US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY1220

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KIRF, SOCI, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: NEW FRICTIONS BETWEEN UNIFIED BUDDHIST CHURCH OF VIETNAM AND 
GOVERNMENT 
 
1.  (U) On November 20, the Paris-based International Buddhist 
Information Bureau, the de facto overseas voice of the outlawed 
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), issued a press 
release reporting that the police "physically assaulted" UBCV 
General Secretary Thich Quang Do and "tore his robes to pieces" 
in a "clash" on November 19.  The police reportedly sought to 
prevent Do from presiding over a memorial ceremony for a Zen 
Buddhist master in an UBCV pagoda in HCMC.  According the IBIB, 
during the clash, a crowd of bystanders gathered and protested 
police harassment of the UBCV monks and Vietnam's suppression of 
religious freedom. 
 
2. (SBU) On November 21, we spoke by phone with a subordinate of 
Thich Quang Do about the incident.  The contact confirmed that 
police attempted to block Do from traveling across town to the 
Giac Hoa pagoda with six UBCV acolytes.  A shoving match between 
the six acolytes and plainclothes police ensued, in which Do's 
robes were slightly torn (it is unclear by whom).  The contact 
said that a crowd of onlookers assembled during the 30-minute 
incident, slowing traffic and adding to the confusion.  Police 
eventually allowed a taxi to take the group to the Gia Hoa 
pagoda, where Thich Quang Do presided over a four-hour ceremony. 
  The UBCV monk said that police warned UBCV monks from across 
southern Central Vietnam not to travel to HCMC for the ceremony. 
  Nonetheless, some 15 senior monks and nuns were among the 
nearly 100 religious figures from UBCV strongholds in southern 
Vietnam who attended, including Thich Thien Minh -- amnestied in 
February 2005.  The contact reported heavy police surveillance 
outside and inside the Gia Hoa pagoda. 
 
3. (SBU) Separately, political activist and Catholic Priest 
Father Nguyen Van Ly visited the UBCV's senior-most 
representative in Hue, Thich Thien Hanh on November 18. 
According to a message that Ly posted on a dissident website, Ly 
had no problems entering the pagoda and meeting with Hanh. 
However, when the UBCV monk escorted Ly to the exit, 10 police 
approached Hanh and order him not to leave.  Following the 
visit, police orally informed Ly that they had increased 
administrative detention measures against him.  Ly reportedly 
now must seek police permission before traveling anywhere beyond 
the neighborhood in which he lives.  (Following his release from 
prison in February 2005, Ly has been living at the residence of 
the Hue Archbishop.)  A UBCV contact told us that Thich Thien 
Hanh has been under "informal" pagoda arrest for the past two 
weeks following Hanh's "unauthorized" visit to HCMC in early 
November to meet with Thich Quang Do and Hanh's creation of a 
UBCV representative board for Thua Thien Hue province. 
 
4. (SBU) As of COB November 21 in HCMC, there have been no 
reports of arrests of UBCV members.  Landline and cell phone 
lines to UBCV pagodas and monks in HCMC were cut on Saturday, 
but restored on Monday. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment:  The confrontation between Thich Quang Do and 
police, although seemingly not as dramatic as the IBIB portrayed 
in its press release, is the latest in a series of recent 
incidents involving the UBCV and the government.  The UBCV has 
stepped up its efforts to organize at the provincial level, 
creating "representative boards" in a number of provinces 
throughout southern and central Vietnam.  And the UBCV and the 
irrepressible Thich Quang Do continue to call for the end to 
one-Party rule in Vietnam.  For their part, senior monks of the 
GVN-recognized Vietnam Buddhist Sangha have attacked the UBCV 
for "undermining national unity," and police reportedly have 
stepped up their harassment of the UBCV's newly designated 
regional representatives. 
WINNICK