US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY336

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000336 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREF, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: FORMER UBCV MONK THICH TRI LUC: RELIEVED AT HIS RELEASE, 
EAGER TO RESETTLE 
 
REF:  A) Hanoi 0752   B) 03 Hanoi 2858 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Pham Van Tuong (protect), formerly known as 
Thich Tri Luc, met with CG and ConGenoffs for two hours on March 
30, 2004, four days after his release from prison.  The former 
monk from the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) 
appeared to be in good physical and mental condition, and was 
eager to discuss his past activities and future plans.  He was not 
at all fearful of repercussions from his visit to the ConGen, 
having informed the local police matter-of-factly about the 
meeting in advance.  Public security officials had advised him at 
the time of his release that someone from the USG would be 
contacting him shortly.  They had also advised him that UNHCR 
would want to speak with him regarding his refugee case, but he 
had yet to hear from the UNHCR.  Tuong was unequivocal in his 
desire to resettle with his family in the U.S.  See para. 12 for 
suggested press guidance.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) During the meeting, which was arranged at the behest of 
the ConGen, Tuong provided additional background information on 
his March 12 trial (ref A) to supplement the details already made 
public by the GVN.  The two-hour trial finally took place after 
three postponements dating back to July 25, 2003.  Tuong was kept 
abreast of those scheduling changes, and provided with copies of 
all of the court documents related to his case along the way.  He 
was not permitted to retain legal counsel, but his family was 
allowed to attend the otherwise closed hearing.  He assumed that 
all of the other individuals present in the courtroom were either 
court officials or public security officers.  The GVN presented no 
witnesses or documentary evidence, but questioned Tuong on his 
past activities in Vietnam and Cambodia.  He declined an offer to 
present a statement in his own defense.  Prior to the trial, 
public security officials advised him that they would facilitate 
his resettlement abroad in exchange for his silence on the 
circumstances of his arrest in Cambodia and the conditions of his 
imprisonment in Vietnam.  Tuong agreed, and was sentenced to 20 
months in prison, with credit for time served (19.5 months).  He 
was released on March 26, 2004. 
 
3. (SBU) Tuong's description of the events leading up to his 
forcible return to Vietnam in July 2002 matched closely the 
accounts published overseas by the UBCV's Paris-based 
International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB).  Recounting his 
reasons for fleeing Vietnam in the first place, Tuong noted his 
frustration with continued police surveillance and denial of basic 
residency rights after his release from a 30-month prison sentence 
in 1997.  That sentence -- imposed for his participation in an 
unauthorized flood relief project organized by UBCV Deputy Thich 
Quang Do -- included five additional years of administrative 
probation after his release.  He was also expelled from the Phap 
Van Pagoda during that time. 
 
4. (SBU) Unable to serve as a monk, Tuong left the UBCV and 
married in 1999.  A son from that marriage was born in 2002, while 
Tuong was in jail in Ho Chi Minh City.  (Note: Tuong also 
acknowledged getting "married" for the first time and fathering a 
child while still a monk in 1994, in violation of Buddhist law. 
He "divorced" the woman two years later, but the child is 
registered under his surname.  His second child is registered 
under the mother's surname, since Vietnamese law prohibits 
registering a marriage for someone without household registration. 
End note.)  Tuong claimed his attempts to reenter the monkhood in 
2001 were thwarted by GVN security officials.  Even after his 
administrative detention ended in February 2002, the surveillance 
and harassment continued.  Frustrated by his situation, he fled to 
Cambodia with UBCV monk Thich Tam Van, arriving in Phnom Penh on 
April 19, 2002. 
 
5. (SBU) Immediately upon their arrival in Cambodia, Tuong and 
Thich Tam Van sought asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, 
where Tuong said they were warmly received.  They were given 
instructions on how to apply for refugee status with UNHCR, and 
followed them.  UNHCR representative Goran Rosen interviewed Tuong 
on May 31, 2002, and issued him a temporary refugee certificate on 
June 3, 2002.  He received his official refugee certificate (#610) 
from UNHCR Cambodia Chief Elizabeth Kirten on June 28, 2002. 
Rosen and resident Human Rights Watch representative Sara Colm 
were also on hand when he received his certificate.  Tuong was not 
permitted to live in a refugee camp for Vietnamese, which was 
reserved for ethnic minorities from the Central Highlands. 
Instead, he was given an allowance of $85 per month by UNHCR. 
UNHCR representatives also gave him phone numbers to call should 
he get into trouble. 
 
6. (SBU) Throughout his stay in Cambodia, Tuong spent most of his 
time writing letters to UBCV supporters in the U.S., Australia, 
and France.  They sometimes sent him money for living expenses and 
postage.  Vo Van Ai of the IBIB was among those who provided 
financial support.  Tuong also sent letters to UBCV leaders Thich 
Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do in Vietnam, but was not sure they 
had ever received them, as they had not responded.  (He claimed 
there were no UBCV monks in Phnom Penh.)  While most of his 
letters were critical of the GVN on human rights and religious 
freedom issues, Tuong claims he never advocated overthrowing the 
GVN.  On June 26, 2002, he sent a report to Human Rights Watch on 
alleged human rights abuses involving political prisoners in 
Vietnam.  While Tuong told ConGenoffs that none of these letters 
or his Human Rights Watch report was presented at the trial, he 
assumed the GVN knew of their existence.  In fact, toward the end 
of his prison term, prison officials had instructed him to 
recreate these documents from memory as closely as possible and 
write them down. 
 
7. (SBU) In the weeks before his arrest, Tuong heard rumors that 
Vietnamese police in Phnom Penh were looking for him.  In fact, 
Vietnamese officials had already questioned Thich Tam Van on 
several occasions.  (Note: According to Tuong, UNHCR quickly 
granted Thich Tam Van refugee status the day after his arrest, and 
he was subsequently resettled in the U.S.  End note.)  On July 25, 
2002 at approximately 7:00 p.m., Tuong was shopping near his 
guesthouse in Phnom Penh when he was surrounded by a group of 
Vietnamese and Cambodian security officials, forced into a car 
(license plate 2475 plus two Khmer characters), handcuffed, and 
beaten.  He guessed that many of the officers were Vietnamese by 
the fact that they spoke to him in his mother tongue.  Despite 
Tuong's protestations that he was under UNHCR protection, the 
police confiscated his refugee card, drove him to an 
"international police" station, placed him in a tourist vehicle, 
and then drove him to a different police station, where he spent 
the night in handcuffs.  In the morning, the original car drove 
him to the Moc Bai border crossing in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam, 
where waiting Vietnamese officials took custody and transferred 
him to the municipal detention center at 237 Nguyen Van Cu Street 
in Ho Chi Minh City.  Tuong said his original arrest record 
indicated that he was arrested at the border, but this report was 
later replaced by a report showing that he was arrested in Tay 
Ninh province for "fleeing the country to oppose the State." 
 
8. (SBU) During Tuong's first five months in prison, this 
particular detention center was used to house some of the 155 
defendants in the landmark Nam Cam corruption trial, so prisoners 
often had to share cells.  Block C, where Tuong was housed, 
contained 15 special cells of about nine square meters each, with 
very small openings for ventilation and no outside light.  With 
their doors closed, Tuong likened the environment to being "inside 
a pot with its lid on."  Constant street noise from just outside 
the wall made conditions even more unbearable.  Prisoners were 
allowed out briefly to pick up food and bring it back to their 
cells, but they were not allowed to talk during this time.  Tuong 
was aware of some of the other notable prisoners in the facility, 
including Father Ly's nephews and Dr. Nguyen Dan Que.  He saw Dr. 
Que pick up food once in February, and thought he looked healthy, 
but he heard from others that Dr. Que was sometimes ill.  Once a 
week, prisoners were also allowed to purchase food or other items 
with money provided by family.  Tuong's family did not know about 
his imprisonment for almost a year and so could not provide funds. 
When Tuong noticed he was receiving larger portions than the other 
prisoners, however, he asked for money in place of the extra food. 
Prison officials then provided him with a monthly allowance of 
90,000 Vietnamese dong (about US$6) per month.  While prison 
officials treated him well, he was frequently interrogated about 
his activities in Cambodia, especially about his June 26 report to 
Human Rights Watch.  He was only allowed to see his family once 
during his imprisonment, on August 22, 2003. 
 
9. (SBU) In a slight detour from his story, Tuong excitedly 
related his prison conversations with his cellmate for four 
months, Major Ho Tran Lap (protect), a former military 
intelligence officer and one-time Communist Party member.  Lap was 
serving a twelve-year sentence for telecommunications fraud 
(setting up a callback service), but also appeared to have turned 
into something of a dissident.  Lap told him that the Vietnamese 
had left behind many military intelligence agents when they pulled 
out of Cambodia in 1983, including Unit X-11, which specialized in 
watching Vietnamese and other "hostile forces" in Cambodia.  Lap 
also told Tuong that he was 70 percent certain American prisoners 
of war were still being held in secret military prisons in the 
North, but refused to provide more details.  When asked whether 
Lap might have been sent to spy on him, Tuong stated that he 
trusted Lap, in part because of a story Lap shared about another 
military intelligence agent, Phan Dien, who was murdered in Ho Chi 
Minh City in 1981.  Tuong said Lap felt "cheated" by the Party and 
had become a democracy advocate instead. 
10. (SBU) After his release, Tuong moved in with his wife's family 
in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.  He was told that all of 
his rights as a citizen were restored, and felt he was under no 
restrictions or surveillance at present.  On March 29, he applied 
for a new household registration book -- required to obtain 
residency and receive a variety of employment, education, and 
health benefits -- in Long Thanh District of neighboring Dong Nai 
Province, but has yet to receive an answer from authorities on his 
application.  In the meantime, he had applied for temporary 
residence in Thu Duc, where his application was also pending.  He 
had told the police in Thu Duc that he would be attending a 
meeting at the ConGen.  Regarding the UBCV, Tuong said he had not 
yet been in contact with any of his former UBCV colleagues in 
Vietnam.  He had, however, already spoken with Vo Van Ai of the 
IBIB by telephone.  At Ai's request, Tuong had prepared a full 
report on his case and was endeavoring to find a way to send it to 
the IBIB.  He said that Ai wanted to use the information to "fight 
back" against GVN misinformation on his case. 
 
11. (SBU) Tuong told ConGenoffs in no uncertain terms that he was 
only interested in resettlement in the U.S., not in any other 
country, including Australia.  He hoped his current wife and 18- 
month-old son would be able to join him there.  His future plans 
in the U.S. would include once again becoming a Buddhist monk with 
the UBCV and performing religious activities as assigned.  When 
questioned, he did not clearly differentiate between religious 
activities as a monk and activities related to advancing religious 
freedom in Vietnam. 
 
12. (U) Begin suggested press guidance (to supplement EAP Press 
Guidance dated March 16, 2004): 
 
Q. Can you confirm that Mr. Pham Van Tuong (aka Thich Tri Luc) has 
met with officials at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh 
City? 
A. Mr. Pham Van Tuong, formerly known as Thich Tri Luc when he was 
a monk with the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
(UBCV), was released from prison in Ho Chi Minh City on March 26, 
after finishing a 20-month sentence imposed by the Vietnamese 
Government.  Consulate General officials invited him to the 
Consulate General for a meeting on March 30, which he openly 
accepted. 
 
Q. Can you provide any details on the meeting, or discuss progress 
on his pending refugee case? 
A. Mr. Tuong spoke with officials of the U.S Consulate General in 
Ho Chi Minh City in confidence regarding his current situation and 
the Consulate will continue to keep in contact with him.  He does 
not appear to be under any restrictions or surveillance at the 
moment.  I would refer you to UNHCR for any details on his pending 
refugee case. 
 
Background:  Former UBCV monk Thich Tri Luc was allegedly 
kidnapped by Cambodian and Vietnamese police in July 2002 in Phnom 
Penh, and forcibly repatriated to Vietnam to stand trial for 
"fleeing abroad to oppose the State" (Article 91).  Imprisoned 
since July 2002, he finally stood trial on March 12, 2004, and was 
sentenced to 20 months, which with time served resulted in his 
release on March 26, 2004.  The Vietnamese Government claimed that 
they did not know the former monk had been granted refugee status 
by the UNHCR in Phnom Penh in June 2002, nor did they have any 
idea of his whereabouts.  The former monk's case has been raised 
by Human Rights Watch and the International Buddhist Information 
Bureau. 
 
End suggested press guidance. 
 
13. (SBU) Post Note:  Based on what Tuong himself said and after 
reviewing several documents that he left with ConGenoffs, it 
appears there were several instances where his case could have 
taken a turn for the worse -- but didn't.  First, the penalty for 
a violation of Article 91 is normally three years to life 
imprisonment.  Instead, it appears the security officials and 
Tuong were able to reach an accommodation that satisfied both and 
resulted in a 20-month sentence with time served.  Tuong could 
also have been charged with espionage -- defined by the GVN as 
providing national security information to foreigners in exchange 
for money -- as in the cases of the so-called "Internet 
activists," but he wasn't.  Second, since nobody actually knew 
where Tuong was being held during 2002-2003, it would have been 
easy for him to "be disappeared."  Third, a reading of the 
documents Tuong supplied indicates that GVN authorities played by 
the rules in obtaining legal extensions for the investigation 
period and for the trial postponements.  Tuong himself said that 
he was kept informed of the twists and turns of his case in a 
timely manner.  Fourth, the prison officials made accommodations 
for Tuong, as a prisoner who had no family to provide additional 
funds for food or other items.  This brief glimpse into Vietnam's 
dysfunctional legal system indicates that while the GVN fails on 
the fundamental principles of religious freedom and due process, 
there are times when it makes the "right" decisions within the 
twisted parameters of its own rules.  End Note. 
 
14. (SBU) Comment:  Tuong was relaxed and talkative during the 
meeting, but quite thoughtful at the same time.  He seemed 
genuinely pleased to be on American soil -- his "dream for the 
past 18 years" -- and offered what seemed to be sincere 
condolences on the tragic events of September 11.  He also 
appeared to be genuinely convinced by Major Lap's account of 
American POW/MIAs, and surprised that others might try to trade 
such information for money or immigrant visas to the U.S.  At the 
same time, Tuong seemed to exhibit a certain naivete, as when he 
discussed the report he had just prepared for the IBIB's Vo Van 
Ai.  When he mentioned that he was trying to find a secure means 
to mail the report, ConGenoffs drew his attention to the warning 
he had received upon his release from prison.  Tuong's "solution" 
was simply to email the document, since he could make up any 
address he wanted and the GVN would never know he was the source. 
He did not seem to comprehend that if the only two eyewitnesses to 
particular events were the Vietnamese police and him, then it 
would be easy to figure out who sent the email.  He also stopped 
momentarily during his discussion of prison conditions, when he 
suddenly realized he had pledged not to mention that topic after 
his release. 
 
15. (SBU) Tuong is clearly a sympathetic figure who has paid his 
dues.  Born in Hue in 1954, he became a novice at 10 years of age 
to then-UBCV Patriarch Thich Don Hau at Linh Mu Pagoda.  He has a 
long history of arrests and imprisonment for his beliefs, 
including a sentence of two years reeducation in 1981 for 
"illegally leaving the country", and 10 months house arrest in 
1992 for his efforts to promote religious freedom. 
YAMAUCHI