DCM Raises Buddhist and Catholic Disputes, Other Issues,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000694 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF VM SUBJECT: DCM Raises Buddhist and Catholic Disputes, Other Issues, with CRA Ref: Hanoi 653 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 22, the DCM met with Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Xuan to press for a resolution to the ongoing dispute between Buddhist sects at the Bat Nha Pagoda in Lam Dong Province, express concern over the reported beating of Catholic parishioners in Quang Binh, and urge the CRA to do more to end the harassment of Protestants in Tra Vinh. In the course of a protracted, frank, and at times frustrating conversation, Xuan deflected responsibility for the Pagoda dispute, characterizing it as an internal matter "between two brothers." He insisted that local authorities are working to resolve the situation in Quang Binh, but blamed the Vinh Diocese for reneging on an earlier agreement with provincial officials. Xuan cited "cultural conflicts" to explain the slow registration of Protestant congregations in the Northwest Highlands; however, he promised that over 200 congregations will be registered in that area by the end of ¶2009. He acknowledged the right of the H'mong people to have Bibles in their own language, but declined to offer a timeframe for their printing in Vietnam or provide authorization to allow congregations to import the Bibles from abroad. END SUMMARY. Bat Nha Pagoda -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Meeting July 22, the DCM pressed CRA Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Xuan to take firmer action to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the dispute at the Bat Nha Pagoda in Lam Dong Province, emphasizing that our main interest is in seeing an end to the violence and harassment (reftel). It was particularly troublesome, she stressed, that local authorities, including police, would stand by while a mob attacked monks and nuns. Those responsible for the violence should be brought to justice. Even now, the approximately 400 hundred monks and nuns affiliated with the Lang Mai ("Plum Village") Order continue to be isolated, without access to water and electricity, she said. In response, Xuan likened the situation to a dispute "between two brothers," but added that the Plum Village Order had never received a formal land deed nor had sought approval for construction of its facilities. The CRA had discussed the issue with senior monks of the two disputing groups and considered the dispute settled, Xuan insisted. He said that water and electricity had been restored, an assertion the DCM rejected, noting that post had been in contact with Bat Nha monks as recently as July 23 and water and electricity were still lacking. Quang Binh Catholics -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The DCM drew a sharp contrast between the situation at the Bat Nha Pagoda, where officials and police did nothing to stop violence against peaceful religious followers, to the situation at the Tam Toa church ruins in Quang Binh province, where, on July 20, the police had instigated violence against Catholic parishioners. Vice Chairman Xuan recounted the Tam Toa dispute in detail, noting that provincial officials felt that the Catholic Church had reneged on its earlier agreement to exchange the disputed site for new property. The CRA's role, Xuan said, was to mediate between the parishioners and the local authorities in order to reach a solution. (NOTE: The MPS newspaper Cong An Nhan Dan confirmed on July 23 that seven "law breakers" arrested for "disturbing the public order" -- Mai Xuan Thu, Cao Thi Tinh, Nguyen Quang Trung, Mai Long, Hoang Huu, Hoang Thi Ty and Nguyen Van Dan -- had "confessed their wrongdoings" and would be prosecuted. END NOTE.) Tra Vinh Protestants -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The DCM also raised concern over the harassment faced by Protestant denominations in Tra Vinh Province, noting that embassy diplomats and visitors from the IRF office had visited the area in June and found that congregations in neighboring provinces in the delta are not experiencing the same degree of difficulties. Vice Chairman Xuan attributed any difficulties faced by Protestants in Tra Vinh, as well as Soc Trang, to the high proportion of Khmer Krom Buddhists, arguing that Protestants often faced strong resistance from the local community who were striving to "preserve their own culture and religion." He acknowledged that local officials were subject to these same biases, but asserted that CRA paid special attention to these instances and strove to be transparent when settling "cultural" conflicts. The DCM urged the CRA to better educate local officials, regardless of their background, about laws and regulations allowing freedom of belief. NW Highlands Protestant Registration -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Regarding the sluggish pace of registration for congregations in the Northwest Highlands, Xuan said that provincial HANOI 00000694 002 OF 002 officials had registered 160 congregations so far and promised to have more than 200 registered by the end of the year, though he conceded that registrations had been slow for a number of reasons. First, there was a tendency for congregations to change religious affiliation or to "sell their followers" to each other, and that local officials had a responsibility to ensure that new groups were "stable." Second, as a religion "new to the area," Protestantism still encountered skepticism in local communities. Ethnic minorities in more rural areas tended to be the first converts, a fact that Xuan said confounded local officials. Third, registration in the Northwest had been slower than in the Central Highlands due to the landscape of the region and the remoteness of mountain villages, rendering the process more difficult, Xuan said. ¶6. (SBU) Xuan emphasized that believers were still allowed to gather and to practice their beliefs even if their groups had not been registered. The DCM countered that since pastors are not allowed to receive training until their congregations are registered it puts these congregations at a disadvantage. Nor can cultural conflict be an excuse for inaction, she said, noting that it was the duty for local officials to implement the law regardless of their own religious beliefs. Xuan claimed that CRA had removed local officials who had not properly implemented the law, transferring them to jobs where they would no longer work on religious affairs issues, but when pressed could not provide examples of when this had happened. H'mong Bible -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The DCM pressed Vice Chairman Xuan to permit H'mong-language Bibles to be printed in Vietnam, emphasizing that this was a long-standing issue that needed to be resolved. In the meantime, the CRA should allow H'mong Bibles to be imported. She noted that the Ambassador had raised MOET approval of the translation with the Minister of Education, but that the request for approval had already been pending for two years. Xuan noted that currently there are 800,000 H'mong Protestants in Vietnam and acknowledged that as the number grew, so too had the demand for local-language Bibles. Commenting on the fact that the CRA had thus far only permitted the Bible to be printed in an antiquated Latin-based version of H'mong no longer used by everyday H'mong people, Xuan said that this was the official H'mong language designated by Ho Chi Minh and that CRA did not have the authority to recognize new languages. Xuan had no direct response to the request to allow imported Bibles, saying only, and in vague terms, that the Bible was a cultural and spiritual product, and that people had a right to use it. (NOTE: As recently as 18 months ago some H'mong Protestants were fined for being in possession of H'mong Bibles printed outside of Vietnam. END NOTE.) MICHALAK