US embassy cable - 04HANOI383

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000383 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PREL, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: MORE ALLEGATIONS OF HARRASSMENT OF PROTESTANTS IN 
NORTHERN VIETNAM 
 
Ref: A. Hanoi 343  B. 03 Hanoi 1687 
 
1.   (SBU) Summary: Sources in the Protestant community in 
northern Vietnam continue to provide the Embassy with cases 
of alleged abuse by local authorities.  The claims range 
from petty harassment of believers to two accusations of 
rape in the Northern Highlands province of Lai Chau.  While 
the claims are unsubstantiated and even these sources admit 
are not representative of most congregations (ref a), the 
recurrence of such unfortunate incidents suggest continued 
problems with some local authorities disregarding central 
party and government policy upholding freedom of worship in 
Vietnam.  End Summary 
 
2. (SBU) The latest allegations (ref b provides earlier 
examples) come from most of the largely ethnic minority 
Northwest Highlands provinces along the border with China, 
as well as from Thanh Hoa, south of Hanoi.  They are mostly 
in the form of written testimonials or petitions to national 
and provincial authorities, the Evangelical Church of 
Vietnam (ECVN), or the Government Committee on Religion. 
Most appear to have been dictated to underground church 
organizers, with a rough signature or fingerprint at the 
end. 
 
Rapes 
----- 
 
3.  (SBU)  The most serious allegations come from Nam Nga 
village, Ta Tong commune, Muong Te District, Lai Chau 
province.  Sung A Sinh claimed that his 12-year-old daughter 
was raped by four militia soldiers during the period 
November 25 to 27, 2003.  Over the same three days, the 13- 
year-old daughter of Vang A Lau in the same village was also 
reportedly raped by government officials.  Other allegations 
from the same commune include that government officials: 
accused Protestants of being U.S. "collaborators;" destroyed 
the houses of several believers, including those of Giang A 
Pao, Giang A Tua, and a man identified as "Cay;" killed some 
livestock; and destroyed fences, allowing animals to enter 
fields and trample crops. 
 
Arrests and attempted renunciations 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Several other accounts come from Lai Chau, 
including that of Ly Giang Sung, of Muong Lay district, 
apparently dictated while in jail.  Sung alleged that his 
brother was arrested for no apparent reason in 2002, and 
when Sung went to protest the arrest, he too was detained. 
He claimed that police told him to renounce his 
Protestantism.  After refusing, he was kept in prison, and 
eventually tried and sentenced to a 30-month jail term.  A 
copy of a sentencing order with the written testimonial 
records that Sung was convicted of "acting against 
government officials." 
 
5. (SBU) Protestants from Coc Ly commune, Bac Ha, district, 
Lao Cai Province wrote that four house church leaders - Sung 
Ga Pham, Sung Ga Chau, Sung Ga Chin, and Giang Ga Mang - had 
been detained by police since December 28 for no apparent 
reason.  Another account from Coc Ly commune claimed that, 
in August 2003, nine police and government officials accused 
local Hmong Protestants of being "brigands" and pro-America, 
and forced them to sign renunciations of their faith. 
Included with this allegation is a copy of a "Commitment" 
form in which the signer promises "not to follow illegal 
religions."  Two accounts from Bao Nhai commune, Bac Ha 
district in Lao Cai recount attempts at forced renunciations 
in August 2003, though it is not clear whether the 
Protestant villagers signed the renunciations or not. 
 
6. (SBU) In Ha Giang province, members of a house church in 
Thang Tin commune, Hoang Su Phi district, claimed that 
district police had arrested three leaders of their 
congregation - Ly Sin Quang, Vang Chin Sang, and Vang Mi Ly. 
Attached with this testimonial were apparent copies of 
police orders for two of the men - Quang and Sang - 
authorizing they be held in temporary detention for "actions 
against public security."  Further allegations from this 
commune are that police seized tables and chairs used in 
unofficial church services. 
 
7. (SBU) In Bao Lac district, Cao Bang province, a group of 
ethnic Dao Protestants from several villages wrote that they 
had suffered continued pressure by authorities to give up 
their faith.  The Dao villagers apparently were continuing 
to worship regardless. 
Other forms of harassment 
------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) In Duong Hoa commune, Hai Ha district, Quang Ninh 
province, members of a house church sent a petition to the 
ECVN as well as provincial and district authorities listing 
a series of ongoing discriminatory acts suffered at the 
hands of local authorities.  These include delaying approval 
of wedding certificates, threatening high school students 
with expulsion for "following Protestantism," blocking 
Protestants from joining veterans associations, and refusing 
Protestants loans from State development funds.  The church 
members claimed particular harassment around Christmas 2003, 
recounting that on December 20, local officials confiscated 
several Bibles, on December 23 officials blocked the roads 
leading to the house of the church's leader, and on 
Christmas Day, officials disrupted worship services and 
seized an electronic keyboard. 
 
9. (SBU) From Thanh Hoa city of Thanh Hoa province, house 
church leader Nguyen Van Xuan, reported having been called 
in to meetings with local security officials and members of 
the Vietnam Fatherland Front on December 24.  The officials 
warned him against holding religious services.  Xuan ignored 
the warnings and proceeded with Christmas Day services, 
which were then interrupted by officials who recorded the 
events and attempted to make him sign a document confessing 
to holding illegal gathering.  Xuan refused, and appears to 
have suffered nothing more than further lectures from local 
officials. 
 
10. (SBU) Comment: We have no reason to doubt the veracity 
of our sources or these claims, although often such cases 
are a complex mix of harassment on religious grounds, 
corruption, ethnic discrimination, or the extremely low 
quality of local governance.  It is notable that even the 
believers who suffer persecution appear to believe that 
appeals to higher levels of government can help them against 
the actions of local officials, underscoring the degree to 
which in areas "vung xao, vung xa" - deep and far away - 
Constitutional guarantees, Government decrees, and Party 
resolutions on religious freedom may be honored in the 
breach by local officials, usually with impunity.  Embassy 
will raise these latest cases in our next meeting with the 
Government Committee on Religion and meanwhile add the names 
of latest reported detainees to our list of prisoners of 
concern. 
BURGHARDT