US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY634

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, Religious Freedom, Ethnic Minorities, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S LARGEST PROTESTANT GROUP REPORTS 
PROGRESS AFTER GVN TALKS 
 
REF:  A) HANOI 580 and previous; B) HCMC 288 and previous 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Leaders of the Southern Evangelical Church of 
Vietnam (SECV) were cautiously optimistic that a meetings in Hanoi 
and HCMC with GVN officials in late May set the stage for improved 
conditions for the Protestant Church, particularly in the Central 
Highlands.   While the SECV is disappointed that the GVN is 
applying tougher standards for church recognition in the Central 
Highlands than elsewhere in southern Vietnam, it has consciously 
chosen to take a gradualist, confidence-building approach in its 
dealings with the GVN.  The SECV believes it secured a GVN 
commitment to facilitate the operation of all SECV churches and 
meeting points in the Central Highlands.  The key test of this 
commitment will be in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, 
whose retrograde treatment of Protestant groups is increasingly 
out of line with reality elsewhere in our consular district, 
including neighboring provinces in the Central Highlands.   End 
Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On June 7 we met with Pastor Thai Phuoc Truong, President 
of the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and two other 
members of the SECV National Executive Committee to review the 
organization's progress in implementing Vietnam's new legal 
framework on religion (strictly protect).  The SECV is Vietnam's 
largest Protestant organization with over 450,000 believers with 
over 1,000 churches.  On May 29 and 30, Truong and other SECV 
leaders met in Hanoi with the Fatherland Front, the Mass 
Mobilization Committee of the Party, Vice Minister of Public 
Security Nguyen Van Huong and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan. 
These meetings followed a May 20 conference in HCMC with the 
central-level Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA), and CRA 
representatives of the five Central Highlands provinces and Binh 
Phuoc province to discuss implementation of the new legal 
framework on religion.  (Note: see reftels for more information on 
the new legal framework on religion, which consists of:  the 
Ordinance on Religion and Belief, the Prime Minister's February 
2005 Instruction on Protestantism, and "Implementing Guidelines" 
for the Ordinance.  End Note.) 
 
3. (SBU) Truong called the discussions in Hanoi and HCMC 
"friendly, frank and constructive."  He said the SECV critiqued 
the uneven local level implementation of the new legal framework. 
The SECV also complained that the new legal framework does not 
define clearly the responsibilities and obligations of the 
Fatherland Front, Police and Party at the local and provincial 
level.  The SECV's view is that local CRAs do not have the 
bureaucratic clout to administer the legal framework fairly and 
consistently at the provincial level and below. 
 
4. (SBU) According to Truong, GVN officials acknowledged problems 
in local implementation, but pleaded that provincial and local 
officials were not yet "conditioned to accept" the changes in the 
law.  Another contact who participated in the meetings told us 
that this GVN response prompted sharp rejoinder from Truong, who 
said that the SECV considered it the GVN's responsibility to 
ensure that all Vietnamese officials -- down to the lowest level - 
- were appropriately instructed on how to implement the new law. 
Local ignorance was not an acceptable excuse, Truong reportedly 
told GVN officials. 
 
Discussion on the Central Highlands 
----------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) In their interactions with the SECV, the GVN officials 
divided Protestants into five different groups: house churches; 
the SECV in the Central Highlands, the SECV elsewhere in southern 
Vietnam, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North), and the 
Northwest Highlands.  According to Truong, the GVN's approach to 
implementing the law changed according to which category a 
particular Protestant congregation belonged.  For example, outside 
the Central Highlands, the SECV does not have to request 
registration and recognition congregation by congregation.  In the 
Central Highlands, each SECV church must register and apply for 
recognition separately.   The SECV protested that the GVN does not 
have a separate policy for Buddhism or Catholicism for different 
parts of Vietnam.  The GVN officials explained that the Central 
Highlands' history of ethnic minority armed rebellion and ongoing 
secessionist tensions involving "Dega Christianity" required that 
the GVN scrutinize religious groups there more carefully.  While 
not accepting the distinction, the SECV decided to focus on what 
was possible in negotiations with the GVN. 
 
6. (SBU) The SECV said that after the series of meetings, the GVN 
committed to reviewing a province-by-province list of SECV 
churches and meeting points in the Central Highlands for 
registration.  Once registered, these groups would be able to 
operate "normally."  At the May 20 meeting, the SECV and the CRA 
signed an "MOU" in which both sides pledged to work together to 
implement the new legal framework. 
 
7. (SBU) The SECV's hope is that by the end of the summer, all its 
 
churches in the Central Highlands will be able to function freely. 
The biggest challenge is Dak Lak Province, where only four SECV 
churches currently are allowed to operate.  (The SECV lists 210 
congregations in Dak Lak, but the provincial SECV board told us 
there are over 400 meeting points in the province.)  The SECV 
leaders were emphatic that there is no such belief as "Dega 
Protestantism."  They asked that the GVN make clear to officials 
throughout the Central Highlands that the Protestant community 
should not be punished on account of the separatist activities of 
a few ethnic minority individuals. 
 
8. (SBU) Outside of Dak Lak, the situation for the SECV is more 
positive.  In Gia Lai Province, a training class for 46 new 
pastors is well underway; the SECV likely will petition the 
province to hold a second class later in the year.  Gia Lai 
authorities also pledged to recognize another 13 churches in the 
province by the end of the year (bringing the total to 30). 
Truong understands that Dak Nong authorities also have approved 
the SECV to hold a training class for 30 new pastors in the 
province (the SECV requested 50).  These training classes are 
critical, as, according to the law, only churches that are led by 
an accredited pastor can apply for full recognition. 
 
9. (SBU) Oversight of the provincial-level registration process 
and its local-level implementation is the SECV's most significant 
concern.  The central-level CRA officials could not or would not 
clarify what right of redress the SECV has to appeal unfavorable 
decisions or wrongdoing by local officials.  Our SECV contacts 
commented that as long as the GVN cannot or will not define what 
responsibilities and obligations various local officials have, the 
new legal framework would not be implemented consistently and 
properly. 
 
Land issues in HCMC 
------------------- 
 
10. (SBU) In their meeting with DPM Vu Khoan, the SECV asked for 
GVN support in resolving ongoing property disputes between the 
SECV and the Ho Chi Minh City Government.  In one case, district- 
level officials had been stalling on issuing ownership papers for 
7,500 square meters of land the SECV had received as compensation 
for previously expropriated properties.  The SECV intends to use 
this land to build a seminary.  The SECV asked Vu Khoan to 
intercede with the HCMC government to reconsider its refusal to 
provide them with another 3,000 square meter plot in the same 
area.  The SECV also requested the DPM to press HCMC to respond 
favorably to a petition to return a building in downtown HCMC that 
was expropriated in 1983, and that the SECV wishes to convert into 
its new national headquarters.  After the meeting with Vu Khoan, 
the SECV says it detected new movement in HCMC. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11. (SBU) The SECV emerged encouraged from its high-level GVN 
meetings; the GVN appears to be listening attentively and 
negotiating seriously.  There has been real progress in some parts 
of the Central Highlands with the promise of more in the near 
future.  While the SECV believes that it should not face tougher 
hurdles in the Central Highlands than elsewhere, it has 
consciously chosen to take a gradualist, confidence-building 
approach in its dealings with the GVN. 
 
12. (SBU) The biggest test for the SECV's and GVN's efforts at 
forging a common approach will be in Dak Lak, which has become the 
black hole for religious freedom for Protestants in southern 
Vietnam.  The SECV is at a loss to explain why Dak Lak is so 
retrograde.  Gia Lai, which has been making steady progress, has 
as much a claim to be the historical center for ethnic minority 
separatism in the Central Highlands as Dak Lak.  The SECV's 
expectation is that the GVN will intercede with the Dak Lak 
provincial government, should it fail to allow the operation of 
SECV churches. 
 
 
WINNICK 
 
 
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