US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY766

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM A/S DEWEY 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, SOCI, PGOV, KIRF, VM, HUMANR, ETMIN, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: POLICE RAID "ILLEGAL" HOUSE CHURCH IN HCMC DURING A/S 
DEWEY'S VISIT TO VIETNAM 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Just prior to the return of Assistant Secretary 
Eugene Dewey to Ho Chi Minh City from the Central Highlands on 
Monday, August 18 (septels), ConGen HCMC learned of an altercation 
at an unrecognized "illegal" Protestant house church in the city's 
District 11.  According to reliable Protestant sources, police had 
raided a prayer meeting at the church earlier that morning and 
took nine Protestants to the police station.  Two pastors among 
the nine were held until late Tuesday evening, just prior to Mr. 
Dewey's departure.  The wife of one of the pastors was rushed to 
the hospital with heart problems after much wrangling with the 
police over whether she could leave.  She remained in the hospital 
as of 10:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, August 21.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) According to our long-time contacts, approximately 20 
members of the Full Gospel Assembly were gathered for a prayer 
meeting at a rented dwelling on Lac Long Quan Street in District 
11 on Monday morning.  Worshippers had been meeting at this 
unrecognized "illegal" house church for over a year and a half, 
with 30-40 members gathering for worship services every Sunday. 
Until this incident, the police had never interfered with church 
activities, although they were clearly aware of its presence. 
 
3. (SBU) During Monday's meeting, police reportedly raided the 
house and ordered the believers to disperse.  Taking advice by 
telephone from more experienced pastors, lay pastor Bui Van Ba 
asked the police to let the group complete their prayer meeting, 
after which he would work with the local authorities to resolve 
their concerns.  Meanwhile, these other pastors worked quickly to 
telephone their contacts in the city police department, local and 
national religious affairs agencies, and the Ministry of Public 
Security in Hanoi.  An officer on the city police force told one 
of them he had instructed the local district police to stand down. 
That order appears to have been ignored. 
 
4. (SBU) As the house confrontation grew more heated, Pastor Ba's 
wife, who suffers an unspecified heart ailment, fainted there. 
Thwarted by police in his attempts to get her to the hospital, 
Pastor Ba engaged in a physical altercation with the police.  By 
Pastor Ba's own account, he was "forced" to strike out at the 
police after they pushed him and blocked his exit.  He was then 
taken to the police station bleeding from a minor injury to his 
head, after which another pastor was finally allowed to take 
Pastor Ba's wife to the hospital.  Police also took eight other 
Protestants from the church to the local police station for 
questioning.  One was held at the station until Tuesday evening. 
Pastor Ba was moved to a local municipal jail at 83 Tan Hoa Street 
until his release at the same time. 
 
5. (SBU) A representative of the church was denied permission to 
visit the detainees on Tuesday morning, but was shown a document, 
which was purportedly a confession signed by Pastor Ba.  Members 
of the church have since shared  photographs taken after the 
incident, including some of Pastor Ba's wife in the hospital; what 
appear to be official orders from the district police ordering the 
pastor's temporary detention for beating a police officer and 
subsequent release under condition that he not leave his 
residence; several matching eyewitness reports; and a cassette 
which reportedly contains the audio of the entire confrontation. 
(Post Note: Poloff will listen to this cassette tonight.) 
 
6. (SBU) A/S Dewey asked his interlocutors to look into this 
incident during meetings with the HCMC Religious Affairs Committee 
and the External Relations Office (ERO - the local branch of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).  While none of the local officials 
seemed aware of the case at the time, chairman of religious 
affairs Nguyen Ngoc San acknowledged that local officials 
sometimes violated religious freedoms due to "lack of 
understanding" of national policies on religion.  Mr. Dewey was 
able to receive a report from the ERO just as he finished up his 
last meeting of the trip.  According to the ERO report, local 
authorities said a district policeman on patrol had noticed a 
large gathering at the house "late Monday night" and was attacked 
by Pastor Ba while trying to investigate.  The police claimed they 
did not detain the pastor overnight.  They further claimed that no 
one else had been taken to the police station "officially", but 
said other members of the group "may have accompanied" the pastor 
there. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment:  According to our contacts, incidents like this 
are all the more remarkable because they happen so infrequently 
within the city limits.    While there is always the possibility 
that some elements within the Protestant community might have 
wished to exploit Mr. Dewey's visit here, the evidence in this 
case does not indicate that this was a deliberately provocative 
act on the part of the Full Gospel Church.  The rather 
unconvincing explanation provided by Vietnamese officials -- which 
might pass muster in the provinces -- rings hollow in HCMC. 
 
8. (SBU) Comment continued:  Asked for their views, our Protestant 
contacts were somewhat at a loss, expressing astonishment that 
something like this could happen in HCMC.  A few conjectured that 
the GVN might be testing the strength and resolve of local 
Protestants and the international community before undertaking 
similar repressive measures against other unregistered groups.  At 
this point, the incident seems to be an exception to the rule of 
GVN laissez-faire policy on religious worship in HCMC. 
Nonetheless, it is a troubling case and Post will continue to 
monitor religious practice in this, Vietnam's largest city. 
 
9.  (U)  A/S Dewey did not see this cable before his departure 
from post. 
YAMAUCHI