AMBASSADOR HANFORD MEETS WITH HANOI PROTESTANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002328 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF PGOV VM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HANFORD MEETS WITH HANOI PROTESTANTS REF: A. HANOI 1466 ¶B. HANOI 1554 ¶C. HANOI 1112 ¶D. HANOI 1888 HANOI 00002328 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: DCM Jon Aloisi per 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: IRF Ambassador John Hanford met with Protestant leaders in Hanoi on August 16. They noted that the overall environment for religion in the north and Northwest Highlands is "significantly less threatening" than in the past, as the number of arrests, attempted forced renunciations of faith and cases of physical abuse are on the wane. Most house churches are able to meet once a week without official harassment. However, the situation differs from province to province and even from district to district within each province. The biggest challenges the ECVN faces at present are the lack of human resources and inadequate administrative and church facilities. The problem Protestants have had gaining permission to list their religion on identity cards remains a thorny issue, and it may be several years before believers will be issued accurate cards by the GVN. The Protestants' main immediate target is developing an official dialogue with the GVN. Three achievable goals over the next year are 1) resolution of several land disputes, 2) attaining permission to build and open a bible school and 3) the registration of a significant number of house churches. Northern Protestants strongly favor Vietnam's accession to the WTO. End Summary. Conditions for Protestants -------------- ¶2. (SBU) U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford, accompanied by the DCM, met August 16 with Reverend Au Quang Vinh, concurrently General Secretary of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-North (ECVN) and Pastor-in-Charge of ECVN's Hanoi church. Representatives of ECVN churches in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Dien Bien, Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces were also present. Vinh stated that, despite promises from the GVN that it would work with the ECVN to resolve the organization's legal concerns following the December 2004 ECVN General Assembly, the organization still comprises only fifteen legally registered congregations. The ECVN has 1,070 affiliated house church congregations in 24 provinces of the north, Of these, 534 have "completed all application procedures" and a further 150 were on the verge of "completing their applications" when the GVN's Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) instructed the ECVN in early June to stop submitting more applications. (Note: The ECVN thus calculates that nearly 700 congregations have submitted applications to register. End Note.) Also in June, the CRA told ECVN President (and Vinh rival) Pastor Phung Quang Huyen about GVN plans to register eight "pilot" congregations in Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Ha Giang (Ref A). To date, however, the ECVN has not yet been able to confirm that any congregation has been registered, Vinh said. ¶3. (SBU) Overall, the environment for religion in the north and Northwest Highlands region is "significantly less threatening" than in the past as the number of arrests, attempted forced renunciations of faith and cases of physical abuse are much reduced, Vinh continued. The situation differs from province to province and even from district to district within each province. The biggest challenges the ECVN faces at present are the lack of human resources and inadequate administrative and church facilities. There are only 14 pastors to cover twenty-four provinces and 120,000 believers, Vinh added. Property Issues -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN still has not been allowed to open a bible training center for new pastors. In addition, the ECVN's repeated formal requests to acquire a land-use certificate for the Hanoi Church property have gone unanswered. (Note: The ECVN maintains that it cannot open a training center until it receives the land-use certificate and GVN permission to add a floor to the Hanoi property's administration building. End Note.) The ECVN faces similar property concerns in Nghe An and Thai Binh provinces, Vinh noted. Registration of Coastal Region Congregations -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Pastor Nguyen Gia Huan of Hai Phong Province stated that since he took over as Pastor-in-Charge of the (legally registered) Hai Phong ECVN church ten years ago, three HANOI 00002328 002.2 OF 003 sub-congregations have applied and re-applied numerous times to register with provincial religious affairs officials, but only recently received an informal reply to these applications. The Hai Phong Provincial People's Committee (PPC) only told the three groups that it is okay for them to practice their religion, but said nothing about granting formal registration status, a necessary condition for the acquisition of much needed property to expand the churches. Local officials also told Huan that he cannot preach to the three sub-congregations under his responsibility, he added. ¶6. (SBU) Tan Truong Sy, leader of the ECVN's unregistered Halong City congregation in Quang Ninh Province (Ref B) noted that since the Ambassador's meeting with congregation leaders in October 2005 and after Poloff's recent visit, local security officials have kept harassment of the congregation to a minimum, although they still closely watch the group's activities. ECVN pastors have also been allowed to visit the congregation. Nevertheless, the Quang Ninh PPC refuses to register the congregation, Sy said. He also noted that a separate Quang Ninh congregation in Mong Cai District (bordering China) was recently given written permission from local officials to gather for worship, although this did not constitute official registration. Conditions for Northwest Highlands Congregations -------------- --- ¶7. (SBU) The house church deacons from Dien Bien, Ha Giang and Lao Cai provinces stated that ECVN congregations in the three provinces have difficulty gathering for worship. Vinh explained that while there are fewer arrests of believers who assemble in the region, and that pressure on house church congregations is significantly reduced, the congregations' legal limbo makes most ECVN believers hesitant to practice their faiths openly. Nevertheless, all of the 1,070 congregations are able to meet at least once a week. In some locations, local officials simply ignore the churches' activities -- especially in areas where local party and village chiefs are Protestants themselves. In other areas local officials will stop groups from worshipping if they observe the Protestants assembling, Vinh added. The Dien Bien deacon noted that some local officials do not hesitate to stop groups from gathering. The deacon from Lao Cai said that he knew of three congregations in Bao Thang District of his province (Ref C) that were recently told by local officials that the province will register them soon. (Note: This was the first that Vinh heard of this development. End Note.) Forced Renunciation and the ID Card Issue -------------- ¶8. (C) Vinh stated that the issue of national identity cards for Protestants that identify their religious affiliation remains a thorny issue. Some local officials, especially in the northwest, seem to believe that issuing cards that identify a believer's religion is an undesirable admission that Protestantism exists within their communities. Officials generally inform Protestant applicants that they are "not allowed" to identify themselves as Christians. Vinh noted that, even in Hanoi, his own daughter had difficulty requesting her identity card because the responsible officials initially refused to recognize her Protestant faith. (Note: Vinh had this decision reversed after he phoned a "friend" at the local police station. End Note.) Most adults in the northwest don't have identity cards because they are only needed to gain permission to travel outside one's district, to purchase property or to "do business." The ECVN believes that it will be several years before believers will be issued accurate identity cards by the GVN, Vinh surmised. The Way Forward -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN's Executive Board sent a letter to GVN leadership last year requesting resolution of the main problems facing the ECVN. The GVN never replied to this petition. Vinh identified getting a formal answer from the GVN to the board's letter and the development of an official CRA-ECVN dialogue as one of the ECVN's main goals this summer. Vinh also assessed that three achievable goals for the ECVN in the next year are 1) resolution of the land issues in Nghe An and Thai Binh provinces, 2) attaining the land-use certificate for and permission to remodel the Hanoi Church property for use as a bible school and 3) the registration of a significant number of house churches. ¶10. (C) The ECVN strongly favors Vietnam's accession to the HANOI 00002328 003.2 OF 003 WTO because "deep down we want to see Vietnam join the international community," Vinh continued. However, he refused to comment on whether Vietnam's Country of Particular Concern designation on religious freedom should be lifted. (Note: In past meetings with Poloff, Vinh has repeatedly stated his belief that WTO accession will further force the GVN to open Vietnamese society and hence increase the space for religion. End Note.) ¶11. (SBU) In conclusion, Vinh noted that, recent GVN propaganda to the contrary (Ref D),the ECVN has no intention to unite with the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV). There has been no real discussion of unification between the two religious groups, and the ECVN remains hesitant to address the idea until most of its own problems have been resolved, he said. ¶12. (SBU) Ambassador Hanford cleared this message. MARINE