US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY600

UNCLAS  HO CHI MINH CITY 000600 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: VIETNAM'S HOA HAO UNDER PRESSURE 
 
REF:  HCMC 433 and previous 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: A recent spike in tensions between Hoa Hao 
dissidents and police in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang 
highlights the divisions in Vietnam's Hoa Hao community between 
the GVN-controlled Executive Committee of Hoa Hao Buddhism (ECHB) 
and independent, unrecognized groups.  The family of the spiritual 
founder of the faith, Huynh Phu So, appears to disdain both sides. 
The Hoa Hao Central Buddhist Church (HHCBC) led by Le Quang Liem 
accuses the family of "selling out" their religion, and states 
that it will continue to oppose the ECHB.  The police are wary of 
the Hoa Hao's -- and Liem's -- strong anti-Communist roots, and 
treats Liem and his followers as a potential threat to the regime, 
a role that Liem appears to relish.  End Summary. 
 
What is Hoa Haoism? 
------------------- 
2. (SBU) Hoa Haoism was founded in the 1930s by Huynh Phu So, the 
son of a village elder in the Chau Doc area of the Mekong Delta. 
Doctrinally, the faith is a variant of Buddhism that stresses 
individual worship as the means of attaining a richer spiritual 
experience and salvation.  So led the Hoa Hao into the National 
United Front, a group of nationalist organizations seeking 
Vietnamese independence.  He would not accept Communist 
leadership, which led to open conflict between the Hoa Hao and the 
Communists.  Many Hoa Hao believe that in April 1947 the Viet Minh 
ambushed and executed So in the Mekong Delta city of Long Xuyen, 
although his body was never found.  Some Hoa Hao followers believe 
So is still alive. Estimates of the number of followers of Hoa Hao 
Buddhism vary widely, in part because the nature of the religion 
emphasizes at-home practice, with minimal adornments, few 
celebrations, and no dignitaries.  The official GVN estimate is 
two million followers, centered in the Delta's An Giang and Dong 
Thap provinces.  Hoa Hao dissident groups claim there are over 
four million believers.  Contacts in the official Hoa Hao 
community stated that they had applied to Hanoi for permission to 
conduct a formal census of followers and properties. 
 
GVN-sanctioned Hoa Hao says all is well 
--------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) During a recent visit to the Mekong Delta, we met with 
Nguyen Tan Dat, the standing Vice-Chief of the newly formed 
Executive Committee of Hoa Hao Buddhism (ECHB).  The ECHB is an 
expanded, 21-person replacement for the Hoa Hao Administrative 
Committee (HHAC), which was formed when Hoa Haoism was recognized 
by the GVN in 1999.  Dat was well aware of Vietnam's designation 
as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), but said this was a 
result of a lack of information on the part of U.S. authorities. 
He claimed that Vietnam's religious freedoms "meet the needs" of 
its Hoa Hao community.  However, any believer who conducts 
"illegal religious activity" must be subject to punishment.  Asked 
for an example of what illegal activity might be, Dat cited 
failure to ask permission from the government to hold public 
religious activities.  He compared the situation of unrecognized 
Hoa Hao sects like that of Le Quang Liem to the Branch Davidians, 
asserting that even the USG restricts the activities of religious 
groups which it considers to be suspicious. 
 
4. (SBU) The ECHB was not pushing the GVN to return property 
confiscated after 1975.  While they are conducting an inventory of 
their temples for "possible recovery," other formerly Hoa Hao- 
owned facilities must now be considered "community property," the 
ownership of which has been transferred for good.  Dat summarized 
the overall philosophy of the ECHB in a closing statement: "The 
happiness and development of the people overall is more important 
than human rights and religious freedom." 
 
The Founder's Family: A Pox on Both Houses 
------------------------------------------ 
 
5. (SBU) Dat escorted us to visit the founder's family in their 
temple at Phu My town, An Giang province.  There we met with Tu Be 
and Bui Van Duong, the niece and nephew of the founder, 
respectively.  Dat and his deputies sat in on the meeting; thus we 
were not surprised that the family's answers were bland and 
conformed closely to Dat's earlier responses.  However, their non- 
verbal cues made it clear that there was little love lost for 
either the GVN-recognized board or Hoa Hao dissidents.  They said 
that it was "inappropriate" to hold a large ceremony commemorating 
the disappearance of the founder, as no one can be sure if he is 
alive or not.  While the family members stated that they are 
acquainted with Hoa Hao dissident Le Quang Liem and that he was 
welcome to worship at family-run events, they were unwilling to 
talk in detail about him or his group.  The only time the family 
became truly animated and passionate was when they gave a brief 
history of the founder and the faith's traditions and practices. 
 
Dissidents uncompromising 
------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) The "Hoa Hao Central Buddhist Church (HHCBC)," the Hoa 
Hao dissident group of Le Quang Liem is firm in its opposition to 
the GVN-recognized ECHB.  Over the past few months, Liem and his 
supporters have held a series of public gatherings in the Mekong 
Delta.  On May 4, Liem traveled to Dong Thap province to meet with 
followers.  The meeting was entitled: "The Event In Which 
Believers Have Sworn To Sacrifice Their Life As Well As Their 
Property For The Cause Of Hoa Hao Buddhism."  The following day 
the group released a statement, in which they criticized the ECHB 
for slandering Liem.  They alleged that Dat had been distributing 
documents that state that Liem "opposes the Communist government," 
and that calls for the return of Hoa Hao property, commemoration 
of the Founder's Disappearance, and public dissemination of Liem's 
teachings violate Vietnamese law.  (Per reftel, two followers of 
Liem were arrested in March for illegally disseminating Hoa Hao 
teachings that included commentary from Liem.)  126 "delegates" 
from approximately 25 districts across the Mekong Delta attended 
the meeting, which was closely monitored by police, but not 
stopped.  The delegates declared that they were willing to self- 
immolate to protect "pure Hoa Hao," which they define as the pre- 
1975 church. 
 
7. (SBU) In early June, Liem's group organized another rally in 
the Delta to commemorate the first death anniversary of Hoa Hao 
dissident Ha Hai, who died from cancer two weeks after being 
released from prison.  Liem claimed that fighting broke out 
between the police and over 100 Hoa Hao followers.  The Hoa Hao 
had posed for photographs with a sign that read: "hunger strike in 
protest of the Communist GVN's repression of Hoa Hao Buddhism;" 
the photographs have been transmitted overseas.  One believer 
threatened to self-immolate -- he poured gasoline over his body -- 
before the police backed down.  On June 4 we received reports that 
police were ransacking the homes of Hoa Hao followers in attempt 
to seize the cameras that recorded the event.  On June 6 we spoke 
with the head of the Committee for Religious Affairs in An Giang, 
who complained that the province had given Liem permission to hold 
the event, but that the unfurling of banners critical of the GVN 
and the use of loudspeakers to criticize the ECHB was a 
provocation. 
 
8. (SBU) Concurrent with the rally, Liem's group released two 
lengthy open letters that accused the Party of trying to wipe out 
"pure Hoa Haoism by all dirty means."  The letters call on the GVN 
to cease its attacks on Liem, to halt its repression of Liem's 
followers in An Giang province, to allow Liem's group to hold 
whatever religious events it wishes, to reopen a the Hoa Hao 
seminary closed after the war, and to return all properties 
belonging to the Hoa Hao, seized after the war.  The letters also 
called on the GVN to dissolve the ECHB and to recognize officially 
the day of the Founder's disappearance as a Hoa Hao holiday.  The 
letters concluded with a claim that 200 Hoa Hao have launched a 
hunger strike and that six Hoa Hao believers are prepared to self- 
immolate to protest the GVN's treatment of the Hoa Hao.  Copies of 
the letters and photographs were posted on June 4 on a Hoa Hao 
dissident website. 
 
Police nervous 
-------------- 
 
9. (SBU) According to a confidential police report leaked to a 
Vietnamese dissident website, a meeting of senior police leaders 
from Southern Vietnam designated Liem as a "focus area" for 
police.  The report said that the police goal should be to 
"restrict and educate" him.  His group is regarded as a 
"reactionary force," and among other efforts, the police 
reportedly wish to restrict his ability to communicate with USG 
officials. 
 
10. (SBU) Comment:  Over the past few months, authorities had 
eased pressure on Liem somewhat, allowing him to travel from HCMC 
to the Delta and allowing his group to gather to commemorate the 
Founder's disappearance (reftel).  Liem was well briefed on our 
decision not to impose CPC sanctions and no doubt is aware of the 
upcoming visit of PM Phan Van Khai to the United States.  He also 
has made it clear that he still feels deep enmity for the 
Communists.  Liem would know that organizing and filming his 
followers with banners denouncing GVN treatment of the Hoa Hao 
would cross a police redline.  Similarly, his demand that the GVN 
recognize the Founder's disappearance day, a move tantamount to 
recognition of the Communist murder of the Hoa Hao founder, would 
be interpreted as a political threat to the regime.  We have made 
it clear to Liem that while we support freedom of religion and 
peaceful assembly, we did not condone violence and would halt all 
contact if he were to encourage his followers to self-immolate. 
It is notable that the founder's family isn't interested in 
opposing the GVN and ECHB, despite entreaties from the dissidents. 
 
11. (U) Bio note: The 84-year old Liem was the number three in the 
Hoa Hao hierarchy prior to 1975.  Since 1975, Liem has had 
numerous confrontations with authorities as he campaigned for 
"total independence" of the Hoa Hao Church.  He also formed an 
"interfaith council" with religious freedom activists Father 
Nguyen Van Ly and United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) leader 
Thich Thien Hanh.  Most recently, he was under a restrictive 
Administrative Detention order from 2001 to 2003. 
 
WINNICK 
 
 
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