US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY993

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000993 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV (Jess), DRL 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, SOCI, PGOV, PREL, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: UBCV LEADERS IN LIMBO:  INQUIRIES CONTINUE CONCERNING 
MONKS WHEREABOUTS 
 
REF:  A)  HCMC 978; B) HCMC 942 
 
1.  (SBU)  ConGen has confirmed that UBCV leaders Thich Huyen 
Quang, Thich Quang Do and Thich Tue Sy were detained by police on 
October 9 in Khanh Hoa Province about 10 km north of the 
provincial capital Nha Trang.  They had left Thich Huyen Quang's 
pagoda in Binh Dinh Province to travel to HCMC the morning of 
October 8, but were surrounded by police and prevented from 
continuing their journey until 4:00 p.m. (Ref A).  They had then 
spent the night in a pagoda in Khanh Hoa and resumed their trip 
early on October 9, but were again stopped by police and taken 
from their van about an hour later.  ConGen understands that at 
least Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do have since been 
released and returned by the police on October 10 to their 
respective pagodas in Binh Dinh Province and HCMC. 
 
2.  (SBU)  ConGen received a report that Vien Dinh, a monk from 
Giac Hoa Pagoda in HCMC who had been traveling with the UBCV 
leaders, had been driven to HCMC from Khanh Hoa by police after 
the monks were taken from their van.  He was held at a police 
station in Binh Thanh district of HCMC from 6 pm until midnight on 
October 9.  He was released and returned to his pagoda by the 
police, but two other policemen came to get him about fifteen 
minutes later and the pagoda has not heard from him since.  Vien 
Dinh had told monks at his pagoda he understood that the Khanh Hoa 
police planned to return the various monks in the van with the 
UBCV leaders back to their home districts (this could mean either 
to their pagodas or to police stations in those districts). 
 
3.  (SBU)  ConGen met with Deputy Director of the Office of 
External Relations in HCMC Le Hung Quoc.  He claimed that the 
monks had originally been stopped on October 8 by local traffic 
police in Binh Dinh for an unspecified traffic violation, and the 
police had then "accidentally" discovered the monks were carrying 
papers that appeared to contain "state secrets."  Local 
authorities detained the monks so that they could clarify the 
situation.  Quoc said he "thought" the monks had admitted that 
they were carrying "state secrets."  He further said "competent 
authorities" were now assessing the situation.  He said the 
outcome of the assessment would depend largely on the attitude of 
the monks. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Deputy Director Quoc said that he could confirm Thich 
Huyen Quang was in his pagoda in Binh Dinh Province and Thich 
Quang Do was in HCMC.  He thought that Thich Quang Do was at his 
pagoda and not in police custody.  (Note:  ConGenOff visited Thich 
Quang Do's pagoda mid-morning October 10 and was turned away by 
what appeared to be a large plainclothes security contingent. 
ConGenOff was told that the pagoda was closed for renovations and 
that no one was inside.  There was evidence of construction that 
had clearly been underway for some time.  Separately, the French 
CG said ERO had told him not to try to visit Thich Quang Do, since 
the CG "would be turned away and that would be embarrassing."  End 
Note.) 
 
5.  (SBU)  Quoc was not sure about the other monks, although as 
far as he knew they had all been returned to their home pagodas 
and none of them were in detention.  Quoc said he would try to 
clarify this with local authorities.  He later noted that police 
might call in the monks for questioning as part of their 
investigation into the suspect documents.  Responding to a 
specific question, he said no one had been charged with a crime 
yet, but they could still be charged depending on what "competent 
authorities" finally decided about their documents. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Asked what sort of "state secrets" the monks could be 
carrying, Quoc said the UBCV was a banned group and it would be 
illegal if they had papers that concerned efforts to (re)- 
establish the UBCV.  If they want to establish a new religion, he 
said, they would need to go "step-by-step" according to the law. 
Referring to the unfortunate timing of this incident given the 
heavy schedule of upcoming bilateral visits between the U.S. and 
Vietnam, Quoc noted a pattern of provocative acts prior to 
important visits between the two countries, which he attributed to 
people who "don't like the government and wait for opportunities 
to create problems." 
 
7.  (SBU)  Throughout the discussion, DPO stressed the seriousness 
of the situation, the importance of protecting human rights and 
religious freedom, and the need for timely, full and accurate 
information.  She called attention to the international interest 
in the UBCV leaders and the harm that would be done to Vietnam's 
reputation if it failed to meet its international commitments. 
Answering a reference by Quoc to the "difficult" pre-1975 UBCV 
role, she noted that the outside world would not find it credible 
that the elderly UBCV leaders, one over eighty and the other over 
seventy, posed a threat to state security because they held a 
meeting to discuss the future of UBCV relations with the GVN. 
Responding to another comment by Quoc, she cautioned that it was 
not possible to separate Vietnam's interest in integrating into 
the world marketplace from its record on human rights and 
religious freedom. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Quoc said he understood this was a serious issue and 
that accurate information was essential.  He said that both the 
U.S. and Vietnam had a responsibility to give a full picture of 
the situation in Vietnam.  He added that Vietnam upholds the right 
of individuals to practice their religion, but this had to be done 
"within the law."  He noted that Vietnam was a Buddhist country 
and said there were thousands of monks practicing their religion 
freely.  He took the point, however, that failure to uphold 
religious freedom could damage Vietnam's relationship with the 
U.S.  He also agreed that cutting off phones and making it 
impossible for the UBCV monks to communicate with their followers 
was not helpful. 
 
9.  (U)  Hanoi septel reports on Charge's earlier discussion with 
the MFA. 
 
YAMAUCHI