US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY1010

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001010 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
BANGKOK PLEASE PASS TO DRL/IRF WILL INBODEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PGOV, PREL, KIRF, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: STILL NO OFFICIAL DETENTION ORDERS FOR TOP UBCV MONKS 
 
REF:  A)  HCMC 0993   B)  HCMC 1000 
 
1.  (SBU) Continuing to work the few remaining telephones that 
haven't been cut off or rerouted, ConGen received confirmation 
today that Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) Patriarch 
Thich Huyen Quang is in good condition at his pagoda, although he 
is being closely watched.  While neither he nor UBCV Deputy Thich 
Quang Do are under written orders of administrative detention, 
they are nevertheless being "detained" and closely guarded at 
their pagodas in Binh Dinh Province and Ho Chi Minh City 
respectively. 
 
2.  (SBU) Speaking with ConGen over a landline from his Gia Lam 
Pagoda in HCMC's Go Vap District, UBCV General Secretary Thich Tue 
Sy said he had been able to reach Thich Huyen Quang earlier in the 
day.  No one had been in contact with Thich Quang Do, however, and 
the doors of his Thanh Minh Zen Pagoda in Phu Nhuan District 
remained locked shut.  Thich Tue Sy had also learned more about 
his own status since yesterday (ref A), noting that he now needed 
to request official permission for any travel outside the ward 
where Gia Lam is located.  He believed he was free to receive 
visitors under the terms of his written administrative detention 
order.  (Post note:  Poloff will test that hypothesis over the 
next day or two.)  He sounded very relaxed and confident over the 
telephone, saying, "monks aren't afraid." 
 
3. (SBU) Providing additional information on the recent "illegal" 
meeting of the UBCV leadership in Binh Dinh and subsequent events, 
Thich Tue Sy noted that Thich Huyen Quang was now officially the 
4th Patriarch of the UBCV.  (The three prior patriarchs were all 
based in Hue and are now deceased.)  Thich Quang Do now holds the 
position of President of the Institute for Dissemination of the 
Dharma, with Thich Tue Sy as Vice President.  The three monks were 
"elected" to these positions at the recent general conference in 
Melbourne, according to Thich Tue Sy, but the decisions were made 
in Binh Dinh. 
 
4. (SBU) After the initial incident during which they were 
prevented from leaving Binh Dinh for over eight hours on October 8 
(ref B), Thich Tue Sy, Thich Huyen Quang, and Thich Quang Do had 
all proceeded in a van toward HCMC.  They were accompanied by 
Thich Thanh Huyen (also from Gia Lam Pagoda), Thich Nguyen Ly 
(from Tu Hieu Pagoda in HCMC's District 8), Thich Vien Dinh (from 
Giac Hoa Pagoda in HCMC's Binh Thanh District), Thich Nguyen Vuong 
(the assistant of Thich Tue Sy), two assistants of Thich Huyen 
Quang, and two lay believers from Tu Hieu Pagoda.  The group 
stayed at the Linh Son Pagoda in Khanh Hoa Province for the night 
and was stopped by police near Nha Trang the next morning.  Thich 
Tue Sy said that he and Thich Thanh Huyen were taken back to HCMC 
by police on October 11, at 4:45 p.m.  Thich Nguyen Vuong had not 
joined the group leaving Linh Son Pagoda and was never detained. 
The two believers from Nguyen Ly's pagoda were detained for two 
days and released, after which they promptly returned to Tu Hieu 
Pagoda. 
 
5. (SBU) ConGen also spoke with Thich Vien Kien, an associate of 
Thich Vien Dinh, via a landline at Giac Hoa Pagoda.  He said that 
police had escorted Thich Vien Dinh to his pagoda on October 11, 
at 7:00 p.m.  Monks inside saw local police filming the pagoda 
from a distance before his arrival.  Many plainclothes security 
officers remained just outside the premises today.  While Thich 
Vien Dinh had not received any written administrative detention 
order, the Binh Thanh District police had told him vaguely he 
needed approval to "travel."  They also told him to resign from 
his new position as Second Vice President of the Institute for the 
Dissemination of the Dharma.  The police had advised him that he 
would be "invited" to the police station for questioning, but then 
visited him briefly October 15 to ask about his health and any 
special needs.  According to Thich Vien Kien, Thich Vien Dinh is 
tired and a little disoriented from the ordeal, but otherwise 
healthy.  He apparently responded to the police by saying that, "I 
am a monk and need nothing but to practice my religion." 
 
6. (SBU) ConGen was unable to contact monks at four different 
pagodas in Hue, where UBCV monks have reportedly been under 
pressure from police since attending the "illegal" leadership 
meeting, with some telephones cut off and others just ringing or 
busy.  Thich Tue Sy told ConGen that Thich Thien Hanh had already 
gone on hunger strike the last time they spoke on October 12.  He 
said the UBCV was working to get followers in the U.S. to contact 
relatives in the Hue area to have them go check on the situation. 
YAMAUCHI