COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS UPDATES DCM ON RELIGIOUS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 HANOI 002399

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SENSITIVE
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STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM
SUBJECT: COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS UPDATES DCM ON RELIGIOUS
DEVELOPMENTS

REF: A) HANOI 2245; B) HCMC 1534; C) HCMC 987; D) HANOI 1466

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


1. (SBU) On September 15, Chairman Ngo Yen Thi of the GVN's
Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) briefed the DCM on recent
religious freedom developments in Vietnam. The CRA reports that
eighteen congregations have been chosen in five out of 19 northern
provinces for "pilot registration." These successful registrations
will be described to local officials from throughout the north as
positive examples of acceptance of religion at a large CRA-organized
meeting in September. According to Chairman Thi, the registration
process in the north will likely speed up following this meeting, as
happened in the Central Highlands in 2006. He cited local
officials' ignorance about religion and the failure of northern
Protestant leaders to engage with officials and believers at the
local level for the need for this step-by-step approach. Thi stated
that northern Protestant leaders did not have direct contact with
even the 150 "mature" congregations on a list presented to
government officials. He blamed municipal authorities for the lack
of progress in opening a Bible school in Hanoi. We will raise the
issue of the Hanoi land-use certificate with the appropriate city
authorities.


2. (SBU) Summary and Comment, cont'd: The CRA has not officially
established a central point of contact for Protestants to raise
their problems with the GVN, but one well-connected pastor reports
that a back channel point of contact for Protestants may have been
created within the Ministry of Public Security. The news that CRA
is moving ahead with 18 pilot registrations is welcome and would
constitute more than a doubling of registered northern churches, if
true, although Protestants in Hanoi have not been able to confirm
the news. They will to attempt to confirm these registrations
directly with the respective house church leaders. For their part,
the Protestants report that they recently acquired a copy of CRA's
policy on northern Protestantism, which explicitly recognizes the
faith (a step forward) though it instructs local officials to
encourage some ethnic minority believers to return to traditional
beliefs. Nevertheless, all Protestant congregations across the
north are able to gather for worship regularly and do not report any
official harassment. End Summary and Comment.

Protestant Registrations
--------------


3. (SBU) The DCM met with CRA Chairman Ngo Yen Thi on September 15
to follow up on Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang's recent letter to
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John
Hanford detailing religious freedom developments in Vietnam. Thi
noted that the CRA had received the list of 150 "mature" (and hence
easily registered) H'Mong house church congregations in nine
Northwest provinces identified by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam
North (ECVN) (Ref A - Paragraph 3). The CRA has been seeking to
verify the existence of these congregations with the respective
provincial authorities. This is proving difficult because of the
remoteness of most of the congregations, as well as local officials'
confusion over which organizations the Protestants are actually
affiliated with, i.e., the ECVN, the Baptists, the 7th Day
Adventists, the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and so
on. The provincial officials are also attempting to gather
information from each of the identified congregations confirming
their leadership and number of adherents, he said.


4. (SBU) Thi explained that the CRA decided to move ahead with
eighteen pilot registrations in five provinces in the north (Ref A).
Even these proved labor-intensive and time-consuming, according to
Thi, as a CRA official must travel to the respective locality in
order to familiarize local officials and local Protestants with the
registration procedures for each registration. The CRA plans to
highlight these registrations to "prove to northern officials that
Protestantism is purely a religious phenomenon" (rather than a
separatist movement). The CRA will convene a meeting in late
September with officials from all of the northern provinces.
Representatives of the five provinces with pilot registrations will
present reports on their successes in registering Protestant groups
so that "the others will understand and will build" on the pilot
experiences to help their own Protestant residents to register. Thi
also noted that the CRA is using radio and pamphlets to educate
local Protestants (and local officials) about the registration
process, though not every community in the mountainous areas can
receive radio broadcasts.


5. (SBU) Thi stated that the CRA's plan for northern Vietnam is
designed to replicate its successful experience in the Central
Highlands last year. During 2005, CRA officers had to persuade
local officials (provincial, district and commune level) that,
"though there are bad people among the believers, most believers are

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good and should be allowed to register." Once this was achieved,
the Central Highlands registration process sped up significantly.
Today, there are 700 registered meeting points and 63 registered
full-blown congregations in the Central Highlands, with 14 churches
built or under construction, Thi added. However, he acknowledged
that though the CRA expects that after the September meeting of
provincial officials there will be a strong increase in
registrations in the north, the process will still likely be slower
than occurred in the Central Highlands.


6. (SBU) Thi asserted that the main reason the CRA expects slower
registration is that the ECVN "is currently not as involved" with
local congregations and local officials as the SECV was in the
Central Highlands last year. The ECVN executive board members do
not go to the provinces to train house church leaders; they just
stay in Hanoi, he complained. (Note: ECVN leaders have told us
before that they repeatedly have requested, and been denied,
permission to travel to the provinces to engage local leaders and
local Protestants in discussion about registration and other matters
concerning the local house churches. In general, this permission
would be granted by provincial officials, not by central authorities
based in Hanoi. End Note.)

Seminaries
--------------


7. (SBU) The DCM noted that ECVN complains that the CRA cites lack
of trained pastors and poor penetration of ECVN into the mountains
of the north, yet had failed to grant ECVN permission to build a
Bible school in Hanoi on the ECVN Hanoi Church property to train
church leaders. Thi replied by noting that the SECV recently
convened three training courses for pastors in Ho Chi Minh City and
also recently received a piece of land for a new bible school (Ref
C). When pressed, Thi stated that the CRA hopes to replicate this
success with the ECVN in Hanoi, but the process for approving the
new Bible school has been slow because: (a) the ECVN does not have
enough trained pastors to teach new church leaders, but also
because: (b) the Hanoi authorities have been slow to approve the
land use certificate for the church property.

Point of Contact for Protestants with Problems
--------------


8. (SBU) The DCM asked if CRA has established a single point of
contact for Protestants who have problems with registration to
inform the GVN about their concerns over registration. Thi replied
that in each province there is a provincial CRA which should be the
main point of contact for Protestants who run into trouble with
their applications. (Note: On September 15, Poloff met with Pastor
Doan Trung Tin, a.k.a Pastor Steven, of the Vietnam Good News
Mission. Steven, who assists ECVN's church organizing activities in
the north, stated that on September 12, two members of the Ministry
of Public Security (MPS) invited him to a meeting at which they
informed him that they had been assigned as troubleshooters for
Protestants across Vietnam. The MPS officers said that if Steven
and other ECVN representatives come to them with Protestants'
problems, the officers will do their best to assist them from within
MPS. However, the officers also warned that if the Protestant
leaders report problems to foreigners, the MPS "will not do anything
to assist them," Steven said. End Note).

Official Responses to ECVN's Petitions to GVN Leadership
-------------- -


9. (SBU) The DCM asked if the GVN contemplates responding to the
ECVN's petitions to GVN leaders for redress of a host of issues,
including registration of churches, permission to open a Bible
school, issuance of land-use certificates and so on. Thi
acknowledged that the CRA has received several petitions from the
ECVN throughout the last year, and has forwarded each request within
those petitions to the appropriate ministries, city officials or
provincial officials for comment. He reiterated that issuance of
the Hanoi land-use certificate (which is also delaying the
establishment of the ECVN's proposed Bible school) is under the
responsibility of the Hanoi People's Committee which, he suggested,
is "difficult to work with."

Other Developments
--------------


10. (SBU) Thi noted that on September 15, in Da Nang, the CRA
registered a United World Mission Church (Ref B). The Ho Chi Minh
City CRA also recently recognized Baptist, Mennonite, 7th Adventist
organizations and a new Buddhist organization. This shows that
Vietnam is open to permitting new religions to develop. Any delay
in Protestant registration in northern Vietnam should be seen as the
result of local ignorance, and not any official GVN policy, Thi
added.

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Details on Pilot Registrations
--------------


11. (SBU) The CRA provided the following breakdown of the list of
eighteen pilot registrations by province as follows (note: the six
Lai Chau and Lao Cai registrations are the same six previously
reported by the CRA - Ref D):

I - Lai Chau Province
--------------

-- 1) Cung Mu Phin village, Lan Nhi Thang commune, Tam Duong
district;
-- 2) Than Chi Ho village, Hong Thu commune, Sin Ho district;

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

-- 3) Khe Den I village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district;
-- 4) Khe Pen II village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district;
-- 5) Ai Nam village, Phong Hai township, Bao Thang district;
-- 6) Xin Chai village, Phong Hai township, Bao Thang district;

III - Bac Can Province
--------------

-- 7) Phja Deng village, Nghien Loan commune, Pac Nam district;
-- 8) Na Phai village, Nghien Loan commune, Pac Nam district;
-- 9) Khuoi O village, Nhan Mon commune, Pac Nam district;
-- 10) Nam Nha village, Xuan La commune, Pac Nam district;

IV - Yen Bai Province
--------------

--11) Go Xoan village, Chau Que Thuong commune, Van Yen district;
-- 12) Khe San village, Chau Que Thuong commune, Van Yen district;
-- 13) Lien Son village, Lang Thip commune, Van Yen district;

V - Thai Nguyen Province
--------------

--14) Choi Hong village, Tan Lang commune, Vo Nhai district;
-- 15) Lung Hoai village, Thuong Nung commune, Vo Nhai district;
-- 16) Dong Tam village, Dong Dat commune, Phu Luong district;
-- 17) Tan Linh village, Tan Linh commune, Dai Tu district;
-- 18) Hoang Van Thu precinct, Thai Nguyen city.

Protestant Reaction
--------------


12. (SBU) On September 19, ECVN General Secretary Au Quang Vinh told
Poloff that the ECVN has not heard any confirmation from the 18
congregations that the CRA says were included in its pilot
registration. He is sending requests for full reports from the
leaders of the respective house church leaders of the congregations
on the list, but does not expect to hear back from them before the
end of September. (Note: All messages back and forth from these
congregations are hand carried and require at least several days
travel one way. End Note.)


13. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN has not been contacted by the CRA
on any issue since Ambassador Hanford's August 16-18 visit to Hanoi,
nor have they received any written response to their past petitions.
Poloff informed Vinh of the CRA's complaint that ECVN leaders have
not been engaged at the local level in the north. Vinh stated that
the ECVN board will formally request permission from CRA and
provincial officials to visit local communities across the north
over the next two weeks. The ECVN will inform post of any
response.


14. (SBU) Vinh also stated that he recently acquired a copy of the
internal CRA policy manual on northern Protestantism, dated "Hanoi -
2006". ECVN leaders believe that this document is a step forward as
it explicitly recognizes the existence and importance of
Protestantism amidst the H'mong and Dzao ethnic minority communities
of the Northwest Highlands, and also explicitly forbids local
officials to force believers to renounce their faiths. That said,
the document still instructs local officials to encourage ethnic
minority believers to return to their traditional beliefs. (Note:
Post is not certain of the provenance of this document and will
continue to investigate with CRA. End Note). Nevertheless, Vinh
stated that he is pleased with the current situation in the north
for ECVN followers and noted that all of the 1,070 ECVN ethnic
minority congregations are able to gather for worship regularly and
do not report any harassment from police or other local officials.

Comment

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--------------


15. (SBU) Thi was at pains to demonstrate progress in line with VFM
Bang's recent letter to Ambassador Hanford, but he also clearly
sought to manage our expectations for immediate results over the
next few weeks. The news that the CRA is moving ahead with 18 pilot
registrations is welcome and would constitute more than a doubling
of the number of registered ECVN churches, if true. We will
continue to seek ECVN confirmation of these registrations directly
from the respective house church leaders. Pastor Stevens claims
that several of the 18 were issued registration certificates by
provincial authorities, but that commune level officials continue to
refuse to pass the certificates to congregations until they
"demonstrate good behavior." We also plan to raise the issue of
ECVN's Hanoi land use certificate with the appropriate Hanoi
officials as soon as possible. End Comment.


16. (SBU) Begin text of VFM Le Van Bang's Letter to Ambassador
Hanford:
September 13, 2006

H.E. John Hanford III
Ambassador at-large for
International Religious Freedom
U.S. Department of State
Washington DC

Dear Mr. Ambassador,

I am pleased with the outcome of your visit to Vietnam last August.
I believe that you may have a clear picture of the current
situation of religions in Vietnam through your meetings with various
Vietnamese agencies, religious dignitaries as well as through what
you have seen by your own eyes. In order to further enhance mutual
understanding between Vietnam and the United States, I would like to
update you with current developments in this regard, especially
since the coming into effect of the Ordinance on Religions and
Beliefs, the Government Decree No. 22 and Prime Minister's
Instruction No. 1 on Protestantism.

Since the promulgation of Prime Minister's Instruction, three new
Protestant denominations in the Ho Chi Minh City area (Seven Day
Adventist Church, Grace Baptist Church and Mennonite Church) and a
new one in Danang (United World Mission) have been registered. In
the Central Highlands, additional 34 chapters of the Vietnam
Evangelical Church (South) have been recognized, nearly 800 groups
from Protestant denominations registered, 67 pastors ordained.
Local authorities have granted the use of land and facilitated the
construction of 9 new churches in the region.

In Northern mountainous provinces, efforts have been made on the
part of local authorities to implement the new legislations on
religions. Within only two months from July to September, 18
Protestant groups have been registered in Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Bac
Can, Yen Bai and Thai Nguyen. Application by other groups are under
consideration. The Commission on Religious Affairs has held a
number of training courses on new legislations for local officials.


Buddhism and Catholicism have witnessed a number of significant
activities since late 2005, one of which was the historical visit by
Vatican's Minister Cardinal C. Sepe who oversaw the ordainment
ceremony for 57 priests in Hanoi Cathedral. Buddhist community
nationwide has just celebrated the 25th Anniversary of its
unification and the 2550th Vesak (Buddha's Birthday) this June.

On occasion of the National Day of September 2nd, 2006, 5,351
inmates were granted amnesty, including those of concern to the U.S.
such as Pham Hong Son and Ma Van Bay.

I know that the Vietnamese Government Commission for Religious
Affairs regularly updates you with new developments. By citing the
above-mentioned figures, however, I would like to stress that much
progress has been made just within nearly two years since the
religious legal documents came into life.

In the time to come, we will continue to attach great importance to
the implementation of the Government policy on religions from
central to local levels with more attention paid to remote areas.
In this respect, we take note and consider with care issues raised
by you and the US Embassy in Hanoi recently. We will update you
with information relating to those issues as soon as we can. With
what we have done and experience gained over the last nearly 2 years
of implementing the legislations on religions, I can assure you that
much more progress will be made. At the same time, I would like to
confirm our willingness to conduct dialogues with the United States
on issues of concern, including human rights and religious freedom
on the basis of mutual respect with an aim to further enhance our

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mutual understanding as well as to look for the best solutions to
these issues.

In that spirit and in keeping with the current relations between
Vietnam and the United States, I urge you to recommend the U.S.
Secretary of State to remove Vietnam from the CPC list, which in our

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belief, does not reflect the real situation of Religions and beliefs
in Vietnam. As President Bush stated in his recent letter to
President Nguyen Minh Triet, we're opening a new chapter in the
friendship between our two countries. We should work closely
together to take our relationship in that direction.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest
consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Le Van Bang
Vice Minister for
Foreign Affairs


CC: H.E. Christopher Hill
Assistant Secretary for
East Asia and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington DC

Ambassador Michael Marine
U.S. Embassy Hanoi
Hanoi, Vietnam

End text of letter.

MARINE