RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: "WAIT AND SEE" IN TAY NINH PROVINCE

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000786

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV and DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV SOCI VM RELFREE HUMANR
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: "WAIT AND SEE" IN TAY NINH PROVINCE

REF: HCMC 739


1. (SBU) Summary: Religious leaders in Tay Ninh Province stated
the Ordinance on Religion has made a positive difference in their
relationship with provincial and local authorities. While
generally optimistic, their sentiments were dampened by doubts
about the effectiveness of the new legal framework and the local
authorities' ability to manage sensitive issues like the return of
expropriated land. Little interaction exists between the
provincial Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA),local
authorities, and the religious groups. All parties were taking a
"wait and see" approach on the new laws. END SUMMARY.

Positive but Cautious Religious Leaders
--------------


2. (U) PolOffs traveled to Tay Ninh Province, northwest of Ho Chi
Minh City, to assess the impact of the Ordinance on Religion and
the implementing guidelines. Our interlocutors included a local
house church leader, the priest of the GVN-recognized Southern
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV),the Cao Dai Executive
Council (Reftel),a Catholic Bishop and provincial leaders.


3. (SBU) Bui Thi Thu Dien (strictly protect) established the
Assembly of God house church in Go Dau district, Tay Ninh in 1995
and has approximately 20 followers. Dien stated that there are
200 other members who belong to the Assembly of God in the
province. Dien and her believers are aware of the Ordinance on
Religion and its implementing guidelines. However, she has not
yet registered her church with the local authorities. She stated
that she is waiting for guidance from the national church before
doing so. In the past, she had attempted to register the church
with authorities, but was refused without explanation. Dien
believes that the Ordinance has made a difference. In the past,
local authorities came to her home during the Christmas season
every year and asked her not to hold a service. In December 2004,
the authorities for the first time did not disturb the service or
request that it not take place. She complained, however, that
there is often police presence outside the church as worshippers
gather, and that police continue to discourage expansion of the
church. Dien said that late last year she had proselytized in two
communes and had added 30 new members to her church. Authorities
visited the new members after the meetings and told them that they
should not join the Protestant church because the religion is
"American."


4. (SBU) Dien said that she does not have a relationship with
local authorities and is not aware of any outreach on behalf of
the CRA at the local, provincial, or national level. The local
authorities have not discussed the Ordinance and its
implementation with her or the Protestant community.


5. (SBU) The Tay Ninh Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam
(SECV) was established in 1930 and has 357 members. Pastor Nguyen
Van Xoang, the 13th pastor of the church, began his leadership in
2002 but waited over three years for official recognition. The
SECV sent a letter to support his leadership, but the authorities
delayed their decision for several months before approving him as
pastor in May 2005.


6. (SBU) Xoang has read the Ordinance and its guidelines, which
were given to him by the national SECV. He expressed skepticism
about the Ordinance, stating it is "good in principle, but the
problems will be with implementation and enforcement on the local
level." He affirmed that the CRA is supportive of the SECV,
though he did qualify his statement, saying, "it was bad before,
it is better now." The SECV membership is no longer harassed and
the church now registers its annual activities with no difficulty.
The SECV has sought permission to construct a branch church in Gia
Binh Commune, Trang Bang District. Xoang believes the church will
not encounter any impediment there. He does have concerns,
however, about the status of his main church in Tay Ninh. The
current church has been on the existing property for over 60
years, but the GVN has plans to expand a road that will require
the church to be torn down. Adjacent land was donated by an
adherent for a new church, but registration lags because of
"bureaucratic problems." Xoang said the provincial authorities
require the donor to sell land to the GVN, and the GVN will then
give it to the Church. When PolOff asked the Tay Ninh CRA about
the land issues of the SECV, the CRA director said the land law
prohibits direct transfer of land use rights by an individual to
an organization.


7. (SBU) Father Tran Dinh Tu (strictly protect) in 1999 became the
Bishop of the 40-year-old Binh Duong Catholic Diocese, which
includes the provinces of Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc and the
Cu Chi district of HCMC. The diocese has approximately 118,000
parishioners in 67 parishes served by 118 priests. Bishop Tu
describes the relationship between the Church and the CRA as "a
good one." According to the Bishop, the Ordinance on Religion has
affected positively his relationship with authorities. He said
the Church no longer needs permission from the GVN to ordain

priests, although they must notify the authorities of the
ceremony. He also stated that the authorities are more lenient
with regard to overseas travel. In the past, if members of the
diocese wanted to travel abroad for religious reasons, they needed
permission from the authorities and after their return, they would
be questioned. Now, the authorities facilitate the travel and no
longer invite returning members in for questioning. Additionally,
in Binh Duong, the diocese was given permission in June to rebuild
a church destroyed during the war.


8. (SBU) The Bishop did complain about expropriated property and
the difficulty of expanding activities in the diocese. Prior to
1975, the Church operated two schools, one of them for the mute
and deaf, and a leprosy center. After unification, the properties
were taken by the GVN and are currently managed by the local
People's Committee. The Bishop would like the properties
returned. In addition, he wants other property that is adjacent
to the church returned in order to build another school, although
he acknowledged, "I would like to, but I do not think they will
allow it." At present, the Catholic Church in Tay Ninh has only
kindergarten classes and has been prohibited from educating higher
grades.


9. (SBU) The diocese would like to build new churches in rural
areas and has submitted proposals; however, the CRA has been slow
to respond. For example, six years ago the diocese submitted an
application to build a church in a rural area for approximately
500 parishioners. Tu recently renewed the request, but it was
provisionally denied unless the church is located next to the
People's Committee Building. The Church does not want to make
this concession because the GVN building is far away from the
community. Until more churches can be built in rural areas, the
diocese wishes to send priests to conduct open air mass. The
priests have not been granted the right to travel because,
according to the Bishop, the local authorities say there is no
church building in the various districts in which they could hold
mass. Moreover, the number of parishioners was deemed small by
the communal People's Committee, and thus not entitled to their
own church.

Government Officials Disorganized but Willing
--------------


10. (SBU) When PolOffs arrived at the Assembly of God house
church, Dien reported members of the Fatherland Front were already
inside and wished to sit in on the meeting. The chief of the
district Fatherland Front, Pham Van Tuat, explained that they were
interested in learning more about the house church and were going
to be passive participants. However, the Fatherland Front allowed
us a private meeting with Dien. In a separate discussion after
the house church meeting, Tuat asked PolOffs about basic practices
of this religion worldwide, as well as reasons for the local
members use of a home as opposed to a dedicated church building.
Tuat said he believed the Ordinance requires a separate place of
worship. He admitted, however, he was not well versed on the
Ordinance or the implementing guidelines and was "waiting on the
provincial authorities" for guidance.


11. (SBU) After declining our original request for a meeting,
provincial authorities requested an impromptu discussion given our
presence in the province conducting private meetings. Vice
Chairman of the External Relations Office (ERO) Le Van Dong and
Vice Chairman of the Provincial CRA Trang Van Hai briefed PolOffs
on religious outreach programs. Hai claimed to have educated
local authorities on the Ordinance, but admitted he had not yet
discussed it with local clergy. According to Hai, provincial
custom is to discuss any new regulations with local authorities
and then educate the beneficiaries of the law. When asked about
the district Fatherland Front's assertion that they had received
no direction from the province, Dong said that it amounted to
nothing more than a "scheduling conflict" for that particular
group. Demonstrating the success of the implementing guidelines
locally, Hai pointed to newly registered churches and the fact
that the Cao Dai have registered their annual activities.
However, there are no house church registrations because,
according to Hai, the churches are "small." He also admitted that
the CRA was waiting for central GVN guidance and for local
churches to approach them, rather than reaching out to house
churches proactively.

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


12. (SBU) Four months after the promulgation of the implementing
guidelines, changes from the new law have not yet occurred at the
village level, where most problems occur. While authorities wait
for guidance, so do the house churches and other religious
communities. Officials still do not effectively use the new
framework to cultivate relationships with official and unofficial
religious leaders, and vice versa. It seems that each side is
waiting for the other to make the first move. We did not
encounter serious animosity between authorities and religious

groups, however. If passivity can be overcome, progress in
expanding religious freedom in Tay Ninh is possible.

CHERN


NNNN