RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE NORTH PART I: POLOFF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 HANOI 001112

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KIRF PGOV SOCI PHUM VM
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE NORTH PART I: POLOFF
VISITS LAO CAI PROVINCE, MEETS WITH PROTESTANTS

REF: A) HANOI 894 B) HANOI 549

HANOI 00001112 001.4 OF 008


Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (SBU) At the recommendation of Protestants in Hanoi, an
Embassy team visited Lao Cai Province in the third week of
April to investigate allegations of district-level abuse
against Protestant groups. The team was able to discuss
with officials several serious allegations made against Lao
Cai provincial and district authorities, and the access to a
small sample of local Protestants and the frank and open
discussion with officials at all levels about the gap
between the new framework on religion and its implementation
were a significant improvement over previous outreach trips.
The team was also able to learn more about the development
of Protestantism in the north. Based on the team's
discussions, it appears that the GVN has given strict
instructions to northern provinces to change their approach
to our concerns on religious freedom. While the situation
for Protestants there has not yet markedly improved, it may
now be possible for house church congregations to register
their activities per the law and per Lao Cai's purported
plans. We plan to send another team to the region as early
as June to follow up on these developments. End Summary and
Comment.


2. (SBU) Per Ref A, Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN)
General Secretary Au Quanh Vinh recently arranged for eight
H'mong house church deacons to meet in Hanoi with Embassy
Poloff to discuss the situation for Protestants in the
provinces in northern Vietnam with large ethnic minority
populations following the promulgation of the GVN's new
framework on religion last year. Vinh and the deacons
reported that the mountainous border provinces of Lao Cai
and Ha Giang are the most problematic for ethnic minority
Protestants. Immediately following this discussion, we
formally requested an extensive visit for Poloff and Pol
Assistant to Lao Cai and Ha Giang from April 23-28 to
investigate these reports and to press provincial, district
and commune officials to change their approach to
Protestants. Despite the political sensitivity of our
proposed timing, which was concurrent with the Communist
Party's 10th Congress, the GVN's Committee on Religious
Affairs (CRA) and the Provincial People's Committees (PPCs)
in both provinces agreed to facilitate the trip. The Lao
Cai PPC's official response stated "this is not a convenient
time, but it would be impolite if we do not accept your
visit."


3. (SBU) The team traveled to Lao Cai City by overnight
train and then drove east by off-road vehicles from Lao
Cai's extreme western boundary with Lai Chau Province,
district by district along Vietnam's border with China. In
addition to meetings with provincial officials, the team met
with Bat Xat and Bao Thang district and commune officials in
Lao Cai (Ha Giang meetings reported septel). Officials from
the PPC also facilitated unprecedented visits to ethnic
H'mong villages with Protestant residents in each district,
including Sang Ma Sao village in Bat Xat and Thuy Dien
Village in Bao Thang. Both of these village visits were
requested by the team in advance on the recommendation of
Pastor Vinh. (Note: Bao Thang District in Lao Cai was
incorrectly identified as "Bao Thuc" district by the ECVN as
reported Para 11 in Ref A. End Note.)

Lao Cai Province
--------------


4. (SBU) On April 24, PPC Vice Chairman Pham Van Cuong gave
Poloff a brief overview of the province's social
development. Some 95 percent of Lao Cai's school age
children attend classes, with more than 50 percent of school
facilities "in good condition." There are special ethnic
minority boarding schools in each district. Children below
six years of age receive free medical care and 95 percent
have been given free vaccinations. The province is trying
to preserve ethnic minority cultural traditions by building
culture houses and cultural "post-offices" in every commune
and village. The province provides radio and TV programs in
five ethnic languages: H'Mong, Dzao, Day, Tay and Thai, in
addition to everyday Kinh language (ethnic Vietnamese)
broadcasting, he added.


5. (SBU) Cuong asserted that in the last two years the PPC
has made a special effort to speed up social and economic
development in ethnic minority communities, particularly in
the areas of infrastructure, improved cultivation and access

HANOI 00001112 002.4 OF 008


to clean water. The province has spent "tens of billions of
VND" each year on rural development under the GVN's 135
(poverty reduction) and 186 (infrastructure) programs. The
province has also undertaken pilot projects to develop
"trading villages" in three districts (including the village
of Ta Phin - Para 13 in Ref B) to promote traditional trades
as a source of income from increased tourism to the
province. The local administration has set aside
specialized agricultural areas in each district to promote
the cultivation of maize, tea and beans. More than 43
percent of Lao Cai's population lives under the poverty line
according to the GVN's 2005 guidelines. The GDP per capita
is estimated at 12 percent of the national average; 14 to 15
percent in urban areas and seven to eight percent in rural
districts, he said.


6. (SBU) Turning to religion, Cuong noted that there are
some 4,000 practicing Buddhists in the province, mainly
living in and around Lao Cai City. Representatives of
Vietnam's official Buddhist church, the Vietnam Buddhist
Sangha (VBS),frequently travel to Lao Cai to participate in
seminars and festivals in the province. There are also
5,700 Catholics scattered across Lao Cai's ten districts.
The province is divided into two main parishes, with eight
total sub-parishes. Until recently, Catholic believers were
served by only one priest and fifty church laymen, but Cuong
confirmed that on April 13, a recently ordained deacon of
Hung Hoa Diocese took up the Sapa District benefice as
priest for Sapa's three sub-parishes (Ref B, Para 12).


7. (SBU) Cuong estimated that there are at least 9,000
Protestants in Lao Cai, but that the PPC's statistics are
incomplete because "a number of denominations are conducting
missionary activities without our knowledge." That said, the
majority of Protestants in Lao Cai are affiliated with the
ECVN or the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV).
(Note: According to the ECVN, Lao Cai has a total of 122
house churches comprising 2,108 families, or 10,808 total
Protestants. End Note.) The PPC has been in contact with
the leaders of all Protestant organizations in the province
and regularly listens to the concerns of the common people
on religion. The PPC is thus well aware of emerging social
problems caused by the growth in religious belief, and the
administration is making certain that religious groups
improve their services to believers to ensure that they
contribute positively to society as a whole. "We think
we've been doing a good job and we are confident the common
people are happy with the current situation," he said.


8. (SBU) Cuong stated that Protestants are currently free to
practice their faiths in a normal manner at home, but are
not allowed to conduct religious services in outside places
of worship. However, the PPC is currently considering
applications from some ECVN congregations to legally
register such places of worship, as all religious activities
in Vietnam must be conducted according to law. Cuong noted
that the PM's Instruction on Protestantism is very precise.
The PPC is now working on a plan to implement the PM's
Instruction to register Protestant groups in the province.
"Our guiding principles are to facilitate religious beliefs
according to law and to respect the fundamental rights of
belief and non-belief in Vietnam," he said. There is no
faith-based discrimination in Lao Cai province and citizens
are allowed to follow or not follow religions so long as
they respect the law. It is also important that religious
believers respect and preserve traditional ethnic minority
customs as well, he added.


9. (SBU) Poloff thanked the PPC for arranging the team's
visit at such a busy time for the government, especially
since Lao Cai had already received a visit from the Embassy
in late February. He noted that during Ambassador Hanford's
recent discussions with DPM Vu Khoan, Vice Minister of
Public Security Nguyen Van Huong and CRA Chairman Ngo Yen
Thi, the GVN acknowledged that the Northwest Highlands and
northern Vietnam remain the most problematic areas of the
country in terms of religious freedom, particularly with
regard to Protestants. The importance of this issue for our
bilateral relationship cannot be overstated, and the GVN has
made registration of Protestant groups a clear domestic
policy priority in the region over the next six months
before the President's visit in November. Lao Cai's
openness to frank discussion of its failure to register
Protestants to date is an important step forward as is the
PPC's willingness to allow the team to visit Protestant
communities in the countryside. Poloff also noted with
pleasure that the PPC is developing a plan to quickly
implement the PM's Instruction on Protestantism and urged

HANOI 00001112 003.4 OF 008


the Vice Chairman to share this plan with the Embassy as
soon as it has been finalized.


10. (SBU) Cuong concluded the meeting by reading prepared
talking points. He stated that Lao Cai attaches importance
to religious freedom per the Joint Statement signed by
President Bush and PM Khai in Washington last June. The PPC
hopes that the U.S. Embassy will facilitate investment in
the province, especially in the area of infrastructure, as
transportation remains a significant problem. In addition,
the province would like assistance to help re-habilitate
victims of Agent ORANGE (AO) and other problems left over
from the war. Finally, Cuong requested that the Embassy
team write an objective report on religious freedom in
Vietnam and Lao Cai so that Vietnam will be removed from the
list of Country's of Particular Concern (CPC) this year.

Bat Xat District
--------------


11. (SBU) Following this meeting, Luong Ngoc Cap, Deputy
Director of the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee (PEAC),
took the team to Bat Xat District People's Committee (DPC)
headquarters, a 30-minute drive by improved roads from Lao
Cai City. (Note: Mobile phone coverage ended on the
outskirts of the city and was not detected anywhere else in
the province, except at the very top of mountain passes.
End Note.) District Chairman Ly Seo Din stated that over
the last couple of years, the GVN has paid a lot of
attention to religious and ethnic issues, especially at the
provincial level. In Bat Xat, programs 135 and 120
(resettlement of people living in mountainous areas prone to
landslides) have been particularly helpful. Living
conditions have improved. There has also been significant
progress in agriculture and education, he added.


12. (SBU) Turning to religion and ethnic issues, Din stated
that the DPC always obeys GVN laws and regulations to
respect the basic rights of ethnic minority peoples. Thus,
Bat Xat District authorities have fully implemented GVN laws
on religion. The DPC never forbid Protestant households
from practicing their beliefs at any time. On the contrary,
the DPC has been trying to disseminate guidelines on the new
laws on religion to all cadres and citizens and to ensure
that Protestants share equally in the district's economic
development. Din would not estimate the total number of
Protestants in the district because such statistics are hard
to get, especially since many citizens are no longer
Protestants, having decided to return to traditional
beliefs.


13. (SBU) Poloff noted that many ECVN groups in the north
have run into official stonewalling when they've applied to
register. As an example, he showed Din and Deputy Director
Cap a copy of the returned letter and envelopes from the
Quan Binh District ECVN congregation's application that
Pastor Vinh provided on April 5 (Ref A, Para 2). He asked
how many Protestant congregations in the district have
applied to register with the local CRA. At Cap's prompting,
Din acknowledged that two communes in the district have
active congregations, but claimed that no applications have
been submitted by them to date. The district is waiting for
formal guidance from the province before it will consider
such applications, he added.


14. (SBU) Poloff further noted that a recent report from an
influential international rights group (Freedom House's
Center for Religious Freedom) alleged that in mid-March
2006, a H'mong Christian named Giang A Thenh of Vi Lau
Hamlet in Bat Xat informed the ECVN that from January 31
officials and border guards ordered him to recant his faith
and physically threatened him. The report also alleged that
after Thenh resisted several orders to deny his faith his
was driven from his home and land. Din stated that the DPC
received a letter directly from the ECVN containing these
allegations. Bat Xat officials immediately investigated
this report on receipt of the letter, but found no evidence
to support the allegations. While Din was unable to
personally interview Thenh because of a scheduling conflict,
officials did meet with Thenh's family who stated
unequivocally that although some officials visited their
home on March 31 to discuss Protestantism, nobody asked
Thenh to renounce his faith in that meeting. The DPC also
ascertained that an alleged March 4 visit by the local
commune chairman to the Thenh home never occurred because
"nothing was on the chairman's agenda for March 4", Din
asserted.


HANOI 00001112 004.4 OF 008



15. (SBU) Din further stated that the two officials who
investigated the Thenh case discovered that the original
letter sent to the ECVN was not drafted by Thenh as he
cannot write. The DPC believes that the writer exaggerated
the details of the case. For example, the letter claimed
that local officials had prevented Thenh from building a
house, but, in fact, the house was already completed when
investigating officials visited Thenh. The officials also
ascertained that allegations that Ministry of Public
Security (MPS) or Border Protection Force (BPF) personnel
visited Thenh in March were untrue, although an agricultural
seminar was conducted in his village during that period.
Thenh himself reportedly assessed the letter as "beyond the
spirit" of his complaint. Din concluded somewhat wistfully
by saying that Thenh's case was against GVN laws on whistle
blowing; Thenh should have gone to local officials with his
complaints first.

Sang Ma Sao Commune
--------------


16. (SBU) Following the district-level meeting in Bat Xat,
Cap and Din took the Embassy team to the People's Committee
headquarters in San Ma Sao Commune. The trip from the
district center to the remote base camp facility lasted two
hours over winding and switchbacked mountain roads that
passed over two separate ranges. Upon arrival, two ethnic
H'mong commune representatives (NFI) greeted and briefed the
team on the social conditions of the region. Sang Ma Sao
Commune comprises 7,000 hectares of mountainous land
containing eight villages with a total of 541 households, or
3,500 people. The average household has 5-6 members and
farms 3,000 square meters of dryfield rice during the single
growing season. In addition to the committee headquarters
and a police station, the base camp also includes a six-room
school house that teaches students up to the ninth grade. A
few students go on to attend the district-level boarding
school. The furthest that the average villager will ever
travel is down the mountain to the Mung Hung market center,
14 kilometers from the commune. There is only one group of
Protestants living in Sang Ma Sao. They are ethnic H'mong
and practice their religion at home, the commune officials
said.

Sang Ma Sao Village
--------------


17. (SBU) It transpired that the actual village the ECVN
recommended the Embassy team visit was at the top of the
mountain and could only be reached by foot along a steep,
ten-kilometer trail. It was evident that the commune,
district and provincial officials did not expect the team to
be willing to hike to the village. However, when Poloff
made clear his intention of meeting with Protestants in the
commune whatever the burden, they reluctantly agreed to
accompany the team to Sang Ma Sao village. The trail to the
village took three hours to hike through bamboo groves mixed
with higher elevation evergreen trees. The team passed only
two or three villagers during the ascent, but many more were
visible working in the occasional terraced clearings or
tending buffaloes in the breaks above or below the trail. A
number of primitive water wheels and irrigation systems
constructed of bamboo were built near the path close to
several small settlements. Din noted that these were
constructed under Program 135.


18. (SBU) By the end of the hike, most of the attending
officials and plain clothes policemen were overcome by heat
and had stripped to their undershirts. They were also far
less talkative than during the initial ascent.
Nevertheless, after a brief visit to the village headman's
smoke-filled hut for a cup of green tea and a shared pipe of
some kind of tobacco-like herb, they cheerfully took the
team to visit a nearby Protestant household. The hut was
built of vertical wood slats and thatched with grass. The
floor in the main room was bare rock with a pit fireplace
full of hot coals in one corner and a naked baby asleep on a
straw mat in another. Only the daughter-in-law and baby
were home. Sung Ti Ma was visibly nervous and had to be
coaxed into the main room of the hut Through H'mong to
Vietnamese to English interpretation, Ma said that her
husband and the rest of her family of ten was out working to
prepare their fields for the growing season. Eight members
of the family are Protestant. They do not worship in the
home, but she would not say where they conduct their
services. Poloff asked if her family had been able to
celebrate Easter this year, but Ma admitted that she does
not know what Easter actually is. At any rate, her family

HANOI 00001112 005.4 OF 008


did not do anything special to celebrate the holiday.
Poloff asked which denomination the Sung family follows. Ma
said that a member of their community had traveled to Hanoi
to learn about Protestantism and they all follow him, but
she stated that she is not really sure what Poloff was
asking. "I'm just a daughter-in-law," she said. Ma stated
that she is 18 years old, has two children after three years
of marriage and, like the rest of her family, has never
attended school. Her family owns two buffaloes and farms
3,600 square meters of land. She could not estimate their
annual income.


19. (SBU) Poloff took the opportunity in front of the nine
GVN observers to inform Ma that the United States and
Vietnam have agreed that northern Protestants should be
allowed to worship without harassment from local officials.
He noted that the Embassy team will be returning to the
region soon to check that conditions for Protestants in Sang
Ma Sao continue to improve. According to the village
headman, no other Protestants from the village were
available at that time of day, so the team returned to the
commune. The return journey was notable as many farmers
were returning up the path to their homes. Some carried
very large wooden plows on their shoulders and others were
equally burdened.

Why are the H'mong Becoming Protestants?
--------------


20. (SBU) During the descent from San Ma Sao village, the
provincial and district officials were in a much more open
mood and gave Poloff a history of Protestantism in the
region. According to Cap, H'mong villagers in the north
first learned about evangelical Christianity through
shortwave radio broadcasts originating in the Phillipines in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. Local officials did not
notice H'mong Protestantism until 1993, by which time it had
become a widespread phenomenon in the border region with
China. However, initial practice of the faith was confused,
as little was actually known by believers about its tenets.
In the mid-1990s this led to a number of Protestants
declaring faith in "Vang Chu," a new H'mong belief
apparently originating in Laos that holds that the world was
created by a single omniscient God. (Note: Veneration of
Vang Chu is usually associated with militant H'mong
separatism by GVN officials. In the past, provincial
authorities, particularly in Lai Chau Province on the border
with Laos, have reportedly accused Protestant H'mong of
harboring an illegal political agenda because some believers
equate Vang Chu with Jesus Christ. End Note.) In the late
1990s, the Vang Chu phenomenon subsided as Protestants
learned more about their faith from ECVN and SECV
missionaries. Still, Cap asserted that many Protestants
remain ignorant of their faith and profess to follow
Protestantism for economic and social reasons.


21. (SBU) According to Cap, traditional H'mong beliefs and
customs require substantial sacrifices (at least one
buffalo) on important occasions like weddings and funerals.
If a family has more than just one of these events in a two
or three year period, it could ruin the family by destroying
their ability to farm the land, as buffaloes are the only
economical source of pulling power in the region. Protestant
H'mong, however, are not required to make any sacrifices or
other economically negative activities. In addition, they
are allowed to stop work early on Thursdays for prayers and
are not required to work at all on Sundays. Keeping the
Sabbath is thus considered a significant improvement in
lifestyle. Finally, Cap noted that H'mong women are
traditionally subservient to their husbands, but as
Christians are considered equals, so many women are
attracted to Protestant beliefs. Female believers thus
generally outnumber males in remote villages, he added.

Thuy Dien Village
--------------


22. (SBU) On April 25, Cap took the Embassy team to another
Protestant village in Ban Phiet Commune, Bao Thang District.
The village is relatively near Lao Cai City but distant from
district headquarters. It lies on a peninsula between a
dammed, Vietnam-side tributary and the main river that
comprises the border with China in this region. Cap noted
on the three kilometer walk to the village that H'mong are
the majority on both sides of the border and many Vietnamese
H'mong have relatives on the China-side of the river. The
path to the village crosses over the reservoir of a tiny and
now disused hydroelectric station that was considered a

HANOI 00001112 006.4 OF 008


major achievement for North Vietnam when it was built in

1961. Today, the dam's reservoir makes possible paddy-rice
farming techniques in the area. The path winds its way
through cinnamon tree groves and is notable for several
ethnic Dzao mound graves with Dzao and Chinese language
inscriptions on their ceremonial stone offering porticos.
Recent offerings included fruit and bottles of moonshine
rice alcohol. Cap stated that in this area Dzao and H'mong
and several other ethnic groups live in mixed communities.


23. (SBU) Ban Phiet itself is a village of 36 woven bamboo
huts with corrugated asbestos roofs. The team was taken to
a cluster of three houses in one corner. Communal officials
introduced Thao Thi Tau, a woman of about forty dressed in a
colorful ethnic costume and bright pink headscarf over her
bald head, and her neighbor Lo Thi Ho, a younger women in
similar attire. A young man named Lo The and an older man
named Tsung Seo quickly joined the delegation in Tau's hut.
The hut was sparsely furnished but was electrified. A
Russian-made short wave radio hung from one of the central
poles. A Christian poster calendar was the only ornament
hanging on the walls. Incomplete Christian symbols were
carved into the surface of the hut's only table. Tau's two-
year old son sported a Spiderman t-shirt, but no pants.


24. (SBU) The (pronounced TAY) stated that most villagers in
Ban Phiet are Protestant. The husband of Tau was
unavailable to speak that day because he was out hunting
snakes, however as a long-time Christian, The was happy to
discuss Protestantism with Poloff. He said that life is
difficult as the villagers do not have enough land to
cultivate, though their houses are all new. In fact, the
village itself is only ten years old. It was built when a
group of H'mong from a village in Bac Ha decided to move
because the land there was too poor. Their new commune
provided land for the new village and gave the immigrants
roofing materials, but villagers collected cinnamon wood and
bamboo to build the frames for their new houses themselves.
Since the village moved, Ban Phiet's inhabitants have given
up traditional slash and burn techniques in favor of fixed
cultivation agriculture. They raise rice, maize and manioc
for their subsistence, and sell chickens at the commune's
nearby market to raise cash, The said.


25. (SBU) The is the only one of the four Protestants the
team met in Ban Phiet who ever attended school, having
completed first grade. He has also been to Hanoi one time.
The others have never traveled outside of Lao Cai and cannot
afford to travel to visit their relatives in China. The
speaks Vietnamese well, and the older man and younger girl
can speak some. Tau apparently understands some Vietnamese
but cannot speak the language at all. Poloff asked what
denomination the four follow. The said that they "follow
Hanoi," i.e., the ECVN. The State only allows them to
practice their beliefs at home. Poloff asked The what
Protestantism means to him. He said that Protestantism is
the word of God. God speaks only good things and instructs
humans not to do bad things. After further prodding he said
that Protestants follow Jesus Christ. Jesus means "good
news." The said that he has seen pictures of Christ, but he
admitted that he does not know who he is. "We only follow
his teachings," he said. The H'mong Protestants still
preserve their customs by wearing traditional clothes, but
they no longer engage in ceremonies to sacrifice buffaloes,
he added.


26. (SBU) Poloff pointed to the calendar's image of a
beatific woman in a flowing dress holding on to a stone
cross amid a raging sea with the light of God shining down
and asked The to explain what it means to him. He said that
the cross is a symbol of blessing and of protection that the
H'mong like to wear if they can afford them as a good luck
charm and to identify themselves to each other. Other than
that, he admitted he does not know what the cross
symbolizes, nor what the calendar image depicts. Seo, Tau
and Ho said that they do not know anything more about
Protestantism than The, though one man from the community
recently traveled to Hanoi to get religious materials from
the ECVN, including some H'mong language bibles to help
instruct the villagers in Christianity. In front of the 15
official observers, Poloff informed the group that the
United States and Vietnam have agreed that northern
Protestants should be allowed to worship without harassment
from local officials. He encouraged them to register their
group with local authorities as soon as possible and noted
that the Embassy team will be returning to the region soon
to check that conditions for Protestants in Ban Phiet
continue to improve.

HANOI 00001112 007.4 OF 008



Bao Thang District
--------------


27. (SBU) Following the visit to Ban Phiet, Cap took the
team to Bao Thang District headquarters, an hour's drive on
good roads from the village. The road passes through Phong
Hai Town (incorrectly identified as Phung Hai District in
Ref A, Para 11),which is a Kinh township founded as a new
economic zone by the GVN in the late 1960s for forced
immigrants from Haiphong City. It is now one of the major
areas of habitation in the district, having displaced
several ethnic minority communities. At the headquarters in
Bao Thang Town, DPC Deputy Chairman Le Cong Minh noted that
the district comprises 67,000 hectares and 100,000 people
from seventeen ethnic groups. Some 70 percent of the
population is ethnic Kinh. The second largest group is the
H'mong, with six percent. There are 15 townships and
communes. GDP growth is stable at 14 percent a year, with
annual per capita income estimated at ten million VND (USD
630). In the past few years, living conditions have
improved, as has access to education for all children, which
has resulted in a large number of economic immigrants.
These are also mostly ethnic Kinh, but include some ethnic
Muong from Thanh Hoa Province south of Hanoi. Most of the
H'mong are also not indigenous to the district, having moved
to Bao Thang from Bac Ha District over the last several
decades. The DPC has recently been focusing on improving
the infrastructure of the rural parts of the district and
has achieved some success. Six communes used to be on Lao
Cai's list of extremely poor communes, but now only one
remains on the list, Minh noted.


28. (SBU) Poloff thanked Minh for the opportunity to visit
Ban Phiet Village and to interview Protestant residents. He
reiterated the importance of registering Protestants in the
district per GVN policy for the bilateral relationship.
Poloff also noted that the Protestants in Ban Phiet stated
they had access to H'mong language bibles, but Bao Thang was
recently alleged to have fined two ECVN house church deacons
who traveled to Hanoi to acquire application forms to
register their congregation on the charge of possession of
illegal H'mong language bibles (Ref A, Para 11). Minh
responded that the individuals were fined for possessing
illegal materials, but not because they possessed H'mong
language bibles per se. Religious documents in general must
be published by the CRA and all believers, regardless of
faith, must seek permission to use "foreign language
bibles." These H'mong language bibles were written in the
Phillipines so they do not use proper H'mong language.
Poloff noted that some H'mong language bibles are apparently
produced in Hanoi and Cap admitted that the books in
question were probably not imported to Vietnam.
Nevertheless, provincial officials, much less district
officials, do not have the authority to decide without GVN
guidance if such texts are legal, and the CRA has not
provided any guidance on the matter, he said.


29. (SBU) Cap stated that Lao Cai province plans to include
a report on the problem to the national CRA as part of their
implementation plan on the PM's Instruction. In any case,
the deacons in question were "administratively punished"
according to the GVN's laws on publication. Poloff noted
that the ECVN alleges the deacons were held for sixteen
days. Minh admitted that the DPC did call them in to talk
about publication laws and to the use of illegal cultural
items, but denied that the two were held in custody for any
period of time. Cap reiterated that it is unfair to say
that the two were fined because they possessed bibles, but
rather because they possessed illegal publications. He
asked that Embassy team objectively explain this to "outside
people." If the GVN now allows groups to posses H'mong
language materials, "we will allow them to circulate such
materials per our implementation plan," he added.

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


30. (SBU) This was an unprecedented visit. The Embassy team
was able to discuss several serious allegations made against
Lao Cai provincial and district-level authorities. Access to
a small sample of blocal Protestants and the frank and open
discussion with officials at all levels about the gap
between the new framework on religion and its implementation
were a significant improvement over previous outreach trips.
It is clear from the reception of the visit at such a
sensitive political time and from the repetition of talking
points in Lao Cai and Ha Giang (Ha Giang trip reported

HANOI 00001112 008.4 OF 008


septel) that the GVN gave strict instructions to northern
provinces to change their approach to our concerns on
religious freedom. While the situation for Protestants has
not yet markedly improved, it may now be possible for house
church congregations to register their activities per the
law and per Lao Cai's purported plans. We plan to send
another team to the region as early as June to follow up on
these developments. End Comment.

MARINE