NEW HOA HAO TENSIONS IN THE MEKONG DELTA

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000609 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PREF KIRF PGOV VM SUBJECT: NEW HOA HAO TENSIONS IN THE MEKONG DELTA REF: HCMC 308 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) On June 4, a Hoa Hao contact sent us via email an open letter signed by Hoa Hao dissident Le Quang Liem, asking for "emergency intervention from international agencies" to end a hunger strike by 16 members of Liem's group in Dong Thap province in the Mekong Delta. According to the letter, the group started the hunger strike on May 30 to protest a government ban on their celebration of Hoa Hao "founder's day," scheduled this year for June 13. Another reason for the hunger strike was to protest an alleged attack against Hoa Hao followers on May 24. Plainclothes police reportedly attacked some Hoa Hao as they sought to visit the family of Tran Van Ut who self-immolated and died last August in a police raid (ref A). ¶2. (SBU) Liem's letter notes that the protestors have surrounded themselves with over 100 liters of gasoline and are prepared to self-immolate should the police seek to break up the hunger strike. The letter states that police have blocked the area, cut phone lines and used loudspeakers to threaten the group to drop their protest. Liem said that by blocking the group from contact with the outside, the GVN is pushing them towards death. He demanded that the GVN yield to the nine demands of the "self-immolating people." An article on the standoff posted on a dissident website (www.doithoai.com) carried a photograph showing a group of people with banners including: "A mass hunger strike to protest the communist government's repression of religious freedom and its beating of Hoa Hao followers," "We need freedom, democracy and human rights", "Return the Hoa Hao's headquarters at 114 Bui Thi Xuan," and "Free Nguyen Van Dien priest." (Note: the former Hoa Hao headquarters is located in HCMC. Nguyen Van Dien is one of the seven persons tried and imprisoned in September 2005, following the June 2005 protests against the GVN in the Mekong.) ¶3. (SBU) On June 5, we contacted Hai Ong, Chairman of the Dong Thap Committee for Religious Affairs. Ong said that a group of Hoa Hao had hung anti-GVN banners in the province. He said the incident was not serious and that the "trouble-makers" were actually taking food supplied by their relatives. Ong confirmed that the group had set up gasoline barrels around themselves, but authorities recognize that this is "a set-up" and are not going to precipitate a crisis. Ong denied that police beat up the Hoa Hao, and said that the original incident was an "altercation with some drivers." He refused to discuss the issue further. ¶4. (SBU) We subsequently spoke with the People's Committee Chairman of the commune in which the standoff is taking place. He repeated that there was no real hunger strike and that the authorities have been able to "softly pacify" the group and convince some to go home. ¶5. (SBU) On June 6, we received another report from our Hoa Hao contact, who indicated that tensions continued to build in Dong Thap. He was concerned that because local authorities have refused to hold a dialogue with the protestors, they will continue their hunger strike and will self-immolate when exhausted. He indicated that Le Quang Liem called on the followers to drop their protest and return home. However, our reading of Liem's "open letter of June 4, posted on the Internet, calls on the followers to "be patient and not self-immolate" and to wait for his and international intervention with the GVN. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: It is not clear to us what message Liem is actually sending to his followers. In the past, he has called on followers to self-immolate to protest the GVN, including one attempted self-immolation in front of the Consulate General last year. His message now may be read as discouraging self-immolation in the current case, or it can be read as discouraging self immolation for the moment, pending Liem's or international intervention. We have emphasized again strongly to Vietnamese officials in Dong Thap that they have nothing to gain by taking any actions that would lead to loss of life. End Comment. Winnick