US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY1222

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, SOCI, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: SEA GAMES RELIGIOUS PAMPHLET INCIDENT FOLLOW-UP 
 
REF:  HCMC 001215 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  ConGenoffs met with Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang 
on December 11, 2003, to discuss the events of December 9-10 
(reftel).  Quang was also accompanied by the allegedly beaten 
religious worker.  An agreement between Protestants and police had 
reportedly resulted in the release of all but two detainees, who 
were still dealing with bureaucratic issues.  ConGenoffs also 
clarified details concerning numbers and the source of the "SEA 
Games" pamphlets.   END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) According to Pastor Quang, the U.S. student organization 
Campus Crusade for Christ funded the pamphlet production and 
coordinated the design with pastors in Vietnam, though he did not 
reveal which pastors.  He originally stated that the pamphlets 
"showed up" at the houses of various Protestant leaders and that 
they decided to use them because "the content was good."  At 
first, he denied knowledge of where the pamphlets were printed, 
but later said that they were printed by many sources in both 
Thailand and Vietnam.  Plans called for about one million total 
pamphlets to be distributed.  On December 10, however, police 
reportedly raided one printing house and seized 30,000 pamphlets. 
Quang was uncertain how many pamphlets have actually been printed 
and distributed.  At the time of the incident, the religious 
worker who was allegedly beaten had a box of pamphlets on his 
motorbike.  (Post Note:  Other pastors who helped with the 
pamphlets told ConGen that Campus Crusade for Christ had no 
connection at all with the pamphlets and also said the number they 
originally planned to distribute was 300,000 not one million.  End 
Note.) 
 
3.  (SBU) Pastor Quang claimed that the religious worker had been 
beaten and attacked with electric prods, as the church's December 
10 press release stated.  He initially said that the religious 
worker had bruises on his chest, arms, and back.  When ConGenoffs 
asked the worker to show his bruises, however, Quang informed them 
that the Vietnamese police had "very advanced" techniques so that 
they could beat someone without leaving any marks and that the 
electric prods had been covered with rubber and cloth.  The worker 
had a visible scratch on his face.  He could not explain how it 
was caused, but said it happened during the altercation with 
police.  He showed ConGenoffs two tiny scratches on his wrist that 
he claimed were from handcuffs.  Finally, he removed part of his 
shirt and showed a small red abrasion on the inside of his upper 
arm.  He claimed this was caused when he was grabbed by the police 
and tried to pull away, although he also mentioned being dragged 
along the street as he was being arrested.  He showed no other 
visible marks and moved normally, without any apparent 
difficulties.  Quang also patted the worker on the shoulders and 
back throughout the meeting without the worker showing any pain or 
discomfort.  Quang stated that pictures had been taken of marks 
after the beating and distributed via e-mail, which Mission later 
received via a public information email address. 
 
4.  (SBU) Twenty "students" accompanied Pastor Quang to the police 
station on the evening of December 9, and twenty more "students" 
joined the "sit in" on December 10.  According to Quang, the 
Protestants threatened both a hunger strike and a 3,000-10,000 
person demonstration outside the HCMC People's Committee building 
unless police met three demands.  Quang claimed the police at 
first asked them to please have a smaller group, maybe several 
hundred, not thousands.  Quang outlined the conditions he had set. 
First, the police would investigate the incident, identify those 
responsible for "the attack," and have those individuals 
apologize.  Second, police would release twenty Protestants 
"detained" over the previous three days for pamphlet-related 
offenses.  Finally, the police would agree to "honor the security" 
of the Protestants as long as they were not violating any laws, 
and would follow proper procedure and not beat anyone if the 
Protestants were violating the law.  Police and Protestant leaders 
signed a document outlining these points on the evening of 
December 10.  The document did not require the police to admit any 
wrongdoing, beyond the promised investigation, or admit to 
detaining anyone.  However, most of the alleged detainees were 
released that evening and the following morning. 
 
5.  (SBU) As of Pastor Quang's meeting with Congenoffs, only two 
alleged detainees had not reported in to family members.  Quang 
speculated that those two were delayed because of administrative 
paperwork concerning the release of seized motorbikes, noting that 
the motorbikes might not be legally registered.  He said that if 
those two were not released promptly, he and a few other select 
Protestant leaders would go into hiding so that their followers 
would think they were still detained and proceed with the planned 
demonstration.  The police also agreed to provide "protection," as 
long as no laws were being broken, if the pastors called 113, the 
Vietnamese equivalent of 911.  Quang said that they had called 
once last evening when they believed they were being followed, and 
that the 113 police arrived as promised. 
 
6.  (SBU) Pastor Quang did not believe that his meeting with 
Poloff and DRL on December 9 was associated with the incident. 
His theory about why he was almost stopped immediately after his 
meeting was that the confusion of the SEA Games and the large 
crowds on the street provided plainclothes police officers with an 
easy opportunity.  He indicated that he was watched and followed 
constantly, so the police always know how to find him.  The 
religious worker said that one police officer told him that his 
beating and detention happened because of the pamphlets. 
 
7.  (SBU) COMMENT: While the meeting clarified some details, Post 
was unable to confirm some of the more extreme claims made in the 
email press release attributed to the Vietnamese Mennonite Church. 
Pastor Quang said he was not aware of the press release, but some 
of his followers may have put it together hurriedly for foreign 
dissemination.  Post was able to obtain a copy of the agreement 
with the police, which appears to be genuine.  It is harder to 
confirm any serious attempt on Pastor Quang's life by the police, 
a concern that Quang has voiced for the past several years without 
visible evidence.  The religious worker did not appear to be 
seriously injured and seemed in very good shape for someone who 
had allegedly been "fiercely attacked by many police armed with 
rifles, pistols, and electric rods" or "badly tortured in 
detention" thirty-six hours before.  He could well have been in a 
scuffle with police during his arrest, as at least some of his 
responses suggested, and may have been handled roughly during his 
detention.  (This is also a frequent complaint even in cases not 
involving religious activities.) Quang did not indicate if the 
group intends to continue to distribute the pamphlets and risk 
more confrontations with the police. 
YAMAUCHI