US embassy cable - 04HANOI1094

UNCLAS HANOI 001094 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PREL, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT:  Ha Giang remains sore spot for Protestants 
 
REF:  Hanoi 383 
 
1.  (U)  A leader of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-North 
has provided additional details about three Protestant 
figures in Ha Giang province in the Northwest Highlands who 
had been arrested (reftel) as well as information about an 
additional arrest, as follow: 
--  Ly Sin Quang, 28 years old, from Giap Trung village, 
Thang Tin Commune, Hoang Su Phi District, was arrested 
December 6, 2003.  He was sentenced to 26 months in prison. 
He became a Protestant in 1991.  His wife and four children 
are reportedly facing economic hardship now; 
--  Vang Chin Sang, 56 years old, also from Giap Trung 
village, Thang Tin Commune, Hoang Su Phi District, was 
arrested November 26, 2003.  He was sentenced to 36 months 
imprisonment.  He became a Christian in 1999.  He has a wife 
and one child; 
--  Vang My Ly (noted in reftel as Vang Mi Ly), 24 years 
old, also from Giap Trung village, Thang Tin Commune, Hoang 
Su Phi District.  He was arrested December 6, 2003 and has 
been sentenced to 26 months imprisonment.  He became a 
Protestant in 1991.  His wife and three children are also 
described as facing economic hardship; 
--  Ly Chin Seng, 60 years old, is the father of Ly Sin 
Quang.  He is from Giap Trung town, Thang Tin Commune, Hoang 
Su Phi District.  He was arrested December 17, 2003 and 
sentenced to 36 months imprisonment.  He became a Protestant 
in 1991. 
 
2.  (U)  The Protestant source did not have the exact 
charges on which these individuals were convicted, but 
claimed that the arrests and sentences were directly related 
to their religious activities. 
 
3.  (U)  The same source noted, however, that problems for 
Protestants in other Northwest provinces, notably the newly 
separate province of Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau (of which 
Dien Bien Phu was previously a part), had abated 
significantly over the past several months.  In his opinion, 
the only province in the Northwest Highlands where ethnic 
minority Protestants continue to face harassment and/or 
arrest was Ha Giang.  He was unable to offer any hypothesis 
on why this was the case. 
 
4.  (U)  Comment:  Embassy provided an updated list of 
persons believed to be imprisoned, harassed, or raped in 
cases related to their religious beliefs - including all 
four of the individuals named above -  to the Government 
Committee on Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs on April 14, and asked them to investigate and 
report back to Embassy.  A similar list was sent to the MFA 
on March 19 under cover of diplomatic note, also asking for 
information.  We are not optimistic that either institution 
will respond any time soon -- we are still waiting for a 
response from the Ministry of Public Security to the list 
Ambassador Hanford provided in October, despite our repeated 
follow-up inquiries -- but we will continue to ask, 
particularly as we prepare the next draft International 
Religious Freedom Report for Vietnam. 
BURGHARDT