Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09HANOI839
2009-09-29 05:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:
ACTION REQUEST: Lang Mai Monks and Nuns Forcibly Evicted By
how-toVZCZCXRO0726 OO RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHPB DE RUEHHI #0839 2720508 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O R 290508Z SEP 09 ZDS FM AMEMBASSY HANOI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0212 INFO ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0055
C O N F I D E N T I A L HANOI 000839
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CHANGE TEXT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/29
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM VM
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: Lang Mai Monks and Nuns Forcibly Evicted By
Police
REF: A) HCMC 599; B) HANOI 653 AND PREVIOUS
CLASSIFIED BY: Virginia Palmer, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L HANOI 000839
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CHANGE TEXT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/29
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM VM
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: Lang Mai Monks and Nuns Forcibly Evicted By
Police
REF: A) HCMC 599; B) HANOI 653 AND PREVIOUS
CLASSIFIED BY: Virginia Palmer, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)
1. (U) This is an action request. Please see
paragraph six.
2. (C) SUMMARY: The situation for the Lang Mai monks and nuns
turned violent on September 27 and 28, as police and a group of
angry locals attempted to forcibly evict the monks and nuns from
Bat Nha pagoda in Lam Dong province. According to media and
eyewitness reports, on September 27, plainclothes police and a
local mob forced a group of 150 monks outside of their dormitory,
then set about destroying property inside. The mob and plain
clothes police beat two monks unconscious and forced the large
group of monks into vehicles and took them away from the pagoda.
On September 28, police forcibly evicted the remaining 230 nuns to
a nearby pagoda. On the margins of the Deputy Secretary's meeting
with Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 27, the
Ambassador verbally expressed our concerns directly with the Vice
Foreign Minister. We are following up with both the Ministry of
Public Security and MFA Vice Minister Minh.B END SUMMARY.
3.B (C) The monks of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's Lang Mai Plum
Village order called ConGenOff on the afternoon of September 27 to
report that plainclothes police wearing masks and wielding batons
had entered their compound within Bat Nha pagoda, along with the
largest group of local "thugs" the monks had witnessed to date.
The mob forced a group of 150 monks outside in heavy rains and
proceeded to destroy property inside the dormitory, smashing
windows and furniture and pouring water on electronic equipment,
including the cell phones and laptops the monks used to communicate
with the media and the Plum Village Order in France. ConGen
contacts said two monks were beaten unconscious during the attack.
4. (C) When police took two senior monks into custody, several
monks tried to stop them by lying down in the path of their
vehicle. The two leaders were interrogated until late in the
evening, then escorted home to Nha Trang and Hanoi, respectively.
The senior monk from Nha Trang said the police attempted to get him
to admit that Lang Mai was involved in "anti-government activities"
during the interrogation. After he was escorted home by police,
the monk said they took pictures of him and his father, told him to
worship from home and said he should not "damage his clean record"
and "put his relatives in a difficult situation." International
media reports and eyewitnesses also reported that 80 to 150 monks
were forcibly put on buses by authorities and transported away --
contacts said they had lost touch with the group and did not know
where they were headed. A small group of monks walked 17
kilometers in the rain to seek refuge at a neighboring pagoda. A
group of approximately 230 nuns and an undetermined number of monks
were evicted on September 28 by the police. Contacts said the
police took the remaining monks and nuns to the Phuoc Hiep pagoda,
the largest in the local district.
5. (C) Upon learning of the incident, the Ambassador raised the
issue with Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on the margin's of
his meeting with the Deputy Secretary September 27. In a follow-up
letter on September 28, the Ambassador stressed our concerns about
the involvement of plainclothes public security officers in the
instigation of mob unrest in the removal of the Plum Village monks,
and stressed that this incident threatened to undermine Vietnam's
improving record on religious freedom. We have requested a meeting
with senior Ministry of Public Security officials to follow up on
our protests/requests for assistance the last time violence erupted
at Bat Nha (Ref B).
6. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Post understands the Department intends
to release the International Religious Freedom Report in the next
few days. We recommend the Department update its points on Vietnam
to stress our serious concern about the increased harassment and
violence against peaceful religious followers and leaders by mob
violence and local plain clothes police at the Bat Nha Pagoda. END
ACTION REQUEST.
Michalak
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CHANGE TEXT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/29
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM VM
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: Lang Mai Monks and Nuns Forcibly Evicted By
Police
REF: A) HCMC 599; B) HANOI 653 AND PREVIOUS
CLASSIFIED BY: Virginia Palmer, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)
1. (U) This is an action request. Please see
paragraph six.
2. (C) SUMMARY: The situation for the Lang Mai monks and nuns
turned violent on September 27 and 28, as police and a group of
angry locals attempted to forcibly evict the monks and nuns from
Bat Nha pagoda in Lam Dong province. According to media and
eyewitness reports, on September 27, plainclothes police and a
local mob forced a group of 150 monks outside of their dormitory,
then set about destroying property inside. The mob and plain
clothes police beat two monks unconscious and forced the large
group of monks into vehicles and took them away from the pagoda.
On September 28, police forcibly evicted the remaining 230 nuns to
a nearby pagoda. On the margins of the Deputy Secretary's meeting
with Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 27, the
Ambassador verbally expressed our concerns directly with the Vice
Foreign Minister. We are following up with both the Ministry of
Public Security and MFA Vice Minister Minh.B END SUMMARY.
3.B (C) The monks of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's Lang Mai Plum
Village order called ConGenOff on the afternoon of September 27 to
report that plainclothes police wearing masks and wielding batons
had entered their compound within Bat Nha pagoda, along with the
largest group of local "thugs" the monks had witnessed to date.
The mob forced a group of 150 monks outside in heavy rains and
proceeded to destroy property inside the dormitory, smashing
windows and furniture and pouring water on electronic equipment,
including the cell phones and laptops the monks used to communicate
with the media and the Plum Village Order in France. ConGen
contacts said two monks were beaten unconscious during the attack.
4. (C) When police took two senior monks into custody, several
monks tried to stop them by lying down in the path of their
vehicle. The two leaders were interrogated until late in the
evening, then escorted home to Nha Trang and Hanoi, respectively.
The senior monk from Nha Trang said the police attempted to get him
to admit that Lang Mai was involved in "anti-government activities"
during the interrogation. After he was escorted home by police,
the monk said they took pictures of him and his father, told him to
worship from home and said he should not "damage his clean record"
and "put his relatives in a difficult situation." International
media reports and eyewitnesses also reported that 80 to 150 monks
were forcibly put on buses by authorities and transported away --
contacts said they had lost touch with the group and did not know
where they were headed. A small group of monks walked 17
kilometers in the rain to seek refuge at a neighboring pagoda. A
group of approximately 230 nuns and an undetermined number of monks
were evicted on September 28 by the police. Contacts said the
police took the remaining monks and nuns to the Phuoc Hiep pagoda,
the largest in the local district.
5. (C) Upon learning of the incident, the Ambassador raised the
issue with Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on the margin's of
his meeting with the Deputy Secretary September 27. In a follow-up
letter on September 28, the Ambassador stressed our concerns about
the involvement of plainclothes public security officers in the
instigation of mob unrest in the removal of the Plum Village monks,
and stressed that this incident threatened to undermine Vietnam's
improving record on religious freedom. We have requested a meeting
with senior Ministry of Public Security officials to follow up on
our protests/requests for assistance the last time violence erupted
at Bat Nha (Ref B).
6. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Post understands the Department intends
to release the International Religious Freedom Report in the next
few days. We recommend the Department update its points on Vietnam
to stress our serious concern about the increased harassment and
violence against peaceful religious followers and leaders by mob
violence and local plain clothes police at the Bat Nha Pagoda. END
ACTION REQUEST.
Michalak