UNREGISTERED PROTESTANT HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS REPORT HALTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000650 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH AND DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRF PHUM PGOV PREL VM SUBJECT: UNREGISTERED PROTESTANT HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS REPORT HALTING PROGRESS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM HO CHI MIN 00000650 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Leaders of several unregistered house churches told ConGenOff recently that religious freedom continues to improve, but some congregations continue to experience problems with slow localized registrations and harassment by local authorities. Some individual pastors have been subjected to public denunciations and prevented from traveling overseas. On a positive note, some report an easing of restrictions in HCMC, and all pastors expressed appreciation for Mission advocacy in support of religious freedom. End Summary. Spotty Record on Registration -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) has made considerable progress in registering congregations of nationally recognized churches, including over 1,000 registrations in the NW Highlands and all meetings points in the Central Highlands for the Evangelical Church of Vietnam South. Protestant groups that have not yet received national recognition, however, report low numbers of local registrations for their congregations. For example, the United Baptist Church successfully has registered only 13 of their 130 congregations; only 18 of the 148 United Gospel Outreach Church congregations that been registered in the last three years; 30 of the 225 congregations of the Vietnam Baptist Alliance have been registered; and none of the 200 Vietnam Good News Mission congregations that have applied for registration in the past two years have been accepted. ¶3. (SBU) Pastor Ho Tan Khoa of the United Presbyterian Church noted that contrary to GVN law, most of his congregations in Dak Nong province are asked to submit membership lists when they have petitioned for registration. ConGenOff said that the National CRA has made it a goal to register all churches who have applied by 2010. The CRA acknowledges, however, that implementation of the legal framework on religion is uneven, and has promised additional training of local officials to resolve the problem. These assurances aside, most pastors told ConGenoff they were skeptical of the CRA's ability to overcome the lack of coordination among local and provincial officials, especially in less developed areas. Televised Denunciation in Central Highlands -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Pastors generally agreed that certain districts in the Central Highlands provinces of Kontum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak remain difficult places to operate due to local authorities' lack of familiarity with the legal framework on religion and overriding public security concerns about unsanctioned gatherings of ethnic minorities, including church groups. Pastor Doan Trung Tin of the Vietnam Good News Mission Church said one of his pastors in Ea Hleo, Dak Lak, who had been preaching since 1995, was publicly denounced in front of a group of 100 people that included local government officials. He was later put under house arrest for three months, during which time a fifteen minute news segment showing officials, followers and leaders of a recognized Protestant church speaking derogatorily about the pastor's character and credentials was aired on local television during prime time evening news. ¶5. (SBU) The Central Highlands is not the only area where unregistered Protestants reported problems. All pastors agreed that central coastal provinces are a difficult place to proselytize. Pastor Khoa said young United Presbyterian evangelists from Quang Ngai were stopped from meeting with followers in Danang city, and continued to be subject to harassment by local authorities once they returned home. And issues aren't limited to remote, underdeveloped areas either. In Song Thao district of Dong Nai province, just outside HCMC, the United Baptist Church reported that after a husband objected to his wife joining a small meeting point he reported the activities of the congregation to the police, and subsequently the police threatened eighteen new converts, urging them to renounce their faith. HO CHI MIN 00000650 002.2 OF 003 Some Pastors Prevented from Traveling -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Some pastors reported being stopped at the HCMC airport and questioned about participating in political activities while travelling abroad, sometimes for several hours. One Lutheran pastor said he was asked by airport officials whether he contacted members of Viet Tan during his recent trip to Thailand. Pastor Nguyen Ngoc Hien of the Baptist Alliance said he has been unable to travel since authorities confiscated his passport five years ago; he continues to be closely monitored by the police, who ask him why he prays for imprisoned lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan. Police ask routinely ask Hien about his contacts in the U.S. and E.U., and whether he has been interviewed by foreign media or posted articles online. (Note: Pastor Hien's has been questioned more actively than most of the other pastors perhaps because of his support for Christian human rights activists. Although he is not permitted to travel overseas, Pastor Hien maintains an active travel schedule throughout the country and runs a large training program in HCMC and in Northern provinces. Other pastors say he is being singled out because of his involvement in a private commercial dispute of long standing. Pastor Hien believes it is because he spoke critically about the GVN's religious freedom record during a meeting with former Secretary Rice. End note. Mission Advocacy Making A Difference -------------- 7 (SBU) The pastors acknowledged progress in some areas, especially in HCMC. Pastor Khoa said his congregations can now print religious materials without problems and hold major religious festivities with participants numbering in the thousands. Shortly before meeting with ConGenOff, Pastor Khoa said he applied for a permit to hold a Christmas celebration at the 7th Military Zone stadium in HCMC on December 12 and the Deputy Director of the HCMC CRA promised to consider his application and facilitate the event. ¶8. (SBU) The pastors also expressed their appreciation for Mission officers raising their cases with appropriate authorities, citing specifics instances where Mission advocacy eased pressures on their congregations. Pastor Pham Toan Ai thanked ConGenOff for interceding with Dong Nai authorities on behalf of the United Baptist church, noting it "helped remove obstacles" for local congregations having difficulties registering there. Pastor Ai also said after Embassy PolOff raised the case of a man suspected of murdering his mother after she joined a United Baptist church in northern Ha Giang province, authorities later arrested the suspect. Local authorities, however, blamed the local pastor of the victim's church for not reporting the case to provincial authorities sooner. Troubling CPV Guidance -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The Central and Northwest Highlands have been difficult areas for many churches, both registered and unregistered, to operate for many years. The coupling of separatist movements linked with Protestantism and authorities' lingering resentment and suspicion of ethnic minority groups that assisted the U.S. military during the war have created historical tensions in many communities. One additional new factor may help explain why the Central and Northwest Highlands remain so difficult, particularly for smaller Protestant religious groups. According to official guidance from the Central Committee of the CPV that was recently--and inadvertently--posted on a provincial newspaper's website and later picked up by all the major blogs(to be reported septel),there has been an "unusual" expansion of Protestant religions in mountains regions and "hostile forces" are founding "strange religions" among ethnic minorities "to drive a wedge between peoples, creating the potential for social and political instability among minority peoples." It is not difficult to see how local officials would view this official CPV guidance as encouraging them to thwart the development of Protestant religions in the Central and Northwest Highlands. HO CHI MIN 00000650 003.2 OF 003 Comment -------------- ¶10. (SBU) While many Protestant house churches are moving towards national registration and recognition, their unrecognized brethren continue to report problems. These smaller groups are relative newcomers to Vietnam's religious landscape and are still in the process of establishing trust with local, provincial and national-level authorities, who question their evangelical activities and ties to overseas church organizations, as well as their potential political leanings. The official guidance known as Decree 34, which was passed in April 2009 and published on the Internet in October, appears to provide an additional explanation for the added scrutiny experienced by newer (to Vietnam) and smaller Protestant religions. It is important to note that all of the major religious groups in Vietnam reported similar issues before the GVN began to implement the legal framework on religion in 2004, and many still struggle to build effective working relationships with officials in localities resistant to change. Religious freedom remains a work in progress in Vietnam, but steady and continuous advocacy with GVN officials at every level is helping to move things forward. ¶10. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. FAIRFAX