RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CONDITIONS IN HUE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000270

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CONDITIONS IN HUE

REF: A. A) HCMC 266; B) HCMC 261; C) HCMC 248 AND PREVIOUS; D)


B. 06 HCMC 1089; E)05 HCMC 623

HO CHI MIN 00000270 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) Summary: Religious freedom conditions in Central
Vietnam's Thua Thien Hue conditions continue to gradually
improve for the Catholic archdiocese and the small
Protestant community. The decision of a house church group
in the province to apply for registration under Vietnam's
legal framework on religion reflects not only this local
improvement, but a decision of its HCMC-based leadership to
seek to legalize operations throughout the country. In
contrast, conditions for the outlawed Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in Hue remain difficult. The
authorities continue to view the UBCV as a substantial
threat. Recently they have moved aggressively to tighten
movement restrictions on key Hue-based UBCV leaders and to
counter UBCV efforts to appoint new leaders to strengthen
its organization. End summary.


2. (SBU) During a visit to Hue on March 1 and 2, Embassy
and ConGen PolOffs met with local government officials and
religious leaders to assess developments in religious
freedom in the province. Chairman of the Provincial
Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA),Duong Viet Hong,
stressed the province's commitment to implement Vietnam's
legal framework for religion. He assured us that the
approximately 605,000 Buddhists, 55,000 Catholics, 300
Protestants, and 200 Cao Dai followers who reside in the
province are treated fairly. He acknowledged that the
return of expropriated religious property and role of
religious institutions in education remain unresolved
challenges. The province still considers land expropriated
from the Catholic Church and the Buddhists -- principally
religious schools and hospitals -- as "contributions." He
hailed Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung's recent meeting
with the Vatican and hoped it would bring the Catholic
Church and the government closer together.


3. (SBU) The Hue CRA Chairman also said the province was
looking forward to welcoming back Zen Master Thich Nhat
Hanh to Hue (Ref B). Hanh's visit to Vietnam is an example
of the GVN's tolerant policy on religious freedom, he
asserted. Hanh is welcome because he "shares the same
religious belief" as other Buddhists in Hue.


4. (SBU) The CRA Chairman noted that Protestantism has only
a very modest footprint in the province. Of the 300
Protestants the CRA records in the province, 250 are
affiliated with the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical
Church of Vietnam (SECV) in two churches. Another fifty
are affiliated with a number of house churches, including
the Mennonites and the Seventh-Day Adventists. Although
not yet registered, they can worship freely, the CRA
Chairman stated. Hong noted that he has encouraged the
house churches to register under the legal framework, but
thus far they have opted not to do so because the
provincial authorities allow them to worship regardless of
their legal status.

"A Limit to Hue's Tolerance"
--------------


5. (SBU) Hong cautioned that the GVN is very strict when
individuals violate Vietnamese laws by using religion as a
front for political "extremism." Catholic priest Father
Nguyen Van Ly is being pursued by police because of his
political and not/not religious views, he claimed. (Ref A
reports on Father Ly's indictment on charges of
"propagandizing against the state.") Separately, officials
from the Hue External Relations Office characterized both
Father Ly as well as Thich Thien Hanh of the outlawed
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV),as examples of
political figures who are abusing their religious position
to promote anti-government extremism.

The SECV's Ongoing Challenges in Hue
--------------


6. (SBU) In the presence of Hue ERO officials who insisted
on attending our meeting, Pastor Dinh Van Tu, head of the
SECV in Hue, reported that his church has a good
relationship with the province. The Pastor, who took over
the leadership role in Hue four months earlier, said that
his small congregation -- he estimated 300 worshipers --
did not face any harassment. However, the SECV has
requested that the Hue government return three expropriated
SECV properties that are being using as public schools, but
awaits a government reply. Pastor Tu also complained that
SECV students attending Hue University had their off-campus
Christmas gathering disrupted by police. He refused to

HO CHI MIN 00000270 002.2 OF 003


discuss specifics in front of the Hue officials, noting
with a smile, "you can go but we stay." Pastor Tu added
that the problems the SECV faced were not with the CRA but
with local police.

And Police Still Suspicious of House Churches
--------------


7. (SBU) When we entered the house of Pastor Nguyen Van
Phai of the United Gospel Outreach Church (UGOC),he
whispered that a police official was stationed in an
adjacent building and that our conversation was being
recorded. Pastor Phai was on edge and spoke in hushed
voices. (When we met with the Pastor in 2005, police
similarly were present.) Pastor Phai said that he planned
to submit an application to register his church in the
coming weeks and that his church's interaction with the
local authorities has improved since the creation of
Vietnam's legal framework on religion. His church has
approximately 100 followers in Thua Thien Hue province and
another 1,000 worshipers in neighboring provinces. The
UGOC has four house churches in the province; all receive
"the same level of attention from the police." He added
cryptically that other members of the UGOC in Hue had hoped
to attend our meeting, but "failed."


8. (SBU) In a follow-up cell phone conversation on March
22, Pastor Phai elaborated that, prior to the passage of
the legal framework police harassment against his
congregation was severe. Prayer services were frequently
broken up police and congregants heavily fined or detained.
Since March 2005, police have not intervened during
services, nor have they harassed worshipers. Police do
call on him occasionally to "review the church's
operations."

Hue Buddhists: UBCV and VBS On Separate Paths
-------------- -


9. (SBU) In the austere setting of his chambers at the Bao
Quach Pagoda, we met in private with the Venerable Thich
Thien Hanh (strictly protect),the senior-most member of
the UBCV in Hue. Thich Thien Hanh began by condemning the
police arrest of Father Ly. In his view, the persecution
of Father Ly is part of an intensified nationwide GVN
crackdown against political dissidents after the end of
2006 APEC Summit, the U.S. President's visit and Vietnam's
entry into the WTO.


10. (SBU) The UBCV leader told us that he remains under de
facto "pagoda" arrest, and noted that when the police moved
against Father Ly, they also increased their presence
around his pagoda. In September 2006, he was able to
"escape" Hue to join UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang in
Binh Dinh and accompany him to HCMC for medical treatment
(ref D). Although his movements are restricted, he still
can communicate with the Patriarch and with UBCV General
Secretary Thich Quang Do in HCMC. He said that, on January

SIPDIS
25, approximately 1,000 police officials interrupted, but
did not stop, a ceremony he was officiating to promote
junior monks at the Phuoc Thanh Pagoda to positions in the
UBCV's Youth Wing. However, in mid-March, Hue police
stepped up their harassment of two Hue monks responsible
for UBCV youth affairs -- Thich Le Cong Cau and Thich Chi
Thang. The two UBCV members have been summoned for police
interrogations virtually every day for the past week, UBCV
contacts told us on March 23.


11. (SBU) Hanh said that the relationship between the UBCV
and GVN-recognized Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) monks in
Hue remains "good" and that "they talk," although he
disapproves of VBS ties with the GVN. "We do not want the
Communist Party to use Buddhism to promote itself, the UBCV
leader said. Warming to the theme, Hanh added that
Vietnam's 82 million people should not be under the control
of "two million atheist Party members." Hanh said that he
would support a merger with the VBS were the new
organization outside the ambit of the Fatherland Front and
the Party and were the GVN to pledge not to interfere in
the internal affairs of the merged organization, including
the educational curriculum of Buddhist acolytes.


12. (SBU) In contrast to the UBCV Patriarch who told the CG
that he would meet with Thich Nhat Hanh (ref A),the Hue
UBCV representative said that he will not/not meet the Zen
Master when he returns to Hue at the end of March. (In
2005, Thich Tien Hanh was the only ranking UBCV member to
meet with Thich Nhat Hanh.) The Hue UBCV representative
said that Thich Nhat Hanh has grown too close to the GVN.

HO CHI MIN 00000270 003.2 OF 003




13. (SBU) Venerable Thich Hai Anh, Deputy Chief of the Hue
VBS and two assistants welcomed PolOffs to a brightly lit,
open-air hall at the Tu Dam Pagoda and to a table laden
with snacks and beverages. (The ERO insisted on sitting in
on our meeting.) Anh described VBS operations in Hue as
"independent" of the GVN. The VBS has "absolute freedom"
to organize and worship in Hue and has maintained good
relations with the GVN since 1975. (The VBS technically
was created in 1981, following the "disbanding" of the
UBCV.) In cooperation with the Hue Catholic Archdiocese,
the VBS operates a health clinic that offers counseling and
anti-retroviral medication to approximately 60 people
living with HIV/AIDS. The VBS told us that it would
welcome USG funding to expand the program. Anh told us
that the VBS still has normal relations with Thich Tien
Hanh, but has no "formal interaction" with the UBCV.
Unlike Thich Tien Hanh, the VBS is looking forward to close
cooperation with Thich Nhat Hanh during his visit to Hue;
the VBS is the Zen Master's official host.

The Catholic Church Pursues a Gradualist Approach
-------------- --------------


14. (SBU) Nguyen Nhu The, Archbishop of Hue, told us that
the relationship between his diocese and its 55,000
Catholics and the Hue government is improving, despite the
Father Ly incident. (Ref C reports on our conversation
with the Archbishop on Father Ly.) The government does not
prevent people from becoming Catholic and Catholics may now
enter university. For Christmas 2006, the GVN finally
permitted the diocese to send a priest to minister to the
Catholic population in Quang Binh province, part of the Hue
Archdiocese. In the past, priests have had to slip into
Quang Binh illegally. The Archbishop also noted the
ongoing cooperation with local authorities and the Hue VBS
to offer services to people in the community with HIV/AIDS.
According to the Archbishop, the Prime Minister's recent
meeting with the Vatican will only serve to "open up a
brighter future for Catholics and other religions."


14. (SBU) Problems remain, however. His diocese can only
enroll ten students in the seminary every two years. The
Archbishop has asked the GVN to increase that number to 40
and to allow more ordained priests, but thus far the
government response has been negative. There has been no
real movement on expropriated property, but the Archbishop
espouses a gradualist, patient approach. His highest
priority is for the GVN to fulfill the Church's request to
get back land in La Vang, a Catholic pilgrimage in Quang
Tri province. This issue, he told us, is of interest to
the national Catholic Church, and not just the Hue diocese.

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


15. (SBU) During this visit, officials were far more
insistent and persistent in accompanying us to non-
government meetings than in previous visits, a reflection
of a trend we a seeing throughout the Consular District and
not an indication of backsliding on religious freedom
issues. Overall religious freedom conditions in Hue
continue to slowly move forward, although more needs to be
done. It is encouraging that the Catholic Archdiocese is
able to move forward with some work on HIV/AIDS --
following in the footsteps of the more extensive operation
that the HCMC Archdiocese already has in place. The
decision of the UGOC house church to move ahead with
registration reflects not only improved conditions in Hue,
but a decision by the national leadership of the
organization based in HCMC to seek to legalize its
operations throughout the country. Nonetheless, Hue is a
conservative town, socially and politically. Its
conservatism is reflected it continued police surveillance
of the unregistered house church movement and the
authority's sluggishness in approving routine requests from
the Catholic Archdiocese.


16. (SBU) Comment Continued: Hue is one of the core
centers of Buddhism in Vietnam. This visit reinforces our
judgment that UBCV monks -- especially Thich Tien Hanh --
continue to be well respected in the Hue Buddhist
community, but viewed as a serious threat by the
authorities. As in ongoing cases of human rights
violations against other UBCV leaders elsewhere in southern
Vietnam, harassment against the Hue chapter of the UBCV is
carefully calibrated and almost certainly centrally-
directed. GVN pressure is focused at countering UBCV
efforts to perpetuate and strengthen its organization.
CHERN