US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY933

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, PREL, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: UNLICENSED PROTESTANT HOUSE CHURCH REPORTEDLY TORN DOWN 
 
REF:  A.  HCMC 0520  B.  HCMC 0551 
 
1.  (SBU)  In what looks to be a replay of recent events 
surrounding an illegally constructed house church in District 11 
of HCMC (reftels), Post has received information regarding the 
possible destruction of a small Seventh Day Adventist house church 
at No.42 Binh Loi, Binh Khanh, Can Gio District, HCMC.  On 
September 25, the Consul General received, via Post's PAS public 
mailbox, a copy of an email letter addressed to the Ambassador 
describing the destruction of a small prayer house in one of the 
poorest and most remote districts in the city.  The letter was 
signed by Viet Si, the Vice President of Public Relations for 
Vietnamese Catholic Conscience of San Jose, CA.  The letter was 
accompanied by email photographs purporting to show the church 
before and after its dstruction. 
 
2.  (SBU)  According to Post's quick, informal translation of a 
follow up "report" filed by Mennonite Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang of 
the Legal Committee of the General Association of Protestants, 40 
policemen in military vehicles and fire trucks, wielding "arms, 
anesthetic sprays, electric rods and steel sticks" raided the 
property on September 23, at 9:00 a.m. local time.  The police 
used hammers and levers to tear down the house.  One policeman 
alledgedly was overheard to say: "This house itself is not worth 
being destroyed.  The only fault is that it has a Cross inside." 
The report goes on to describe how a Protestant named Madam Nam 
donated a parcel of her own land last year on which the group 
built a prayer house without a permit.  On August 12 of this year, 
the Binh Khanh Commune People's Committee levied a fine and 
ordered the illegal structure removed.  On September 9, commune 
officials visited the property to reiterate the order to pull down 
the structure.  This visit had been the last official contact 
until the police raid. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Pastor Quang's report notes that a small group of 
Seventh Day Adventists first started worshipping in a home in Binh 
Khanh in 1996.  Police harassment, including arrests, beatings, 
forced renunciations, orders to disperse, and denial of 
applications for Hunger Eradication and Poverty Alleviation loans, 
allegedly forced the group to move seven times over the 
intervening years.  From more than 100 members at the 
congregation's peak, many followers stopped practicing their 
religion publicly over the years because they could not stand the 
discrimination and harassment, much less the frequent moving, 
according to Pastor Quang.  Fewer than 40 members remained at the 
time of the raid.  The report describes the congregation as 
"poorly educated and mostly illiterate." 
 
4.  (SBU) Comment:  Post has seen Pastor Quang become increasingly 
more confrontational and provocative within the religious 
community over the past 6-8 months.  He has also established close 
ties with some Catholic groups as the "unofficial legal 
representative" for the niece and nephews of imprisoned Catholic 
Priest, Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly.  Given the similarity between this 
case and the case described in reftels, Post sees the issue of 
unlicensed construction once again being used as part of a larger 
media campaign. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Comment (cont.):  Clearly, much of the "report" seems 
to have been prepared for an international audience, as when 
Pastor Quang writes:  "With the reason 'illegal construction,' the 
government pulled down the prayer house of poor Protestants. This 
is such a cunning and subtle trick 'using law to destroy 
Protestantism.'  However, the current legal regulations stand on 
the side of the Protestants."  Pastor Quang then proceeds to list 
a number of circulars and decrees on the issue of construction 
licenses in HCMC before noting that, "All these legal documents 
prove that the act of pulling down and smashing the Binh Khanh 
house in Can gio is illegal and inhuman.  We can measure the 
physical loss of this destruction, but how can we count the 
damages and injuries caused to the trust in the government?  We 
can build another more beautiful and bigger house, but it is not 
easy to recover the prestige of Vietnam among the international 
community." 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment (cont.): Post will follow up with local 
officials, but expects the government's argument to focus squarely 
on its right to enforce building/land usage/construction permit 
regulations after giving alleged violators adequate notice, rather 
than religious freedom.  End comment. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Post Note:  Pastor Quang's report ends with a list of 
proposals.  Post has included them here for the Department's 
information because they are likely to be repeated in other 
sources in the coming days and weeks.  End note. 
 
Begin text: 
 
Proposals: 
 
A. If you are an individual, a juridical person, a politician, a 
government or organization which has a relationship with Vietnam 
and loves Vietnam, take the following actions: 
a. organize meetings to discuss religious freedom in Vietnam with 
the presence of 3 groups: 
1. representatives of victims of religious freedom violations in 
Vietnam 
2. representatives of the government who make these violations 
3. representatives of UN Human Rights, governments, international 
organizations, associations, Embassies, Consulates, the 15 members 
of the UN Security Council, local and international media. 
b. set up a committee to verify religious freedom violations in 
Vietnam, consisting of: 
1. international law specialists 
2. human rights lawyers 
3. legal specialists of Embassies, of the 15 members of the UN 
Security Council, and of other interested countries 
4. independent Christian lawyers, "abused" religions 
There must be two chairmen of this committee: one from the UN, the 
other from one of the "abused" religions of Vietnam. 
 
B. If you are a leader of the government or Communist Party who 
wants to make Vietnam a country of democracy, equality, 
civilization, and prosperity and wants Vietnam to catch up with 
the world powers, please listen to your people, respect our 
proposals so that we can clarify cases of religious persecution in 
which we have been the victims, and of which the world has accused 
Vietnam. 
When you have the evidence: 
1. Immediately stop religious persecution that has been carried 
out for years, without regard to whether it's the policy from the 
local or central government. 
2. Apologize to religions and the Vietnamese people.  This is a 
chance for the government to show its determination to respect UN 
conventions that Vietnam has signed. 
3. Examine and bring to court as per Article 129 of the Criminal 
Code those who led and implemented religious violations and 
dismiss them. 
4. Announce all arrested Vietnamese citizens who have raised their 
voice on human rights violations in Vietnam not guilty and 
immediately release them, such as Father Nguyen Van Ly and his 
niece and nephews. 
5. Give license to religious associations which have been in 
Vietnam for more than 10 years to operate, with guidance on 
applications within 10 days.  Recognize religious communities no 
matter how big or small.  They should have the right to set up 
their own places of worship, like a person has the right to build 
his own home. 
 
C. If you belong to an "abused" religion: 
1. Provide us with evidence, cooperate with us, provide financial 
support for investigations.  Contribute so as to stop the 
religious persecution in Vietnam. 
2. Be courageous, support and protect us in the struggle for 
religious freedom and the purity of Vietnam to create trust and 
support from the whole world in the process of modernizing our 
beloved country. 
 
End text. 
YAMAUCHI