local Protestants.
On arrival in the Province, the Ambassador met with People's
Committee Vice Chairwoman Nhu Thi Lien at a welcome dinner.
In addition to other issues reported septels, the Ambassador
expressed his concerns regarding freedom of religion in
Quang Ninh, noting that although the United States and
Vietnam may not see eye-to-eye on the issue of religious
freedom, it is important that Vietnam work to improve its
record on religion. In particular, he praised the new
religious framework and the Prime Minister's "Instruction on
Protestantism" issued in March which set out clear
guidelines and instructions for the registration of
religious groups. He said he was therefore surprised to
hear that a protestant congregation in Quang Ninh that had
wanted to establish a church in Halong City had been refused
permission to do so. The Ambassador said he was also
concerned to hear that leaders of that group had been
harassed and threatened by police because he had asked to
meet with them, especially since this gave the impression to
others in Quang Ninh that the local authorities considered
the Protestants' activities illegal or at least
questionable. He added that he hoped that these were the
actions of overzealous police rather than efforts carried
out under official instruction from the provincial
government. The Ambassador concluded by reiterating his
desire to meet with the Protestants.


6. (SBU) Vice Chairwoman Lien responded that the Quang Ninh
Provincial Government has been working to implement the
GVN's new policies on religion in the province. She noted
that the CRA wants to help congregations register and
renovate their places of worship and has taken steps to
allow groups to collect donations from the local populace to
rebuild churches. As for the specific request from the
Evangelist Protestants, the CRA received a delegation in
June from ECVN, at which meeting the CRA indicated it would
create the "most favorable conditions possible" for the
registration of this group. However, the CRA has been
unable to register the church since then because the ECVN
application "remains incomplete." Nevertheless, Lien stated
her expectation that, in the end, the CRA will help the
group complete its application and registration as
instructed by the Prime Minister. She also emphasized that
a lack of a decision on this application was not necessarily
a negative response and should not be interpreted as such.
In conclusion, Lien expressed her belief that the police
officers in question likely were "only seeking greater
understanding of Protestantism" so local authorities could
"work to improve their situation." She made no objection to
the Ambassador meeting with the Protestants the following
morning.


7. (SBU) On October 18, the Ambassador received seven
members of the Protestant congregation led by Mr. Ngo Ba Tan
at his hotel in Halong. The hotel and security staffs were
under instructions to "register" the seven before they were
allowed to meet with the Ambassador. When challenged about
this new requirement, the hotel staff claimed that all such
guests coming to meetings at Quang Ninh hotels were required
to present their identification and register with the front
desk, however they later admitted that this was false. The
Ambassador insisted that registrations were unnecessary and
pulled the group into the meeting. Only three of the seven
were registered. A representative of the Quang Ninh
People's Committee tried to observe the meeting but
respected the Ambassador's request for a private discussion.


8. (SBU) Tan explained that their group of thirty believers
and lay pastors, from twenty families, has met in Halong
City for the last ten years. Many of them were arrested
from time to time in the past, he reported, but the number
of arrests has fallen as GVN religious policy changes. In
June, the Protestants decided to try and register their
congregation because of this perceived improvement. ECVN
applied on their behalf for both the right to register the
group and the right to send an ECVN Pastor from Hanoi to
preach to them. (The CRA refused to accept an application
from the group themselves). Both ECVN applications were
rejected exactly 45 days after the required waiting period
with a message that the applicants did not fulfill the
"required conditions" for application. Despite repeated
requests, the CRA refused to explain what these conditions
were.


9. (SBU) The Protestants asserted that since their
applications were submitted, they have faced continuous
troubles with local public security officials. These
troubles included more barriers against gathering for
worship and numerous late night visits from police officers
and public security officials. The officials informed
members of the congregation that their activities were
illegal because their application to register had been
officially denied. They also visited relatives of followers
to try and extort a list of the congregation from non-
members and to discourage them from associating with their
Protestant relations. Finally, the landlord of their place
of worship was instructed to stop allowing the Protestants
to meet in his building. The group has thus returned to
meeting in secret, making "the situation worse than it was
before our application". Tan noted that there have been no
outright arrests since the new laws on religion were
promulgated earlier this year; however, this continued
harassment showed that the police have found new ways to
keep pressure on them. Summing up, he said the CRA may
continue to make promises to help the Protestants, but
public security officials will continue to block their
registration.


10. (SBU) The Ambassador thanked the Protestant leaders for
this information and reviewed his conversation with the
People's Committee from the previous evening. He noted that
the Embassy will monitor the Protestants' situation in Quang
Ninh and encouraged the group to reapply for registration
and continue to work with the local CRA and with ECVN in
Hanoi to make this happen, but also to reach out to other
diplomats and international organizations to make sure their
case is heard and approved. International attention might
change their situation for the better, he said. The
Ambassador also promised to raise the Protestants' situation
with higher officials in the government, including members
of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).


11. (SBU) Five hours after this conversation, Tan informed
poloffs that the Protestants were visited by the same
security officials that had hassled them the previous
evening right after their conversation with the Ambassador;
however, the officers' tone was now "totally different."
They inquired politely about the substance of the
Protestants' meeting with the Ambassador and apologized for
any previous offense they might have given, especially the
evening before. The ECVN confirms that since this apology,
the Protestants in Quang Ninh have not been harassed in any
way. They also report that the local CRA held a meeting,
after the Ambassador's visit, with all government agencies
concerned with the Protestant issue in Quang Ninh to work
out a "common position" on the ECVN's application, but could
not say what this new position is.

Catholics
--------------


12. (SBU) Also on October 18, the Ambassador visited Father
Doan Thanh Vung at Hon Gai Parish church. Father Vung
explained that the church was originally established by the
French in 1930 for people working in the Quang Ninh Coal
mines, but was destroyed by U.S. bombing in 1967 and rebuilt
with assistance from the U.S. Embassy under Ambassador
Peterson and from foreign contributions. Vung has been
assigned to Hon Gai parish for thirteen years and actually
splits his time between the 3000 followers in Hon Gai and
3,500 followers in Cam Pha parish. He noted that at present
there are only five priests serving Quan Ninh's nine
parishes and 40,000 parishioners. There is also a sizable
island with 500-600 believers off shore that in reality
should be its own parish. Vung stated that the local
authorities have prevented the Bishop in Haiphong from
assigning more priests to the Province, though he noted that
the general shortage of priests is also a problem. In
addition, the GVN has refused to allow the establishment of
any cloisters or other holy orders in the Province, although
some young people have been able to go to seminary in Ho Chi
Minh City and Hanoi. Another problem facing the parish is
the recovery of a number of church properties in Halong city
that are now used as local housing. The church is
negotiating with the CRA to recover these and other
ecclesiastical properties, but have not been successful.
However, despite these problems, Father Vung asserted that
in his and other priests' opinions the situation for the
growing number of Catholics in Quang Ninh has improved
dramatically since the church reestablished its presence in
1989 after a forty-year hiatus. The priests meet on a
monthly basis to compare notes and coordinate ministry
efforts, including programs to assist the high number of
HIV/AIDS victims in the Province.


13. (SBU) The Ambassador asked if the priests had any
relationship with the small number of Protestants in Halong
City. Father Vung stated that the few "tens of families" of
Protestants are a new phenomenon for the area. Most of
these people are either immigrants from other parts of
Vietnam or returnees from refugee camps in Hong Kong where
they converted to Protestant Christianity. Vung observed
that this newness coupled with the general suspicion of
returned exiles were the main reasons why the local
authorities had not yet allowed the Protestants to register
an official place of worship. He said that the priests do
not have any formal contact with them; however, they do meet
on a personal basis around Christmas and Easter.


14. (SBU) Comment: The harassment of a Protestant
congregation over their application to register with the CRA
per government regulations, and especially the harassment
before the Ambassador's meeting with the group, is quite
surprising for such a forward looking province, but is
likely heavily affected by the population of "politically
unreliable" returned asylum seekers in the Protestant
community. This is particularly striking when compared with
the favorable conditions enjoyed by the Catholics in Quang
Ninh. This is a clear illustration of the GVN's continuing
difficulties with enforcing local implementation of central
policies on Religious Freedom. On the other hand, it is
also clear from this example that a small amount of
attention from the Embassy can exert strong pressure on
local authorities to change their behavior. The GVN seems
committed, at least in the short term, to making real
efforts to satisfy our Religious Freedom concerns, though
the issue of the disposition of ecclesiastical properties
currently being used for housing is not likely to be settled
anytime soon. End Comment.

BOARDMAN