US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY910

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000910 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: REPORTS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VIOLATIONS IN QUANG NGAI 
PROVINCE 
 
1. (SBU) Following up on an earlier lead from a reliable contact 
in the Protestant house church movement, on August 22 we spoke 
with Dinh Ruong (strictly protect), a preacher in Quang Ngai 
Province of the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of 
Vietnam (SECV).  Ruong reported that an SECV church that 
ministered to local ethnic minority families in the Son Ha 
District of Quang Ngai had encountered severe police harassment. 
According to Ruong, after Sunday services on August 21, local 
authorities told the parishioners that they must renounce their 
faith or they would not be allowed to remain in the locality. 
Later in the day, individuals reportedly belonging to the local 
Veterans' Association burned down the home of the local preacher 
that doubled as the place of worship.  Three years ago, that 
preacher had been expelled from another district in the province 
because of local official opposition to his proselytizing among 
the ethnic minority community. 
 
2. (SBU) Ruong also reported on an apparently separate incident 
involving ethnic minority H're residing in Son Tay District near 
the provincial border with the Central Highlands province of 
Kontum.  Ruong said that local district authorities for "some 
time" had pressed unsuccessfully for H're Protestants to renounce 
their faith.  At the end of July, provincial authorities ordered 
10 H're Protestant families to an area closer to the provincial 
capital "for better control" and reportedly destroyed their houses 
in their village.  While some H're complied with the order, others 
refused to move, and others fled. 
 
3. (SBU) An affiliate of the Chief Representative of the Quang 
Ngai SECV Representative Board confirmed the reports to us on 
August 26.  This contact said that the Provincial Chief 
Representative would meet with the General Secretary of the SECV's 
National Executive Committee. 
 
4. (SBU) The Chief of the Quang Ngai Committee for Religious 
Affairs refused to take our phone call on August 24.  On August 
26, we met with Phan Thu Hang, Pol/Econ Chief in the HCMC Office 
of External Relations.  We handed over a letter requesting 
additional information on the incidents (letter emailed Embassy 
Hanoi and EAP/BCLTV).  We stressed to Hang that the incidents -- 
if confirmed -- would be a serious violation of Vietnam's new 
legal framework on religion.  That said, we understood that 
implementation of the new legal framework on religion by local 
authorities has been uneven, particularly in more remote areas. 
While provincial and other senior-level officials may not be able 
to prevent unfortunate incidents, how they respond once they have 
been alerted is critical.  Hang undertook to contact provincial 
leaders and to provide us with a "clarification" as soon as 
possible. 
 
WINNICK