US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY833

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000833 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR A/S DEWEY; EAP/BCLTV; DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PHUM, PGOV, PREL, PINS, SOCI, KIRF, VM, CB, RELFREE, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: A/S DEWEY IN VIETNAM'S CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: KON TUM 
PROVINCE 
 
REFS:  A) HCMC 0450       B) 02 HCMC 0336 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  In a visit to Kon Tum Province, PRM 
Assistant Secretary Dewey met with Provincial People's 
Committee Chairwoman Y Veng and with the province's 
Committee on Ethnic Minority and Religious Affairs.  He also 
visited a village in Ia Sia commune where 15 UNHCR- 
repatriated ethnic minorities returned in 2002.  Ia Sia 
commune appears little changed from previous visits -- 
impoverished and the UNHCR-repatriated refugees still 
somewhat discontented and not completely integrated back 
into daily life.  Life in the village is hard for ethnic 
minority and Kinh alike.  Generally well-meaning GVN 
programs are under-funded, fall behind on implementation, 
and sometimes increase frustration.  The personal stories of 
discrimination told A/S Dewey by several returnees seem to 
be genuine, yet it is difficult to judge what part of their 
plight stems from systemic targeted mistreatment and what 
part is simply due to impoverished conditions in Ia Sia/Kon 
Tum as a whole.  The treatment of ethnic minorities -- and 
specifically their ability to worship freely -- depends on 
the personalities and attitudes of the local authorities, 
down to the very lowest level.  End Summary. 
 
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"MAY I CONTINUE NOW?" 
---------------------- 
 
2.  (U) Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugee 
and Migration Affairs Gene Dewey traveled to Kon Tum 
Province in Vietnam's Central Highlands on August 16.  DCM, 
Acting CG HCMC, RRS Chief, and EAP/BCLTV officer Jess 
accompanied him.  The delegation met with the People's 
Committee chairwoman Y Veng, her first meeting with U.S. 
officials in at least 18 months.  (On six previous visits 
she had been in Hanoi as a National Assembly member or 
traveling outside Kon Tum.)  The scowling Madame Veng read 
carefully from ten pages of prepared remarks and looked 
vexed every time A/S Dewey interrupted to raise the 
treatment of ethnic minorities and freedom of religion or 
ask other questions.  After answering each question, she 
would look at A/S Dewey and ask, "May I continue now?" 
 
3.  (U) Ms. Y Veng described GVN programs geared toward 
improving living conditions for ethnic minority groups in 
Kon Tum.  She emphasized access to free or low cost health 
care and educational opportunities, including special ethnic 
minority boarding schools and subsidized tuition at regular 
schools.  She noted that there were 137,266 religious 
believers in Kon Tum of which 87,847 where from ethnic 
minorities.  The total believers included 100,021 Catholics 
(77,000 minority members), 26,561 Buddhists, and 10,337 
Protestants (10,228 minority).  She also said that there 
were 92 religious facilities, 13 churches, 1 big Catholic 
church (sic), 47 worship places, 50 pagodas, and 3 
monasteries.  She invited Mission staff to attend the 
installation of a new bishop, which would occur in late 
August.  Chairwoman Y Veng observed that the "legal" 
religious associations were making an important contribution 
to the province and its people. 
 
4.  (U) A/S Dewey asked about reports that some Protestant 
religious groups had been denied access to certain health 
and education benefits.  The Chairwoman replied a little 
defensively that Kon Tum province did not discriminate 
against Christians, but that limited resources precluded 
guaranteeing every potential student a place in the boarding 
schools.  When A/S Dewey asked about visiting a school, Ms. 
Y Veng said Dakglei District had an ethnic minority boarding 
school where there were some Christians attending.  A/S 
Dewey noted a firsthand visit would be important in further 
understanding conditions Kon Tum, and said that although his 
schedule was very tight this time, ConGenoffs would visit 
the school in the future. 
 
5.  (U) A/S Dewey noted that American NGOs and USAID were 
interested in providing assistance to the Central Highlands, 
possibly in the areas of child health and reproductive 
health.  The Chairwoman said "these services are already 
available," but she would be happy to work with these 
organizations and greatly appreciated their offers. 
However, the central government makes all decisions on 
assistance programs, not provincial authorities.  She said 
she would get back to the Mission concerning the offer. 
 
6. (U) According to Chairwoman Y Veng, the GVN has a 
consistent policy of freedom of religion, and in general, 
any group or association recognized by the government can 
gather people together.  However, certain groups, such as 
the Dega movement, misuse religious groups for their own 
political purposes.  She asserted that the Dega movement had 
enticed people to cross the border into Cambodia.  A/S Dewey 
clarified that the USG does not support the Dega movement or 
any movement seeking autonomy.  The USG, however, does 
support religious freedoms, free speech, human rights, and 
economic development.  He urged GVN authorities to 
distinguish between the small minority abusing religious 
belief for political purposes and the much larger group of 
genuine worshipers. 
 
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RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS CHIEF: PROTESTANTS BUT NO CHURCHES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
7.  (U) Following the meeting with the provincial People's 
Committee, A/S Dewey met with the Committee on Ethnic 
Minority and Religious Affairs' chairman, Mr. Ro Mo So Ra. 
Several of the same points concerning freedom of worship for 
non-political believers were discussed.  Mr. Ro said there 
are no recognized Protestant churches in Kon Tum province at 
this time (although Chairwoman Y Veng had previously stated 
there were approximately 10,000 Protestants in the 
province).  Mr. Ro subsequently indicated that indeed there 
were Protestants in Kon Tum, and that they indeed were 
worshipping in their homes or in non-recognized churches. 
He said local authorities generally turned a blind eye to 
their worship services as long as they stuck to religion and 
did not engage in illegal political activities.  As for the 
process of registering new churches, Mr. Ro emphasized that 
his committee's role is purely advisory.  Decision-making 
authority to register churches lies with the People's 
Committee.  A/S Dewey encouraged Mr. Ro to work for the 
recognition of legitimate congregations, who sincerely want 
to simply worship together, and to not treat such groups as 
a security or political threat. 
 
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BOTTOM'S UP - Y VENG'S REVENGE 
------------------------------ 
 
8.  (U) Chairwoman Y Veng had graciously invited A/S Dewey 
and delegation for lunch.  In contrast to her rather cool 
reception during the formal meeting in her office earlier 
that day, Y Veng was considerably more relaxed, cordial and 
talkative.  She also taught several of those on the American 
delegation a thing or two about a tool of diplomacy 
frequently employed here: proposing a toast before virtually 
every bite of food.  She told A/S Dewey that her soldier 
husband laughed when she told him that drinking was part of 
her job. 
 
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VISIT TO RAT/RAC VILLAGE 
------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) Following the lunch, A/S Dewey visited Rat (Rac) 
village, Ia Sia commune in Sa Thay district, near the 
Cambodian border.  The UNHCR has repatriated 15 refugees to 
this village since February 2002.  In a two-hour visit, A/S 
Dewey, the DCM and Acting Consul General fanned out to talk 
with various returnees.  The obvious presence of 
plainclothes police mixed in with the villagers may have 
inhibited their willingness to talk freely.  Still, several 
of them spoke out candidly about their lives and in some 
cases the problems they faced.  The villagers had just 
finished celebrating a local ethnic festival and consumed 
considerable alcohol in the process; this may have loosened 
tongues a bit.  (Post Note: Compared to 18 months ago, when 
the security forces videotaped each village encounter, the 
police presence was relatively lighter.) 
 
10.  (SBU) Sui Toi (20 years old) and Ro Cham Khuyen (23 
years old), both unmarried, are two Jarai ethnic minority 
men.  They said they had returned to Vietnam on February 19, 
2002.  UNHCR had advised them that the Vietnamese Government 
would provide land and a job to anyone who returned. 
However, when they arrived at the Gia Lai province border 
last year, local policemen "beat (them) ruthlessly." 
Currently, they are living with their sisters' families.  Ro 
Cham Khuyen whispered that he dared not "tell everything" to 
the visitors or he would have a "big problem" with local 
policemen when the delegation left.  He said that there are 
no schools for the children in Ia Sia village, there is no 
health clinic in or near the village, and Ia Sia had not yet 
been electrified.  (Post Note: While there is sometimes 
confusion between using the terms "village" and "commune" in 
the provinces, there definitely is an elementary school in 
Ia Sia commune, and its main road is electrified, though it 
is likely houses further back in the hills are not.  It is 
common practice for the poorer provinces to set up health 
clinics to serve several villages and/or communes from a 
central location.  Post does not wish to make light of Ro 
Cham Khuyen's claims, but they are inaccurate.  We also note 
that in previous discussions with residents of other Central 
Highlands villages, the concept of "near" has elicited 
responses ranging from approximately 60 feet to one mile. 
End note.) 
 
11. (SBU) Sui Toi indicated he was a Protestant, but said 
after his return to Vietnam he could no longer attend 
church, because any time he wanted to leave his village he 
had to obtain local police approval.  Some other villagers 
cautiously approached ConGenoff to hand over samples of 
police "invitations" to interviews.  One was an "invitation" 
from the district police chief (an ethnic Vietnamese Kinh) 
to come to the Sa Thay district police station "to meet Mr. 
Dung of the security section."  Another was from the Ia Sia 
police chief (also an ethnic Vietnamese Kinh) asking the 
recipient to come to discuss some "necessary matters."  One 
resident handed over a note showing he had been "approved" 
by a village policeman to visit his foster mother's home in 
another village to borrow money to buy a bicycle. 
 
12. (SBU) A ConGen FSN spoke briefly with a third returnee. 
This 24-year old ethnic minority man said he had returned in 
March 2002, but is jobless and has long since spent the 
VND500,000 (USD$33 - average per capita annual income in Kon 
Tum is about USD$205) that the UNHCR gave him for 
resettlement.  He claimed local policemen had beaten him 
when he returned to Vietnam.  He said he would be beaten 
again after the American delegation left, but "the truth was 
always the truth and that if the authorities killed him he 
was happy to die in his homeland." 
 
13.  (SBU) A Rung Ho Lung, a 41-year old Jarai man, told A/S 
Dewey that one of the reasons he left for Cambodia was 
because his family was not allowed to worship in his village 
home.  ConGen Pol/Econ assistant then spoke with the 
chairman of the Ia Sia Commune People's Committee and the 
tribal chief of Rat/Rac Village.  The chairman said local 
authorities did not forbid Christian worship, but it was 
possible that the tribe itself did not approve of such 
practices.  The tribal chief responded that Christianity was 
not part of his tribe's cultural heritage.  A/S Dewey asked 
both the chairman and the tribal chief to allow believers to 
practice their faith, since they gather peacefully and not 
for any political purpose.  The chairman did not promise, 
but said it was really a tribal decision.  The tribal chief 
was reluctant to make a commitment. 
 
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COMMENT 
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14.  (SBU) As with previous visits to Ia Sia, the situation 
appears mixed.  While accurate information may exist in 
snapshots of the moment, consistently verifiable information 
is a completely different story.  Kon Tum province is very 
poor.  Many of its problems - depressed agricultural 
economy, unemployment, lack of arable land - affect 
everybody, including the Vietnamese Kinh.  Government 
programs, while well-meaning on paper, are under-funded in 
implementation, fall behind on their timetables, and 
increase frustration. 
 
15.  (SBU) In addition, the frequent attention paid to Rat 
village by American and other foreign visitors may have 
resulted in heightened local government sensitivities and 
tension in this village.  The personal stories told by the 
four returnees seem to be genuine, yet it is difficult to 
judge what part of their plight stems from systemic targeted 
mistreatment and what part is simply due to impoverished 
conditions in Ia Sia/Kon Tum as a whole.  On this visit, as 
with others, it is clear that the treatment of ethnic 
minorities -- and specifically their ability to worship 
freely -- depends on the personalities and attitudes of the 
local authorities, down to the very lowest level.  End 
comment. 
 
16. (U) A/S Dewey did not see this cable before departure. 
 
YAMAUCHI