DISCUSSIONS WITH VIETNAM ON CPC ACTION

UNCLAS HANOI 000716

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KIRF PHUM PGOV VM RELFREE HUMANR
SUBJECT: DISCUSSIONS WITH VIETNAM ON CPC ACTION


1. (SBU) Summary: Bilateral discussions between the USG and
GVN to address the issue of Country of Particular Concern
(CPC) designation and Presidential action have stalled on
the form, rather than substance, of a bilateral "binding
agreement" as allowed by the International Religious Freedom
Act. In discussions with senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs
interlocutors, Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom John Hanford said that the USG views
recent Vietnamese legislation on religion and the freeing of
some prisoners as positive signs, but that a bilateral
agreement is needed to confirm that these trends would
continue. The GVN had initially welcomed an "action plan"
in the form of an exchange of notes and expressed a desire
to negotiate the action plan before March 15. However, the
day before negotiations were to begin, the Vietnamese
relayed objections by some GVN constituencies to "United
States pressure" on Vietnamese domestic policy. In place of
an exchange of notes, the GVN proposed an exchange of
letters that would lay out recent accomplishments and
planned GVN actions in the area of religious freedom.
Discussions approached uniformity on the substance of the
letter that would be exchanged, but ultimately became hung
up on the use of the word "agreement." The GVN's most
recent proposed text of their letter is attached. At the
close of discussions, disparity remained between the USG and
GVN positions on a number of areas of this text. Post
believes that these differences can be bridged if the USG
engages in some delicate wordsmithing that will outline the
commitments the GVN is willing to make and qualify as a
binding agreement, while allowing the GVN to save face in
the eyes of conservative elements. End summary.


2. (SBU) Bilateral discussions on a way to deal with
required CPC-related Presidential action began with an
initial March 3 meeting between Assistant Foreign Minister
Americas Desk Director Nguyen Duc Hung and Ambassador
Marine, followed by a March 4 session involving Ambassador
Marine, Ambassador at Large for International Religious
Freedom John Hanford, PolCouns, DRL/IRF Officer and Poloff
representing the USG, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Le Van Bang, AFM Hung, MFA International Organizations
Director Pham Binh Minh and an Americas Desk officer
representing the GVN. From March 7 to 11, the USG and GVN
held daily meetings to discuss the issue, during which Le
Van Bang and Nguyen Duc Hung served as principal
interlocutors.

Background
--------------


3. (SBU) In January, after consultations between Ambassador
Hanford, NSC Senior Director for Asia Michael Green and
Ambassador Marine, the decision was made to approach the GVN
with the option of a binding agreement in the form of a
"work plan" in which the GVN would commit to progress in key
areas in writing through an exchange of notes. This idea
was first signaled in phone calls by Ambassador Hanford to
Committee for Religious Affairs Chairman Thi and Vice
Foreign Minister Le Van Bang as well as in meetings between
Ambassador Marine and VFM Bang. During his early February
visit to Hanoi, Dr. Green presented this proposal in greater
detail in meetings with VFM Bang and AFM Hung. Dr. Green
suggested a 90-day extension of the deadline in order to
allow time to negotiate the exchange of notes. AFM Hung
expressed the GVN's preference to conclude the exchange in
the form of an "action plan" before the USG's March 15
deadline. In a subsequent discussion with DCM John
Boardman, Hung said he had approval from the Minister of
Foreign Affairs to proceed with discussions to reach an
understanding. Given this stated desire of the GVN to
pursue an exchange of notes, Ambassador Hanford scheduled a
March 4 to March 9 visit to Hanoi to negotiate the
agreement. In preparation for this visit, to create a point
from which to begin negotiations, the USG sent a draft "plan
of action" that included positive steps the GVN had taken
and actions it would take.


4. (SBU) In a March 3 meeting with Ambassador Marine, Hung
stated that the GVN wanted to make a conclusive arrangement
that would end the issue of CPC, but that the idea of a
"plan of action" or "work plan" is not agreeable to many
within the GVN. An exchange of letters between Vice
Minister Bang and Ambassador Hanford would be the best
option, Hung advised.

USG Sets Out its Position
--------------


5. (SBU) At their first meeting March 4, Ambassador Hanford
told VFM Bang that he saw "promising progress" in the area
of religious freedom in Vietnam and was seeking a way to
deal with the issue of required CPC actions that did not
derail this. Furthermore, "moving beyond" the CPC issue
would better set the stage for PM Phan Van Khai's possible
visit to Washington this summer and the expected trip of
President Bush to APEC in Hanoi in 2006. There is
considerable suppQt in Washington for concluding a binding
agreement that would allow us to avoid sanctions. Such an
agreement ought to cover the areas of forced renunciations,
registration and opening of new and previously closed
churches, release of prisoners of concern and an end to the
physical abuse of religious practitioners, Ambassador
Hanford said. The agreement would include a USG commitment
to recommend the removal of Vietnam from the CPC list once
the commitments made by the GVN had been fully implemented.
Vietnam has already taken or indicated it plans to take
action in these areas, so this is not a question of forcing
new policies on the GVN, he stressed. Ambassador Marine
noted that while Vietnam has made a number of positive legal
changes, it still needs a way of conveying to the USG that
these laws would be put into practice.

GVN: Keeping up Appearances
--------------


6. (SBU) VFM Bang talked to the broad range of cooperation
between the United States and Vietnam and asked the USG to
consider disputes over religion as "just a part of this."
He said that commitments the GVN had made to Ambassador
Hanford and to DRL DAS Elizabeth Dugan in the past have been
implemented. Further, he listed recent "positive
improvements" that the GVN has taken in the area of
religion. The USG should think about "its constituencies in
Vietnam," however. Conservatives in the GVN are opposed to
the USG ordering Vietnam to make promises on domestic
policies. "I do not believe I can deliver this," Bang said,
referring to the USG action plan that numerically listed GVN
obligations to improve religious freedom. Instead, VFM Bang
proposed that the GVN could exchange letters with the USG in
which the USG sets forth requests and the GVN responds by
stating its planned actions. This would be an "official"
and "legal" paper that makes GVN commitments, VFM Bang
stated. He then urged the USG to "take no action" on CPC
sanctions.


7. (SBU) On March 7, the USG delegation met with AFM Hung
and Americas Desk officers. Ambassador Hanford indicated
Department lawyers had advised him that an exchange of
letters would be acceptable, but that both sides would have
to coordinate language. Hung responded that the GVN could
be "flexible on substance," but "inflexible on form." He
suggested that the GVN and USG send each other letters
stating whatever they wished and proposed a "gentlemen's
agreement" that the GVN would implement the measures
outlined in its letter. In a follow-up meeting later that
day, VFM Bang opined that the USG and GVN might have issues
with each other's letters but that there is general
agreement on the core substance. Responding to this,
Ambassador Hanford stated that the letters must meet certain
criteria; that they must constitute an official commitment;
and, to avoid alternative CPC-related actions, such as
sanctions, the GVN and USG must agree on the issues laid out
in the letters. Concerning the degree to which the letters
must overlap in language, Hanford agreed to consult with the
Department.

Working out the Issues
--------------


8. (SBU) The following day, the GVN provided its first draft
letter. The draft outlined many recent actions related to
religion, but also made a number of additional assertions,
including: bilateral relations are based on the principle
of "non-interference into each other's internal affairs;"
"any argument that Vietnam violates freedom of religion is
groundless with bad intention;" "there is no arrest because
of religions reason;" and "those arrested never suffer from
abuses or mistreatment." The letter also addressed a number
of Vietnamese security concerns regarding exile groups
operating in the United States.


9. (SBU) Ambassador Hanford relayed the Department's legal
guidance that the GVN and USG letters must be "identical."
He then discussed draft language that excised those issues

not germane to the issue of religious freedom, sought to
reword broad assertions into neutral statements of
Vietnamese policy and suggested language that would make the
letter acceptable to the USG as an agreement. For the time
being, the USG did not address grammatical errors in the
Vietnamese letter. Ambassador Hanford also noted that
language to the effect, "This letter and your reply shall
constitute an agreement between the parties that enters into
force on this date" would have to be included in the text as
a final sentence. Later on the same day, based on the
points above and upon the GVN letter, Ambassador Hanford
presented the GVN with an alternative letter designed to be
acceptable to both parties.


10. (SBU) On March 9, AFM Hung presented Ambassador Hanford
with a second version of the GVN letter. Ambassadors
Hanford and Marine and AFM Hung held morning and evening
discussions concerning revisions to this letter that would
be desirable and/or necessary before the USG could agree to
its contents.


11. (SBU) On March 10, Vice Minister Bang unexpectedly
presented Ambassador Hanford a final, signed and "official"
version of the GVN's letter, attached below. The letter
accepted many of the USG's suggestions, but reinserted
language about non-interference in each other's internal
affairs, as well as statements that there are no arrests for
religious reasons in Vietnam and no abuse of prisoners in
detention. Furthermore, the letter did not incorporate the
final sentence Ambassador Hanford had proposed. Ambassador
Hanford reiterated that, to fulfill legal requirements of
the IRF Act, the letters must form an agreement. VFM Bang
stated that he had provided an official GVN commitment but
that he did not believe the type of agreement to which
Hanford was referring would be possible. However, at the
conclusion of the meeting VFM Bang agreed to take the issue
to his superiors.


12. (SBU) On March 11, in a meeting with PolCouns and
Poloff, Americas Desk Deputy Director Nguyen Ba Hung said
that the GVN was hung up on the word "agreement." The GVN
also wished to reopen discussion on the letter to include
some text dealing with security issues, but could not
further consider any of the USG's suggestions. Later that
day Ambassador Hanford and VFM Le Van Bang held a final
meeting, together with AFM Hung, PolCouns, PolOff and
DRL/IRF officer. Ambassador Hanford stated his willingness
to work hard within the Department to generate alternative
language for the closing sentence of the letters. However,
he reaffirmed that, regardless of the language adopted, the
letters must form an agreement between the two countries to
qualify as a Presidential action under the IRF Act.

Comment
--------------


13. (SBU) Comment: We believe that both sides have come to
agreement on nearly all of the substantive issues that the
USG would like a binding agreement to address. Furthermore,
while the MFA is under pressure to include language on
arrests, prisoner abuse and security concerns, we do believe
this issue can be resolved. We recall AFM Hung's comment
that form is more important that substance to the GVN. The
best way to settle this issue may be for the USG to engage
in some delicate wordsmithing that will outline the
commitments the GVN is willing to make and qualify as a
binding agreement, while allowing the GVN to save face in
the eyes of conservative elements. End Comment.


14. (U) Ambassador Hanford has cleared this cable.


15. (SBU) Text of the GVN's proposed letter:

// begin text //

H.E. John V. Hanford III
Ambassador at Large for
International Religious Freedom
Department of State
United States of America

Hanoi, March 10, 2005

Dear Mr. Ambassador

In 2005, Vietnam and the United States will celebrate the
10th Anniversary of the establishment of bilateral

diplomatic relations. After decades of hostility, the two
countries have not only normalized their relations but also
expanded cooperation and exchanges in various areas:
intense contacts between representatives of legislative and
executive branches and other circles have taken place;
economic and trade cooperation has seen strong growth,
benefiting both sides; cooperation in humanitarian issues,
such as MIA-POW, counter-terrorism, trans-national crimes,
counter-narcotics and HIV/AIDS have seen positive
developments; channels for dialogues on issues of mutual
concern, including human rights have been established.
Multilaterally, the two sides have worked together under the
framework of dialogue between the U.S. and ASEAN, with
Vietnam as a member, the ASEAN Regional Security Forum
(ARF),APEC.

One of the factors attributed to the above-mentioned
remarkable developments is the guiding principles of U.S.-
Vietnam relations laid down when the two countries
established diplomatic relations, namely mutual respect for
independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-
interference in each other's internal affairs, equal and
mutually beneficial cooperation.

Vietnam is willing to continue enhancing and expanding the
multi-faceted relations with the U.S. on a stable and long-
term basis and in conformity with the above-mentioned
principles with the understanding that the relations between
Vietnam and the United States not only bring benefits to
both countries but also contribute to stability and
cooperation for development in Southeast Asia and the Asia-
Pacific region.

After protracted years of wars, the Vietnamese people have
recorded their independence, sovereignty, and the rights to
self-determination and democracy.

The fundamental rights of the Vietnamese people are clearly
inscribed in Article 50 of the 1992 Constitution: "In the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, people's political, civil,
economic, cultural and social rights are respected, as
demonstrated in citizen's rights and prescribed in the
Constitution and laws".

With regard to the right to religious freedom, particularly,
Decree No 234/SL dated 14 June 1955 stated clearly: "the
Government ensures the freedom of belief and worship and the
right to follow or not to follow any religion".

Article 1 of the Ordinance on Belief and Religion approved
by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on 18
June 2004 prescribes that "citizens have the right to
freedom of belief and religion, follow or not to follow a
religion. The State guarantees the right to freedom of
belief and religion of its citizens. Nobody is allowed to
infringe upon that right. All religions are equal before the
law." This is also reiterated in the Government Decree No
22/2005/NDCP guiding the implementation the above-mentioned
Ordinance released on 1 March 2005, which provides for "the
strict prohibition of forcing citizens to follow or renounce
religions. All acts of violation. shall be dealt with by the
law". Similarly, the Prime Minister's Directive No 1 dated
4 February 2005 on Protestantism clearly asserts the "strict
prohibition of forcing citizens to follow or renounce
religions".

In reality, tens of millions of citizens adhere to Vietnam's
6 major religions, Buddhism, Catholicism, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao,
Protestantism and Islam, and they represent a large
percentage of the population. The number of followers has
significantly increased in recent years. The Northern
Evangelical Church has successfully organized its 32nd
Convention and elected the Church's new Executive Committee.
The Southern Evangelical Church has held its Second
Convention. In the Central Highlands, a number of
Protestant congregations have been newly registered in the
past year.

While attaching importance to completing the legal system on
religion, and punishing those who take advantage of
religious freedom for other political purposes, the State of
Vietnam has realized its policy of clemency through granting
special amnesties and commutations to inmates. Especially,
in the two major amnesties in 2004, on the occasions of the
Lunar New Year and National Day of 2 September, and the
Lunar New Year in February 2005, Vietnam announced the
release or commutation of sentences for over twenty thousand

inmates such as: Nguyen Van Ly, Nguyen Dinh Huy, Nguyen Dan
Que, Truong Van Duc and Huynh Van Ba (Thich Thien Minh).
Before 2004, a number of inmates of concern to the U.S.
side, such as Le Chi Quang, Pham Hong Son were commuted;
Pham Van Tuong (Thich Tri Luc),Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong
were also released.

In the time to come, in accordance with its consistent
policy and legal documents promulgated by the National
Assembly and the Government, Vietnam will:

- Give priority to put into effect the Ordinance on Belief
and Religion, the implementing Decree No 22/2005/ND-CP for
this Ordinance and the Prime Minister's Directive on
Protestantism. All previous regulations running counter to
this Decree will be rescinded as provided for in the above-
mentioned Decree.

- Re-affirm that there is no arrest because of religious
reason. The arrested cases were those involved in law
violation, causing disturbances or threatening national
security. During their time of detention, they have never
been abused or mistreated. They are treated in accordance
with the law and economic condition of the country. With
the tradition of humanity and tolerance, Vietnam will
continue to consider granting amnesties on the occasion of
major national anniversaries in 2005. In this regard,
Vietnam will consider cases of concern raised by the U.S. in
accordance with the Vietnamese laws and humanitarian
tradition.

- Ensure the transparent procedures and process of
registration of religious activities, among which the
deadlines to reply to applications will clearly prescribed
in the implementing Decree 22/2005/ND-CP for the Ordinance
and consistently be observed. As stated in the Prime
Minister's Directive on Protestantism, local authorities
create favorable conditions for Protestant religious
congregation to practice the Government will facilitate
religious congregation to open houses of worship.

- Supervise and timely instruct local authorities to
strictly and completely adhere to the Ordinance on Belief
and Religion, the implementing Decree 22/2005/ND-CP for the
Ordinance, and the Prime Minister's Directive on
Protestantism.

- Prepare to conduct dialogues with the United States on the
issues of human rights and religious freedom on the basis of
mutual respect. In that spirit, Vietnam encourages
dialogues among scholars and non-governmental organizations
and exchange of religious delegations and mass organizations
of the two countries.

It is inevitable that there are no small differences between
Vietnam and the United States because of different
historical backgrounds, cultural values, and socio-political
system. Vietnam's consistent position is that these
differences should not become obstacles to bilateral
cooperation, provided that the two countries exercise mutual
respect and observe the fundamental principles agreed upon
when they established relations; all disagreements,
including those on such sensitive issues as human rights,
religious freedom... should and can be resolved or narrowed
down through constructive dialogues. In that spirit, Vietnam
is prepared to take note and consider U.S. concerns relating
to religious individuals who violated the law of Vietnam in
conformity with the law and humanitarian tradition of
Vietnam. It is also in the interest of the two countries,
Vietnam requests the United States to show its understanding
attitude and respect the situation in Vietnam, and to soon
remove Vietnam from the "Country of Particular Concern"
(CPC) list. In the immediate future, the U.S. is requested
not to apply Sec.405 of the International Religious Freedom
Act of 1998 to Vietnam. At the same time, Vietnam also
urges the U.S. to respond to its raised concerns relating to
activities by a number of elements in the United States,
which are not for the benefits of our bilateral relations.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest
consideration,

Le Van Bang
Deputy Minister

// End text //

MARINE


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