US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY379

UNCLAS  HO CHI MINH CITY 000379 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH AMNESTIED UBCV ACTIVIST THICH THIEN MINH 
 
REF:  A) HCMC 364; B) HCMC 142; C) 04 HCMC 190; D) 03  HCMC 836 
 
1. (SBU) On April 9, we met with Unified Buddhist Church of 
Vietnam (UBCV) monk Thich Thien Minh (aka Huynh Van Ba) who had 
been released from prison February 2 as part of the GVN's 2005 Tet 
amnesty (ref B).  Thich Thien Minh was arrested and tried in 1979 
for protesting the GVN confiscation of his pagoda, located in the 
Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.  He was sentenced for 
"activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government" and 
"propagandizing against the regime."  The sentence was extended in 
1987 after a failed escape attempt from Xuan Loc Prison, in Dong 
Nai province, where he was held. 
 
2. (SBU) Minh told us that since his release he has spent most of 
his time in Bac Lieu with his brother's family.  He petitioned the 
government to return his pagoda, but as the property is now a 
public school, he has no realistic expectation of its return. 
Minh told us that representatives of the GVN-recognized Vietnam 
Buddhist Sangha (VBS) had offered him his own pagoda if he would 
agree to "defect" from the UBCV to VBS, but that he declined. 
Minh has problems with local police over renewal of his residency 
registration, as is required by law.  Presently, his registration 
still shows the former pagoda as his place of residence.  He fears 
that if he registers using his brother's house, as local 
authorities have encouraged, legally he will lose the right to be 
called a monk. 
 
3. (SBU) While he appeared physically fit, Minh claimed to have a 
brain tumor and lung problems from beatings in prison.  When we 
asked for clarification about physical abuse, he said that the 
last time he was beaten in prison was over 20 years ago.  Minh 
fears to seek treatment for his maladies at a State-run hospital, 
but he has yet to visit a private doctor.  Since his release, Minh 
said he has received three threatening phone calls from at least 
two different people.  The most recent was in late March.  The 
callers threatened him and his brother's family with physical harm 
and loss of employment should economic sanctions be imposed on 
Vietnam due to religious freedom concerns.  (Note:  On February 3, 
Thich Thien Minh gave a phone interview with the International 
Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB), based in Paris, in which he 
called for "true freedom, democracy and human rights in Vietnam." 
End Note.) 
 
4. (SBU) Minh claimed that, since his release, all of his mail and 
correspondence is monitored and that at least three policemen keep 
him under constant surveillance.  He said that his cell phone 
often is jammed, and that he is unable to reproduce printed 
materials of any kind without police monitoring.  During our visit 
with Minh at the Giac Hao pagoda in HCMC we saw two policemen in 
static surveillance outside the pagoda, the same number as when we 
visited pagoda in January (ref C).  Despite the police 
surveillance, Minh has been in contact with the Maryland-based 
"Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam," the IBIB, Radio Free 
Asia and Que Huong radio, a California-based broadcaster. (Note: 
Nguyen Thi Hoa and Nguyen Vu Viet, the niece and nephew 
respectively of activist priest Nguyen Van Ly, were imprisoned 
after contacts with the Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam 
and Que Huong Radio, see Ref D. End Note.) Since his release, Minh 
has been able to visit UBCV General Secretary Thich Quang Do 
twice.  He also traveled to Binh Dinh Province to visit Thich 
Huyen Quang without interference from police.  Minh said he was 
unable to see Quang because the UBCV patriarch was in seclusion at 
the time. 
 
SANCTIONS, POLITICS AND RELIGION 
-------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) In our discussion, Minh emphasized that the goals of the 
UBCV were "not political in nature," but "to have true religious 
freedom in Vietnam, political change is necessary."  He explained 
that because at its core Communism is atheistic, the UBCV believed 
that the Party could never permit true religious freedom. 
Therefore, the United States needs to press the GVN to change. 
That said, Minh opposed sanctions to force the GVN to improve 
religious freedom and human rights conditions.  He argued that 
religious freedom advocates and political dissidents become no 
more than "bargaining chips" for the GVN to trade for economic 
gain. 
 
6. (SBU) Minh said that he and "many others" were unhappy with 
recent statements attributed to Ambassador Marine on police in 
Vietnam.  Minh said that police in Vietnam and police in the 
United States are different; "one protecting a democratic regime, 
the other defending a dictatorship."  We clarified the 
Ambassador's statement and made it clear that the USG strongly 
supports Vietnamese activists in their efforts to obtain greater 
civil and religious rights.  However, we cannot stand beside 
activists if their actions cross beyond the boundaries of accepted 
norms of basic public order and behavior.  (Note: A Viet Kieu 
newspaper in California erroneously quoted the Ambassador as 
saying in mid-March speech in San Francisco that "in America, 
 
people who oppose the police would be arrested."  The Ambassador 
actually said that "if an American strikes a police officer, then 
that American would be arrested and subject to possible 
prosecution." End Note.) 
 
WINNICK 
 
 
NNNN