VIETNAM'S LARGEST PROTESTANT GROUP REPORTS PROGRESS AFTER

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000636

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF VM HUMANR ETMIN RELFREE
SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S LARGEST PROTESTANT GROUP REPORTS PROGRESS AFTER
GVN TALKS

REF: A) HANOI 580 and previous; B) HCMC 288 and previous


1. (SBU) Summary: Leaders of the Southern Evangelical Church of
Vietnam (SECV) were cautiously optimistic that a meetings in Hanoi
and HCMC with GVN officials in late May set the stage for improved
conditions for the Protestant Church, particularly in the Central
Highlands. While the SECV is disappointed that the GVN is
applying tougher standards for church recognition in the Central
Highlands than elsewhere in southern Vietnam, it has consciously
chosen to take a gradualist, confidence-building approach in its
dealings with the GVN. The SECV believes it secured a GVN
commitment to facilitate the operation of all SECV churches and
meeting points in the Central Highlands. The key test of this
commitment will be in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak,
whose retrograde treatment of Protestant groups is increasingly
out of line with reality elsewhere in our consular district,
including neighboring provinces in the Central Highlands. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 7 we met with Pastor Thai Phuoc Truong, President
of the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and two other
members of the SECV National Executive Committee to review the
organization's progress in implementing Vietnam's new legal
framework on religion (strictly protect). The SECV is Vietnam's
largest Protestant organization with over 450,000 believers with
over 1,000 churches. On May 29 and 30, Truong and other SECV
leaders met in Hanoi with the Fatherland Front, the Mass
Mobilization Committee of the Party, Vice Minister of Public
Security Nguyen Van Huong and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.
These meetings followed a May 20 conference in HCMC with the
central-level Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA),and CRA
representatives of the five Central Highlands provinces and Binh
Phuoc province to discuss implementation of the new legal
framework on religion. (Note: see reftels for more information on
the new legal framework on religion, which consists of: the
Ordinance on Religion and Belief, the Prime Minister's February
2005 Instruction on Protestantism, and "Implementing Guidelines"
for the Ordinance. End Note.)


3. (SBU) Truong called the discussions in Hanoi and HCMC
"friendly, frank and constructive." He said the SECV critiqued
the uneven local level implementation of the new legal framework.
The SECV also complained that the new legal framework does not
define clearly the responsibilities and obligations of the
Fatherland Front, Police and Party at the local and provincial
level. The SECV's view is that local CRAs do not have the
bureaucratic clout to administer the legal framework fairly and
consistently at the provincial level and below.


4. (SBU) According to Truong, GVN officials acknowledged problems
in local implementation, but pleaded that provincial and local
officials were not yet "conditioned to accept" the changes in the
law. Another contact who participated in the meetings told us
that this GVN response prompted sharp rejoinder from Truong, who
said that the SECV considered it the GVN's responsibility to
ensure that all Vietnamese officials -- down to the lowest level -
- were appropriately instructed on how to implement the new law.
Local ignorance was not an acceptable excuse, Truong reportedly
told GVN officials.

Discussion on the Central Highlands
--------------


5. (SBU) In their interactions with the SECV, the GVN officials
divided Protestants into five different groups: house churches;
the SECV in the Central Highlands, the SECV elsewhere in southern
Vietnam, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North),and the
Northwest Highlands. According to Truong, the GVN's approach to
implementing the law changed according to which category a
particular Protestant congregation belonged. For example, outside
the Central Highlands, the SECV does not have to request
registration and recognition congregation by congregation. In the
Central Highlands, each SECV church must register and apply for
recognition separately. The SECV protested that the GVN does not
have a separate policy for Buddhism or Catholicism for different
parts of Vietnam. The GVN officials explained that the Central
Highlands' history of ethnic minority armed rebellion and ongoing
secessionist tensions involving "Dega Christianity" required that
the GVN scrutinize religious groups there more carefully. While
not accepting the distinction, the SECV decided to focus on what
was possible in negotiations with the GVN.


6. (SBU) The SECV said that after the series of meetings, the GVN
committed to reviewing a province-by-province list of SECV
churches and meeting points in the Central Highlands for
registration. Once registered, these groups would be able to
operate "normally." At the May 20 meeting, the SECV and the CRA
signed an "MOU" in which both sides pledged to work together to
implement the new legal framework.


7. (SBU) The SECV's hope is that by the end of the summer, all its

churches in the Central Highlands will be able to function freely.
The biggest challenge is Dak Lak Province, where only four SECV
churches currently are allowed to operate. (The SECV lists 210
congregations in Dak Lak, but the provincial SECV board told us
there are over 400 meeting points in the province.) The SECV
leaders were emphatic that there is no such belief as "Dega
Protestantism." They asked that the GVN make clear to officials
throughout the Central Highlands that the Protestant community
should not be punished on account of the separatist activities of
a few ethnic minority individuals.


8. (SBU) Outside of Dak Lak, the situation for the SECV is more
positive. In Gia Lai Province, a training class for 46 new
pastors is well underway; the SECV likely will petition the
province to hold a second class later in the year. Gia Lai
authorities also pledged to recognize another 13 churches in the
province by the end of the year (bringing the total to 30).
Truong understands that Dak Nong authorities also have approved
the SECV to hold a training class for 30 new pastors in the
province (the SECV requested 50). These training classes are
critical, as, according to the law, only churches that are led by
an accredited pastor can apply for full recognition.


9. (SBU) Oversight of the provincial-level registration process
and its local-level implementation is the SECV's most significant
concern. The central-level CRA officials could not or would not
clarify what right of redress the SECV has to appeal unfavorable
decisions or wrongdoing by local officials. Our SECV contacts
commented that as long as the GVN cannot or will not define what
responsibilities and obligations various local officials have, the
new legal framework would not be implemented consistently and
properly.

Land issues in HCMC
--------------


10. (SBU) In their meeting with DPM Vu Khoan, the SECV asked for
GVN support in resolving ongoing property disputes between the
SECV and the Ho Chi Minh City Government. In one case, district-
level officials had been stalling on issuing ownership papers for
7,500 square meters of land the SECV had received as compensation
for previously expropriated properties. The SECV intends to use
this land to build a seminary. The SECV asked Vu Khoan to
intercede with the HCMC government to reconsider its refusal to
provide them with another 3,000 square meter plot in the same
area. The SECV also requested the DPM to press HCMC to respond
favorably to a petition to return a building in downtown HCMC that
was expropriated in 1983, and that the SECV wishes to convert into
its new national headquarters. After the meeting with Vu Khoan,
the SECV says it detected new movement in HCMC.

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


11. (SBU) The SECV emerged encouraged from its high-level GVN
meetings; the GVN appears to be listening attentively and
negotiating seriously. There has been real progress in some parts
of the Central Highlands with the promise of more in the near
future. While the SECV believes that it should not face tougher
hurdles in the Central Highlands than elsewhere, it has
consciously chosen to take a gradualist, confidence-building
approach in its dealings with the GVN.


12. (SBU) The biggest test for the SECV's and GVN's efforts at
forging a common approach will be in Dak Lak, which has become the
black hole for religious freedom for Protestants in southern
Vietnam. The SECV is at a loss to explain why Dak Lak is so
retrograde. Gia Lai, which has been making steady progress, has
as much a claim to be the historical center for ethnic minority
separatism in the Central Highlands as Dak Lak. The SECV's
expectation is that the GVN will intercede with the Dak Lak
provincial government, should it fail to allow the operation of
SECV churches.


WINNICK


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