Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HOCHIMINHCITY886
2005-08-23 09:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Cable title:  

HCMC POLICE RELEASE ATTEMPTED SELF-IMMOLATION

Tags:  PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF ASEC VM 
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UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000886 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF, DS/IP/EAP, DS/IP/ITA,
DS/CC


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF ASEC VM
SUBJECT: HCMC POLICE RELEASE ATTEMPTED SELF-IMMOLATION
PERPETRATOR

REF: A) HCMC 878 and previous; B) HANOI 1389 and previous

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000886

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF, DS/IP/EAP, DS/IP/ITA,
DS/CC


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF ASEC VM
SUBJECT: HCMC POLICE RELEASE ATTEMPTED SELF-IMMOLATION
PERPETRATOR

REF: A) HCMC 878 and previous; B) HANOI 1389 and previous


1. (SBU) HCMC police contacts told RSO on August 23 that they had
just released from custody the individual who attempted self-
immolation in front of the Consulate on August 19 (ref A). They
refused to divulge any details on the individual, other than
reiterating that he was "mentally unstable." However, a Hoa Hao
religious dissident website claimed the person to be Le Van Duong,
approximately 54 years old, from Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang
Province. (Note: Tien Giang is one of the centers of Hoa Haoism
in the Mekong Delta. End Note.) According to the website, Duong
attempted self-immolation to protest the State's seizure of his
land and home. Separately, on August 20, Hoa Hao dissident leader
Le Quang Liem gave a phone interview to Radio Free Asia, asserting
that the individual must have attempted self-immolation to protest
"GVN oppression against religious groups."


2. (SBU) Comment: Our local guard force remains on heightened
alert should Duong or other Hoa Hao activists attempt self-
immolation in front of the Consulate. We also quietly have
briefed other foreign missions on the August 19 incident.


3. (SBU) Comment Continued: The HCMC authorities' release of the
perpetrator -- a person who they acknowledge is mentally unstable
-- after four days in custody stands in sharp contrast to the
continued involuntary commitment in a mental institution of
Baptist Pastor Than Van Truong in neighboring Dong Nai Province
(ref B). In the Truong case, police and medical staff have told
us that he poses no threat to himself, his family, or his
community. End Comment.

WINNICK