US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY551

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000551 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: POLICE QUESTION BUILDER AS CHURCH CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES 
 
REF:  HCMC 0520 
 
1.  (SBU)  Mr. Le Van Dung, unofficial contractor for a Protestant 
house church currently under construction in HCMC's District 2 
(reftel), met with police this morning in response to a third 
invitation to discuss his activities at the site.  The first 
invitation, delivered June 9, summoned him to discuss the "illegal 
construction of a house church."  The other two invitations 
dropped the reference to any particular activities, so Mr. Dung 
decided "to accept". 
 
2.  (SBU)  A long-time ConGen Protestant contact, claiming to be 
the legal representative of the new church, accompanied Mr. Dung 
to the nearby offices of the local police investigative unit at 
8:30 a.m. local time on June 17.  While police prevented him from 
sitting with his "client" during the 90-minute interview, the 
contact was able to overhear the questioning from a vantage point 
less than five yards away.  He said the police concentrated almost 
entirely on Mr. Dung's background -- family, education, and prior 
work experience -- rather than on current efforts to build the 
house church.  Mr. Dung signed a report of the meeting before 
returning to his home.  As he departed, police said they would 
soon tear down the house church. 
 
3.  (SBU)  While construction continues unabated, efforts are 
hampered by an inadequate supply of construction materials and a 
lack of experienced workers.  A handful of undercover police 
officers maintain their watch over the project, but have not 
interfered with the workers or the structure.  During a recent 
meeting to be reported septel, HCMC People's Committee Vice 
Chairman Nguyen Van Dua told Consul General there is no regulation 
allowing construction to proceed if local authorities fail to 
respond to a building permit application within a specified 
timeframe.  In other words, there is no such thing as "tacit 
approval."  He did, however, acknowledge real problems in 
enforcing regulations to prevent illegal construction in HCMC. 
 
4.  (SBU) Comment: This pastors vs. the police standoff has been 
going on for over a week now.  If the pastors are hoping to make a 
point about religious freedom by engaging in construction without 
a building permit, their assumption that they have some form of 
"tacit approval" (reftel) may not, in fact, help their case.  Post 
will continue to monitor the situation. 
 
 
YAMAUCHI