RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: PROTESTANT EFFORTS TO REGISTER;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000894

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KIRF PHUM VM
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: PROTESTANT EFFORTS TO REGISTER;
UNEVEN PROGRESS IN NORTHERN VIETNAM

REF: A) HANOI 549; B) HANOI 392; C) HANOI 395; D) 05 HANOI

1051

HANOI 00000894 001.2 OF 004


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


1. (SBU) House church leaders affiliated with the
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) recently updated Poloff
on their efforts to officially register the activities of
their congregations in Vietnam's northern provinces.
Progress in registration and other improvements in
conditions for Protestants have been slow, with most
problems stemming from recalcitrant local officials rather
than from official policies. Each case outlined by the
deacons seems to reflect delaying tactics adopted by
district and commune officials in the face of unpopular
provincial and central Government policies. Many of these
deacons identified local problematic individuals rather than
local government as the source of their problems. Systemic
prejudice reported in Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces is
worrying, but across the region the growing official neglect
is a modest but noteworthy improvement over past official
hostility to Protestants. We will follow up previous travel
to the region with further fact-finding visits in late April
and early June to directly investigate conditions and to
press local officials at the district level to change their
approach to Protestants. End Summary and Comment.


2. (SBU) On April 5, ECVN General Secretary Au Quanh Vinh
arranged for eight H'mong house church deacons to travel to
Hanoi to meet with Embassy Poloff in keeping with our
request for regular updates on the situation for Protestants
in the provinces in northern Vietnam with large ethnic
minority populations (reftels). These include the Northwest
Highlands provinces of Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Lai
Chau, Loa Cai, Son La, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai,
in addition to Bac Kan, Lang Son, Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa.
Vinh stated that since the GVN promulgated its new framework
for religion last year, there have been improvements in
religious freedom in some northern provinces, but most
Protestants in the region still do not trust local officials
and are afraid to seek registration. In some provinces,
conditions are downright bad, with Ha Giang and Lao Cai
provinces the worst. Ha Giang officials will not even
accept letters requesting registration application materials
from local congregations or from the ECVN itself. Vinh
showed Poloff two letters sent to the People's Committee
(PC) in Quan Binh Distict of Ha Giang (one sent by a
congregation and the other directly by the ECVN). Both
letters were returned unopened in official PC envelopes.


3. (SBU) Vinh noted that, according to ECVN's latest
records, there are 120,536 Protestants in the thirteen
provinces listed above. Out of a total of 1,027 H'mong
Protestant house churches, over 600 have applied to register
their activities. To date, not a single group has been
allowed to formally register. Although the ECVN had
initially planned to instruct only one-third of the groups
to apply in order to gauge official receptivity to
applications, the ECVN has now decided to encourage all
remaining groups to submit their applications out of concern
that groups that wait will have greater difficulties later.
Though each house church leader is free to decide whether to
apply or not, the ECVN strongly desires they do so. The
ECVN is also encouraging groups to conduct religious
services "in a normal manner" (i.e., assembling regularly
for worship at local residences) as often as possible. All
churches are prepared for a possible strong reaction from
local officials across the north resulting from the ECVN's
new policies, he added.

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


4. (SBU) Thai Nguyen has a total of sixteen house churches
comprising 319 families, or 2,189 total members. House
church Deacon Ly Van Vanh from Vo Nhai District stated that
his congregation has not had difficulties with officials at
the commune level, the lowest administrative unit.
Authorities do not acknowledge letters or other
communications from the congregation, but they also do not
interfere with their activities so long as the group keeps
its services low key. The Protestants' main problems come
from district-level officials, the next administrative level
up. In particular, a few ethnic H'mong police officers have
made vague threats against house church leaders for
"corrupting the traditions of the H'mong people." These
problems do not seem to originate with PC officials, but

HANOI 00000894 002.2 OF 004


rather seem to derive from the initiative of individuals.
Ethnic minority church members who speak Vietnamese have
been able to enlist local PC protection and have resolved
their problems with these policemen, but a majority of
church followers in the area only speak H'mong. Intra-
H'mong problems persist for these believers, Vanh said.
Thai Nguyen is among the group of provinces the Ambassador
will visit during his next two trips north, tentatively
scheduled for late June and early July.

Tuyen Quang Province
--------------


5. (SBU) Tuyen Quang has a total of fifty-one house churches
comprising 596 families, or 2,477 total members. House
church Deacon Thao Seo Din from Yan Son District of Tuyen
Quang stated that his congregation has long since finished
filling in all the necessary forms for their registration
application, but local officials claim that they are not
authorized to approve the application and will not accept
it. The officials are "waiting to hear from provincial
authorities." Protestants are allowed to assemble for
worship without difficulties in this district, but some
local authorities have told house church leaders that
Protestants still aren't trusted because they "are followers
of an American religion," he said. The Ambassador also
intends to visit Tuyen Quang during his July trip.

Ha Giang Province
--------------


6. (SBU) Ha Giang has a total of 126 house churches
comprising 2,178 families, or 13,010 total members. Deacon
Din noted that his district in Tuyen Quang borders Vi Xuyen
District in Ha Giang, which is a far more problematic
province for Protestants. Din has been assisting the Vi
Xuyen congregation in their efforts to register. Local
authorities fined the Vi Xuyen house church pastor VND
500,000 (USD 32),or more than half of his monthly salary,
for traveling to Hanoi to pick up registration forms from
the ECVN. (Note: On average, it costs a church leader from
this district VND 400,000 (USD 25) to travel to Hanoi.
Members of the church usually contribute to pay for these
costs. End Note.) In addition, lay deacons of the church
were fined VND 100,000 VND (USD 6) each for "being
Protestant" and for signing documents requesting
registration for their group. Despite these fines, local
officials do not even open application letters from the Vi
Xuyen church, Din said.


7. (SBU) House church Deacon Lo Seo Su from Xin Man District
in Ha Giang stated that district-level authorities have told
his unregistered congregation that, "if five or more of your
members gather together, we will prosecute you." The group
has submitted an application to register, but has not yet
received any official response to their request. At this
point, most members of the congregation are afraid to
assemble for worship, although local authorities allow
members to practice their religion at home. Su noted that
neighboring district villages are allowed to assemble
without any problems. The Ambassador has twice written to
Ha Giang provincial authorities to seek clarification on
reports of abuse of Protestant believers; we have yet to
receive a response.

Lang Son Province
--------------


8. (SBU) Lang Son has only two house churches comprising
forty-four families, or 292 total members. House church
Deacon Ly Van Sung of Bac Son District noted that the
problems Protestants face in his area seem to be based on
ethnic differences. An ethnic Dzao Protestant church has
been registered and operating for "a long time," while a
neighboring H'mong church has not been registered despite
repeated applications to do so. Three days after the first
of these applications, local officials told church leaders
that, "if you operate as described, you will be punished."
However, followers in the district are still able to
assemble for worship. Authorities insist that church
leaders must seek permission to travel (which is never
given) any time they wish to visit Hanoi to receive
registration assistance from ECVN headquarters, though
deacons and pastors routinely ignore this requirement.
Another serious problem Protestants face in this area is
that only Vietnamese language bibles are legal, but very few
followers speak Vietnamese, he said. The Committee on
Religious Affairs confirms that only Vietnamese or English

HANOI 00000894 003.2 OF 004


language translations of the bible are currently legal
across Vietnam.

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


9. (SBU) Yen Bai has a total of five house churches
comprising seventy-five families, or 429 total members.
House church Deacon Giang A Lau of Van Yan District stated
that there are only three Protestant congregations in all of
Yen Bai. Two of these groups have applied to register, but
local authorities have not approved either application.
None of the groups have encountered problems since the
applications were submitted, although a district-level
policeman told some church members that, "it is okay if you
follow religion now, but if international attention is drawn
to your groups, we will arrest your leaders." Local
authorities at the district level also said that if
Protestants fail to obey instructions and continue to follow
"illegal religions and elements that want to take advantage
of religion to do bad things," they will make trouble for
house churches. Lau noted that officials seem mainly
concerned that outside groups will take advantage of
ignorant H'mong believers in the province. Poloff visited
in February and met with provincial officials to discuss
religious freedom issues (Ref A). The Ambassador also
intends to visit Yen Bai during his June trip.

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


10. (SBU) Lao Cai haQ total of 122 house churches
comprising 2,108 families, or 10,808 total members. House
church Deacon Chu Seo Cu from Huyen Bao District stated that
officials in five out of Lao Cai Province's ten districts
are hostile to Protestants. In late 2005, the pastor of
Huyen Bao congregation acquired application forms from the
ECVN and submitted them to district authorities. He was
told "it is okay for you to apply, but you need approval
from the grassroots level" before the district PC gave
permission. No further explanation of what constitutes
"grassroots level" approval was offered by the officials.
Since this exchange, Protestants in this district have been
prevented from assembling for worship and told by police
that, "if you get together in someone's house, we will
punish the owner of that house," he said.


11. (SBU) Cu noted that Protestants in Bao Thuc District
have not been allowed to celebrate Christmas since 1990. In
2005, they were required to seek permission from local
authorities for their Christmas celebrations, but just
before the holiday, local authorities ordered the
congregation to take down all decorations. Around the same
time, two deacons in Bat Sat District who traveled to Hanoi
were fined VND 500,000. In addition, two deacons from Phung
Hai District who recently acquired application forms from
the ECVN were arrested on their return from Hanoi and held
for 16 days. These individuals were fined VND 2.5 million
(USD 160 USD) and VND five million (USD 320) respectively
for possession of illegal H'mong language bibles, he said.


12. (SBU) According to Cu, officials in Bac Ha District
refuse to even forward the local congregation's registration
application to higher officials. The officials have also
encouraged non-Protestant relatives to harass believers
until they give up their religion. In one case, police
refused to intervene when the brother of a Protestant woman
repeatedly beat her husband, hinting that, "since you are
Protestant, it is okay for him to beat your husband until he
and you renounce your faith." This couple has now moved to
another district. In Baa Yen District, officials even went
as far as "threatening to use guns" if Protestants persist
in following their "illegal American religion," he said.
The Ambassador has twice written to Lao Cai authorities to
seek clarification of allegations of religious freedom
violations and received responses denying all charges. The
Ambassador traveled to Lao Cai in April 2005 and met with
provincial leaders to discuss religious freedom issues (Ref
D). Poloff also traveled to Lao Cai in February 2006 to
raise religious freedom issues (Ref A).

Cao Bang Province
--------------

1Q(SBU) Cao Bang has a total of 144 house churches
comprising 2,015 families or 9,846 total members. House
church Deacon Lyu A Tuu of Bao Luc District in Cao Bang
stated that the two Protestant congregations there face two

HANOI 00000894 004.2 OF 004


problems. The first is an official list of five "can'ts"
recently promulgated by some local authorities to guide
officials on how to handle Protestants. According to these
guidelines, Protestants 1) cannot assemble, 2) cannot let
outside people visit their homes, 3) cannot conduct
missionary activities, 4) cannot contribute money to their
church and 5) cannot read bibles to themselves or to others.
Local authorities have also officially notified Protestants
at the commune and district level that they are only allowed
to acknowledge receipt of applications. Provincial
officials are the only people who can actually approve
applications. The congregations in the province are still
waiting for provincial approval, he said.

Dien Bien Province
--------------


14. (SBU) Dien Bien has the largest Protestant population in
the Northwest Highlands with a total of 430 house churches
comprising 11,133 families or 71,103 total members. Deacon
Lyu A Pao of Muon Nghe District in Dien Bien stated that he
was arrested in 2005 after he returned to the district from
Hanoi carrying ECVN documents. Officials of the Border
Protection Force (BPF) justified his arrest by saying that
"he was not allowed to travel that far to get documents from
the ECVN" even if he asked permission first. Since this
event, a special task force of BPF personnel has been living
in Protestant villages to watch villager activities and to
confiscate all H'mong language bibles they find. Despite
these problems, Pao noted that the situation in Dien Bien
has improved compared with the era of frequent beatings of
Protestants in the 1990s. Nonetheless, many house church
congregations are still not allowed to assemble for worship.
Also, house church pastors and deacons are required to
perform manual labor for BPF units in order to make them
less willing to serve the church, he said. The Ambassador
traveled to Dien Bien in April 2005 and met with provincial
leaders to discuss religious freedom issues (Ref D). He has
also written twice to provincial leadership on allegations
of abuse of Protestant adherents. There has been no
response to date.

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


15. (SBU) While progress in registration and other
improvements in conditions for Protestants has been slow in
Vietnam's northern provinces, it is evident that the
majority of their problems stem from recalcitrant local
officials rather than from official policies. Each case
outlined by the ECVN deacons seems to result from delaying
tactics adopted by district and commune officials in the
face of unpopular provincial and central government
policies. It is also significant that many of these deacons
identified local problematic individuals rather than local
government as the source of their problems. The systemic
prejudice highlighted in Lao Cai and Ha Giang is worrying,
but across the region the growing official neglect is a
modest but noteworthy improvement over past official
hostility to Protestants.


16. (SBU) To follow up previous travel to the region, Poloff
and Pol Assistant will visit Lao Cai and Ha Giang April 23-
24 to investigate these reports and to press district level
official to change their approach to Protestants. In
addition to meetings with provincial officials, Poloff will
visit Bat Xat, Bao Thang, Bao Yen, and Xin Man districts in
Lao Cai, and Vi Xuyen and Bac Quang districts in Ha Giang.
Lao Cai and Ha Giang provincial officials have already
agreed to facilitate visits with individual house church
leaders in each district, and the Committee on Religious
Affairs has pressed both provinces to be as open as possible
with the team. A second trip is planned to Lai Chau and
Dien Bien provinces later this spring. End Comment.

MARINE