Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:
On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but
by the history we have seen together. For a half century,
We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
So it is the policy of the
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and
our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be
chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the
protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the
institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from
our own.
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of
generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it.
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further
attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation:
The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which
is eternally right.
We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success
in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this
time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever
seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be
surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to
every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny
because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery.
Today,
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know:
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To
serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of
progress and justice, and
And all the allies of the
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.
In
In
In
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every
party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one
another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed
to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal
them. Yet those divisions do not define
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the
Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it
meant something." In our time it means something still.
May God bless you, and may He watch over
the
S 2784 IS
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2784
To promote freedom and democracy in
IN THE SENATE OF
THE UNITED STATES
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mrs. DOLE, and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A
To promote freedom and democracy in
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004'.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.
Sec. 201. Assistance.
Sec. 301.
Radio Free Asia transmissions to
Sec. 302.
Sec. 401.
Refugee resettlement for nationals of
Sec. 501. Annual report.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Socialist Republic of
Vietnam is a one-party State, ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of
Vietnam (
(2) The Government of
(3) The Government of
(4) The Government of
(5) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations in the Northwest and Central Highlands of Vietnam suffer severe abuses, which have included forced renunciations of faith, the closure and destruction of churches, the arrest and harassment of pastors, and, in a few cases, there have been credible reports that minority religious leaders have been beaten and killed.
(6) The
(7) The Catholic Church in
(8) The Government of
(9) The Government of
(10) Indigenous Montagnards in the
Central Highlands of
(11) The Government of
(12) The Government of
(13) During Easter weekend in April 2004, thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restrictions on religious activities. Credible reports indicate that the protests were met with a violent response and that many demonstrators were arrested, injured, or are in hiding, and that others were killed.
(14) Government officials continue
to restrict access to the Central and
(15) United States refugee
resettlement programs for Vietnamese nationals, including the Orderly Departure
Program (
(16) While these refugee
resettlement programs have served their purposes well, a significant number of
eligible refugees have been unfairly denied or excluded, in some cases by
vindictive or corrupt Government of Vietnam officials who controlled access to
the programs, and in other cases by
(17) The Department of State has
agreed to extend the
(18) The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to resume the processing of former United States employees under the U11 program, which had been unilaterally suspended by the United States Government, as well as to review the applications of Amerasians, children of American servicemen left behind in Vietnam after the war ended in April 1975, for resettlement to the United States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988.
(19) Congress and the people of
the
(a) ASSISTANCE-
(1) IN GENERAL- United States nonhumanitarian assistance may not be provided to the Government of Vietnam in an amount exceeding the amount so provided for fiscal year 2004--
(A) for fiscal year 2005, unless not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President determines and certifies to Congress that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period ending on the date of the certification; and
(B) for each subsequent fiscal year unless the President determines and certifies to Congress in the most recent annual report submitted pursuant to section 501 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period covered by the report.
(2) REQUIREMENTS- The requirements of this paragraph are that--
(A) the
Government of
(B) the
Government of
(i) respecting the right to freedom of religion, including the right to participate in religious activities and institutions without interference by or involvement of the Government; and
(ii) returning estates and properties confiscated from the churches;
(C) the
Government of
(D) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress toward respecting the human rights of members of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands and elsewhere in Vietnam; and
(E) neither any official of the Government of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government of Vietnam was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in persons, unless the Government of Vietnam took all appropriate steps to end any such complicity and hold such official, agency, or entity fully accountable for its conduct.
(b) EXCEPTION-
(1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST- Notwithstanding the failure of the Government of Vietnam to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year if the President determines that the provision to the Government of Vietnam of increased United States nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the purposes of this Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
(2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY- The President may exercise the authority under paragraph (1) with respect to--
(A) all
(B) one or more programs, projects, or activities of such assistance.
(c) DEFINITIONS- In this section:
(1) SEVERE
(2) UNITED STATES NONHUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE- The term `
(A) any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), including programs under title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act (22 U.S.C. 2169 et seq.), relating to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation), other than--
(i) disaster relief assistance, including any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of that Act (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.);
(ii) assistance which involves the provision of food (including monetization of food) or medicine; and
(iii) assistance for refugees; and
(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).
(a) IN GENERAL- The President is
authorized to provide assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental
organizations, for the support of individuals and organizations to promote
democracy and internationally recognized human rights in
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out subsection (a) $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It
is the policy of the
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- In addition to such amounts as are otherwise authorized to be appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the policy under subsection (a) $9,100,000 for the fiscal year 2005 and $1,100,000 for the fiscal year 2006.
It is the policy of the
(1) providing opportunities to Vietnamese nationals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives to witness freedom and democracy in action; and
(2) ensuring that Vietnamese nationals who have already demonstrated a commitment to these values are included in such programs.
(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It
is the policy of the
(1) who were eligible for the
Orderly Departure Program (
(2) who--
(A) were deemed ineligible due to administrative error; or
(B) were unable or failed to apply for such programs in compliance with deadlines imposed by the Department of State for reasons beyond the control of such individuals, including insufficient or contradictory information or the inability to pay bribes demanded by officials of the Government of Vietnam.
(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY- Of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for Migration
and Refugee Assistance for each of the fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007, such
sums as may be necessary are authorized to be made available for the protection
(including resettlement in appropriate cases) of Vietnamese refugees and asylum
seekers, including Montagnards in
(a) IN GENERAL- Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Congress a report on the following:
(1) The determination and certification of the President that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 101(a)(2) have been met, if applicable.
(2) The determination of the President under section 101(b), if applicable.
(3) Efforts by the United States
Government to secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in countries in
close geographical proximity to
(4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Vietnam promote the policy set forth in section 302 and section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) with respect to participation in programs of educational and cultural exchange.
(5) Steps taken to carry out the policy under section 401(a).
(6) Lists of persons believed to
be imprisoned, detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or otherwise
persecuted by the Government of Vietnam due to their pursuit of internationally
recognized human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary shall exercise
appropriate discretion, including concerns regarding the safety and security
of, and benefit to, the persons who may be included on the lists and their families.
In addition, the Secretary shall include a list of such persons and their
families who may qualify for protection under
(7) A description of the
development of the rule of law in
(A) progress toward the development of institutions of democratic governance;
(B) processes
by which statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the Government
of Vietnam are developed and become binding within
(C) the extent to which statutes, regulations, rules, administrative and judicial decisions, and other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam are published and are made accessible to the public;
(D) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are supported by statements of reasons that are based upon written statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam;
(E) the extent to which individuals are treated equally under the laws of Vietnam without regard to citizenship, race, religion, political opinion, or current or former associations;
(F) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are independent of political pressure or governmental interference and are reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; and
(G) the
extent to which laws in
(b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS- In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as appropriate, consult with and seek input from nongovernmental organizations, human rights advocates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights advocates in Vietnam), and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
END
Note from FVA: This problem goes deeper than the just Taiwanese Ebay
user. The Vietnamese authorities have allowed this trafficking to happen as a
way to attract foreign visitors and investors from Asian countries including
Posted on Fri,
By RACHEL KONRAD
Associated Press
The auction, which began March 2 on eBay's
The site included five photos of three people. One dark-haired woman in a white shirt wore makeup and blue nail polish, and the other two appeared to be girls no older than their early teens. The 10-day auction had a starting price of 180,000 Taiwanese dollars, or $5,411.88.
Vietnamese activists groups in
``There couldn't be a clearer case of what's not allowed on eBay,'' spokesman Hani Durzy said today. ``We are constantly scanning the site for items along the line of this one worldwide, and as soon as we see them we take them down.''
San Jose-based eBay strictly forbids the sale or purchase of humans, alive or dead.
The company, which acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers for products ranging from garage-sale items to supercomputers, doesn't screen auction items before they go live on the site. However, it routinely halts auctions involving human corpses or anything else it deems inappropriate or illegal, and it often suspends the person or group behind such sales.
EBay turned over information on the seller to Taiwanese authorities, Durzy said. He would not release any more information on the user, identified on the site as ``mmm0052g'' and an eBay member since March 1.
Durzy said auctions of humans were ``incredibly rare,'' and those that the company has investigated are usually hoaxes.
``We have no idea if this one was a joke, but frankly it's irrelevant to us,'' Durzy said. ``We took it down as soon as we became aware of it.''
American activist groups including the Fairfax, Va.-based National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, one of the groups that alerted eBay with e-mails and a letter to CEO Meg Whitman, applauded the auction giant's swift moves. Members say they'll continue to monitor eBay's listings for human trafficking.
But NCVA president Hung Nguyen said the illegal trade -- often involving girls or young women who work as sex slaves -- will likely continue regardless of whether Internet sites clamp down.
``The only real alternative is to give countries opportunities for people to educate and better themselves,'' Nguyen said. ``If we could improve the economic conditions in places like Vietnam and Cambodia, there would be less likelihood that people would sell themselves or their children into slavery or brothels.''
[
========================
His Excellency Tran Duc Luong President,
Via facsimile: 011-84-4-823-1872
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (
On December 31, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Binh on espionage charges in a three-hour trial. Binh's wife was the only family member allowed into the courtroom. Foreign diplomats and journalists were barred from the trial.
Following the proceedings, the official Vietnam News Agency reported that Binh was sentenced because he had "written and exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the country, information and materials that distorted the party and state policies." He was also accused of communicating with "reactionary" organizations abroad.
Binh was arrested on
Binh worked for almost 10 years at Tap Chi Cong San (Journal of Communism),
an official publication of
Since then, Binh has written several articles calling for political reform
and criticizing current government policy. In July 2002, Binh was briefly
detained after submitting written testimony to a U.S. Congressional Human
Rights Caucus briefing on freedom of expression in
Several writers have been arrested for criticizing land and sea border
agreements signed by
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending press
freedom worldwide,
According to
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director
CC:
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
Pham Quang Nghi, Minister of Culture and Information
Nguyen Tam Chien, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States
Raymond F. Burghardt, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights,
and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
*************************
Committee to Protect Journalists
Tel:
Fax:
E-mail: info@cpj.org
Web: www.cpj.org
LOS ANGELES (
The council of
"The resolution is good news and an expression of the will of the
overwhelming majority of the residents of this city," the measure's
co-author, Councilman Andy Quach, told
"It means that we are exercising our First Amendment right to free speech by saying that commie cadres are not welcome and that if we do not get prior notice of their intention to visit, it will be very difficult for us to guarantee their safety."
The adoption of an identical measure eight days earlier by the nearby city
of
Around 40,000 of
The
The resolution also discourages city officials from encouraging such visits and request the US State Department to give the city at least 10 days' notice of an impending visit by Hanoi cadres.
In addition, it states that the city will not be liable for any damage
caused by rioting sparked by a visit by
"The State Department has asked us to do everything we can to rescind
the resolution, saying that the
"But it doesn't matter what the
commies or the State Department say, we on the council
are responsible to our constituents in
By Mai Tran
Times Staff Writer
The State Department on Friday canceled a weekend visit to Little Saigon by
Vietnamese Communist Party leaders after
The trip to the largest Vietnamese community in the
The delegation, which will visit
But anti-communist activists in Little Saigon said the visitors would be
unwelcome. Protesters had planned to line
"It's like taking Fidel Castro down to Little Havana in
Many immigrants who fled their homeland when
The fact that the visit would come just days before the commemoration of the
fall of
The former premier of
Support for bilateral trade relations with
The State Department said the visit, which began Thursday and ends April 30, was requested by Vietnamese officials.
Thanh Phuc Nguyen, vice president of the Vietnam National Assembly and chairman of the assembly's Committee on Foreign Affairs, is leading the six-person delegation. Nguyen is scheduled to meet next week with John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, to discuss security issues.
"The government of
The Little Saigon stop was canceled Friday afternoon after two police departments warned federal officials that the group's safety could not be guaranteed.
"We just wanted to make the State Department aware of the contentious feeling of the Vietnamese community in this area regarding someone of his affiliation," said Westminster Police Capt. Mitch Waller, referring to Nguyen. "It would be very difficult for us to guarantee his safety if he comes to our city, having experienced what happened in 1999."
Little Saigon was rocked in 1999 when 15,000 demonstrators rallied for 53 days in front of a video store on Bolsa Avenue after its owner hung a picture of communist leader Ho Chi Minh and the communist flag.
"The anti-communist sentiments among members of this community are as strong, if not stronger, than anywhere else in the world," Garden Grove Police Chief Joseph Polisar wrote in a letter Friday to Special Agent Henry Jenkins.
"I urge you in the strongest possible terms to avoid bringing
representatives of the government of
Delegation officials declined to comment.
The visit was to include a drive through
"They're on our soil, and we just want to send them a clear message that they're not welcome here," Councilman Quach said.
"This is a victory for us," said Lac Nguyen, 59, of
Though Vietnamese government officials
have visited
By Jeff Gottlieb and Mai Tran, Times Staff Writers
The flying of the Vietnamese flag, the potent symbol of a lost war and a stream of refugees, could lead to demonstrations at Cal State Fullerton's graduation this month by students and anticommunist activists from Little Saigon.
The banner of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a gold star on a red
background, is supposed to fly with 79 other flags representing the homelands
of
But students want the yellow and red flag of the defeated
"The communist flag is immoral," said Phu Ngoc Nguyen, 20, a member of the student association. "I want a flag that represents me to be flown."
Students said they may walk out of ceremonies if the flag of
A committee of eight campus administrators and staff members have met twice to discuss how to keep the commencement from becoming political, said Owen Holmes, the associate vice president for public affairs and governmental relations, who chairs the committee.
"This is a special time for families and graduates," he said.
More than 8,000 students will attend graduation May 29 and 30, with about 40,000 family members and friends also expected.
About 2,000 students of Vietnamese descent attend the university, which has an enrollment of more than 30,000.
Chien Ngoc Bach, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in
"As an educational institution, the university should teach students about the truth rather than myth," he said.
The controversy comes a week after officials from
Several
Emotions have run strong in the Vietnamese exile community since the fall of
A
International flags were displayed at
Vo, the advisor to the Vietnamese Student Assn., said she thought both Vietnamese flags had flown previously.
The Vietnamese flag that flew last year attracted the attention of at least one man, who climbed a fence and pulled down the banner several hours after graduation, said Lt. Will Glen of the university's police department.
When police asked that the flag be returned, he handed them a South Vietnamese banner instead.
Last October, officials at the
Because of its proximity to Little Saigon,
Since the late 1990s, the campus has cultivated a closer relationship with
the Southeast Asian country, including at least two visits to
Cal State Fullerton has agreements with five Vietnamese universities for a
variety of collaborations that include faculty visits. In addition, 31 students
from
Vo said the flag controversy began after last year's graduation. She said a Little Saigon newspaper blamed the Vietnamese Student Assn. for allowing the university to fly the flag.
She said the students sent a petition to Candy Mink, the dean of students.
Mink said she didn't remember the petition but recalled meeting students between the end of December and the beginning of February. "I listened to those concerns and the university leadership is addressing them," she said.
Xuan Vu, a board member of the Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee, who has been working with the students, said the South Vietnamese flag is an important symbol.
"We're not doing this to keep out the Vietnamese government, but it's a clear message of representation," she said.
"We're saying, 'No, the communist government
does not represent us.' "
(
New testimony gathered by Human Rights Watch establishes the widespread and
continued use of torture against activists, religious leaders, and individuals
who have been deported or have voluntarily returned from
On January 1, Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy ordered authorities
in the border
“The Vietnamese government’s mistreatment of Montagnards continues unabated,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Instead of closing its borders to asylum seekers, the Cambodian government should be working with the United Nations refugee agency to provide sanctuary to people escaping torture and arbitrary arrest.”
Human Rights Watch said that under
During high-profile tours to the
However, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, police were busy rounding up
and arresting dozens of Montagnard Christians and detaining them at district
and provincial police stations and prisons throughout the region. In Gia Lai
province alone––one of five provinces in the
“Christmas was relatively quiet in the highlands,” said
Many of those arrested during the Christmas crackdown were Montagnard house
church leaders who were organizing Christmas gatherings in the villages. Others
targeted for detention included the wives and even young children of men who
had fled to
A Mnong man from Dak Nong province, who was arrested in April 2004, said he was severely beaten several times by police officers trying to obtain the names of other activists. At the district jail, police officers pulled out one of his toe nails, beat him repeatedly on his thighs with a rubber baton, and boxed him in the face, knocking out one of his front teeth. They brandished an AK-47 rifle and threatened to kill him. He was then transferred to the provincial prison, where he was interrogated and beaten again:
They beat my head and used two hands to box my ears more than thirty times, until my face was bright red and my ears were bleeding. They kicked me in the chest with their boots. They wanted to squeeze out the information about the demonstrations.
First-hand accounts from Montagnards who have voluntarily returned to
On December 29, the Vietnamese government publicly accused 13 Montagnards
who voluntarily returned to
“These kinds of statements show a degree of paranoia that leads to
persecution,” said
Meanwhile, Montagnard asylum seekers who crossed the border to
“It is absolutely imperative that the Cambodian government immediately
grants UNHCR access to these people, or turns them over to UNHCR if government
security forces apprehend them,” said
For more information, please contact:
In
In
In
In
In
For Immediate Release:
(
Last September the U.S. State Department designated
“Despite a few well-timed goodwill gestures, such as the recent release of
several religious prisoners,
The Vietnamese government imposes strict controls over religious organizations and treats leaders of unauthorized religious groups with intense suspicion, branding many of them as subversives. Targeted in particular are ethnic minority Christians, Mennonites, and members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).
Ethnic Hmong Christians in the northwest provinces have been beaten, detained and pressured by local authorities to renounce their religion and cease religious gatherings. At least ten Hmong Christians remain in detention in Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces. Recently the military presence in several villages in Lai Chau has increased recently, causing many Hmong Christians to flee from their homes.
In the Central Highlands, the government has increased its repression of Montagnard Christians, particularly those thought to be following “Dega Protestantism.” This is a form of evangelical Christianity, banned by the Vietnamese government, which links it to the Montagnard movement for return of ancestral lands, religious freedom and self-rule.
Since 2001 more than 180 Montagnard Christians – not only Dega church
activists, but pastors, house church leaders and Bible teachers as well - have
been arrested and sentenced to prison, many on charges that they are violent
separatists using their religion to “sow divisions among the people” and
“undermine state and party unity.” There is no evidence that the Dega church
movement has ever advocated violence. By arresting and imprisoning people for their
religious beliefs or peaceful expression of their views,
While one UBCV monk was included in a recent Tet New Year prisoner amnesty, the government continues to persecute UBCV members and withhold any recognition of this group, once the largest organization of the majority religion in the country. Many UBCV members remain confined without charges to their pagodas, which are under strict police surveillance.
Mennonites in
While relations between the
As the deadline for finalizing the
However, as with the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religion passed last year, this latest directive continues to require religious organizations to obtain government permission in order to operate, advancing Vietnam’s official stance that religious freedom is a privilege to be requested and granted by the government, rather than a fundamental human right.
“
The International Religious Freedom Act offers the President a menu of
options to address abuses in countries designated as
“The Bush Administration needs to send a strong message to the Vietnamese
government that the
Proposed Benchmarks
The current talks between the
Human Rights Watch proposes that the State Department should make sure that
the government of
• Allow independent religious organizations to freely conduct religious activities and govern themselves. Churches and denominations that do not choose to join one of the officially-authorized religious organizations whose governing boards are under the control of the government should be allowed to independently register with the government.
• Release or grant amnesty to all people imprisoned or detained because of their non-violent religious beliefs and practices.
• Investigate and punish those responsible for all instances of violence
against religious believers, including by civilians acting in concert with
government officials. Such incidents include the violent suppression of the
April 2004 protests by Montagnards in the
• Investigate reports of suppression of Protestants, including arbitrary detention of Mennonites and evangelical Christians. Those responsible for these violations should be brought to justice.
• Ensure that all domestic legislation addressing religious affairs is brought in conformity with international law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Amend provisions in domestic law that criminalizes certain religious activities on the basis of imprecisely-defined “national security” crimes.
• Amend the 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religion to include a provision that prohibits forced renunciation ceremonies by government officials, linked to specific disciplinary measures for offenders.
• Permit outside experts, including those from the United Nations and
independent international human rights organizations, to have access to
religious followers in
• Invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, the U.N.
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on
Torture to visit
For the full text of Human Rights Watch’s letter to Secretary Rice, see:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/28/vietna10217.htm
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams: + 44-7960-844-996
In Washington D.C., Veena Siddharth: +202
In New York, Minky Worden: +212-216-1250
In
The text was signed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on March 18, an official
at the Government Office told
According to state media, the decree requires that all gatherings not organized by the ruling Communist Party or state organs must be approved in advance.
The venue, the slogans to be used and the purpose of the meeting or demonstration must also be registered, but even then local authorities can prevent it from taking place if they fear it could disrupt public order.
"The presidents of people's committees can allow, suspend or cancel the gathering of a high humber of people, even if it has been authorized before, if it is a serious threat to public order or does not follow the authorized programme," the Thanh Nien newspaper said.
The Tien Phong daily said security forces had also been authorised to take "appropriate measures to restore public order," including arresting people and dispersing demonstrators.
The paper added that the decree bans gatherings in front of government buildings, international conference venues and the country's parliament.
The communist nation has witnessed several incidents of unrest in different parts of the country in recent years mainly linked to land expropriation and corruption of local officials.
Demonstrators also sometimes gather in
Thousand of ethnic minority people in the country's impoverished Central Highlands region took to the streets in April last year, protesting against confiscation of ancestral lands and religious persecution.
International human rights groups say at least 10 people were killed. The government insists only two people died.
H. Res. 228
In the House of Representatives,
Whereas the Vietnamese who resettled in the United States after the events of April 1975 have, through perseverance and hard work, been able to rebuild their lives and form a vibrant community across the United States, nearly a million and a half strong, which contributes in many significant ways to the richness and diversity of American society;
Whereas the large flow of refugees to the United States and elsewhere was caused by the fall of the Republic of Vietnam to the Communist forces of North Vietnam in April 1975, resulting in a world refugee crisis of historic proportions, the exodus of millions of Vietnamese, and hundreds of thousands of deaths at sea;
Whereas since 1975, Vietnamese Americans have worked tirelessly to promote
freedom and democracy in
Whereas the United States honors all members of the United States Armed Forces and members of the South Vietnamese forces who fought in the Vietnam conflict, including those individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for the cause of freedom during such conflict; and
Whereas the interests of the
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the significant contributions of Vietnamese Americans to the richness, diversity, and success of American society;
(2) observes the 30th anniversary of the large
exodus of refugees from
(3) supports all individuals taking part in events
in
(4) honors the memory of those Vietnamese who lost their lives in that refugee exodus; and
(5) urges all
citizens of the
(
Human Rights Watch said Vietnamese officials are also continuing to force Montagnard Christians to recant their faith.
Targeted in particular are those perceived as following "Dega Christianity," an unsanctioned form of evangelical Christianity followed by many Montagnards, who distrust government-controlled religious organizations and seek to manage their own affairs. The Vietnamese government has banned Dega Christianity and charges that it is not a religion but a separatist political movement.
"Montagnards who attempt to practice their religion independently still
face assaults and live in fear," said Brad Adams,
Human Rights Watch said that recent talks between
However, the regulation requires religious organizations to obtain government permission in order to operate. It states that only churches that have conducted "pure religious activities" since 1975 can register for official authorization. This effectively eliminates Montagnard house churches in the Central Highlands, most of which started up in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In an ominous tone, it instructs officials to publicly expose "disguised Protestants" and to "fight attempts by hostile forces to abuse Protestantism to incite people to act subversively."
According to recent eyewitness accounts obtained by Human Rights Watch,
local authorities in the Central Highlands have used the new regulation as
grounds to arrest Montagnards suspected of belonging to Christian groups that
operate independently. Government officials in Cu Se district of Gia Lai
province summoned Montagnards from many villages for all-day meetings at
district headquarters, where they were warned not to follow Dega Christianity,
and in some cases forced to sign pledges promising to abandon religion and
politics. (The Evangelical Church of Vietnam/South (ECVN) is the only
Protestant organization authorized by the government to operate in southern
In March and April, security forces in several districts of Gia Lai conducted
search operations in the forests and
"Recent commitments from the Vietnamese government on religious freedom
are welcome, but only if they lead to an end to abuses," said
Human Rights Watch said that at this point, the reforms appear to be having the perverse effect of allowing government security forces to take fresh action against religious activists.
Human Rights Watch said that it also has received reports of mistreatment of
Montagnards who voluntarily returned to
In a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
"The general mistreatment of Montagnards and the targeting of returnees
from
Annex: Excerpted Case Examples from the Briefing Paper
On March 14, commune police summoned a villager from Ia Grai district, Gia Lai. He was interrogated and held in a dark, windowless room for one day, where he was asked about the leadership, practice, and membership of his religious group. He was told that he needed written permission from the district and commune in order to worship. He was warned that if he practiced religion without permission, he would be arrested again.
In late March, police in Dak Lak province arrested a Montagnard pastor who is a member of the ECVN and six relatives of another Montagnard pastor affiliated with the ECVN. Two of those arrested were subsequently released; one after facing public denunciation in which he was accused of having preached the gospel illegally and calling himself a pastor without government approval. The whereabouts of the other five remains unknown.
On April 26, Ia Grai district police officers in Gia Lai province delivered a written summons to three villagers, ordering them to report to commune headquarters. The police officers interrogated them and accused them of "heading the separation of the believers" and ordered them to cease their beliefs on the side of those who have "separated themselves from the church." The villagers reportedly admitted being among those who had separated from the church (presumably meaning the ECVN) and refused to abandon their faith. The officers slammed their fists on the table and threatened them with arrest. All three villagers were beaten by the police officers before being released and allowed to return to their homes. One was slapped across the face and jaw; another was punched in the chest; and the third was boxed in their ears.
In early April, a Montagnard from Cu Se district of Gia Lai was arrested and detained at the district police station. District police officers beat him, forced him to drink alcohol, and ordered him to stop believing in Jesus. They tied his feet and had him hold his arms straight out, crucifixion style, while they beat him with their hands and kicked him with their boots. When he lost consciousness they poured wine into his mouth. He was released that evening.
On February 25, two police officers from Ia To commune, Ia Grai District summoned two men and a woman for interrogation. They were asked whether they followed Dega Christianity or the "Christianity of [Prime Minister] Phan Van Khai". They were asked who in their village followed "the religion that is political" and where they worshiped, and ordered to cease following Dega Christianity. They did not agree to stop. The police hit one of the men with their fists and beat the second man until he lost consciousness. The three were released from detention the same day. They were threatened with arrest if they were caught practicing their religion again.
To read the briefing paper "
For more information, please contact:
In
In
In Washington, Veena Siddharth: +
GENEVA, June 24 (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities arrested a group of monks as Prime Minister Phan Van Khai discussed steps towards religious freedoms with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington, a human rights group said on Friday.
About 10 monks were detained last Tuesday by plain-clothed security agents who prevented them from visiting Thich Huyen Quang, patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, according to the World Organisation against Torture.
"The agents then instructed the driver of the van to take the monks to the Go Gang police station where the monks remain in detention," the Geneva-based coalition of 300 human rights groups said in a statement.
It said it was "gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the monks as well as by the general climate of arbitrariness against UBCV monks".
Vietnamese officials were not immediately available for comment.
The movement's patriarch, accused of possessing state secrets, is barred from moving far from his monastery in Binh Dinh, 650 km (404 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
But
Bush, at talks in
The first visit by a Vietnamese prime minister since the Vietnam war ended 30 years ago, it was marked by protestors denouncing alleged repression of freedom of religion.
Bush noted that a "landmark agreement" was signed with
The May 5 agreement commits
The government permits six religious
groups to operate, including a Buddhist one intended as a replacement for the
By LORETTA SANCHEZ
Last week, the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam formally denied my request to travel there on official government business for the U.S. House of Representatives. I was authorized to travel on behalf of the House Homeland Security Committee to discuss regional security initiatives, defense issues, trade, and human rights.
The official reason given by the Vietnamese National Assembly was that my
visit would not "serve U.S.-Vietnam relations." The
real reason? The Vietnamese government was afraid that my visit would
shed light on a growing cancer within
When the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement was signed in 2001, U.S.
Trade Ambassador Robert Zoellick called it "an important step forward in
bringing economic freedom and opportunity to
In September, the U.S. State Department released its sixth annual Report on
International Religious Freedom, adding
As the Congressional representative for the 47th district of California,
home to one of the world's largest Vietnamese communities outside
Unlike most of the countries on the
Yet, as the Vietnamese government has loosened its stranglehold on the economy, it has tightened its grip on political power, denying basic political freedoms and human rights to the Vietnamese people.
Democracy and human rights advocates have suffered the most. In late
December 2003, writer Nguyen Vu Binh was sentenced to seven years in prison,
followed by three years of house arrest, because he had "written and
exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the country, information and
materials that distorted the party and state policies." He was also
accused of communicating with "reactionary organizations" abroad
after he submitted testimony in July of 2002 to a joint Congressional Human
Rights Caucus/Congressional Dialogue on
On April 10 of this year, in what became know as the "Easter
Crackdown," the Vietnamese government harshly responded to ethnic minority
protests in the Central Highlands. Over the holiday, thousands of Montagnards
gathered to protest ongoing religious repression and confiscation of tribal
lands. Vietnamese government officials responded with force. Conservative reports
indicate that a considerable number of people were imprisoned and hundreds were
injured. And this was not the first time.
On
Unfortunately, the list goes on. The Vietnamese government continues to detain Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, sentenced to 15 years in prison for his peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, this in the face of a U.S. Congressional resolution -- which I co-sponsored with Rep. Christopher Smith -- that called for Father Ly's immediate release. The resolution passed by a vote of 424-1. Furthermore, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that Father Ly is being held in violation of international law. Still, he remains in prison.
And so does prominent democracy advocate Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, who was
sentenced to 30 months in prison for "abusing democratic rights"
after sending information critical of the Vietnamese government to his brother
in the
The Vietnamese government stated that my visit would not serve U.S.-Vietnam
relations, but I disagree. My goal is to establish a mature bilateral
relationship that goes beyond trade to encompass a free and open dialogue on a
range of issues. The
By denying a visa to a member of the United States Congress,
Ms. Sanchez is a member of the
By H.G. Reza
Plans by Rep. Loretta Sanchez to meet with Vietnamese dissidents during her
current trip to
A message posted on
According to the announcement, U.S. Embassy officials in
Sanchez (D-Anaheim), a frequent critic of
Sanchez spokeswoman Paula Negrete said Sanchez was traveling alone and had hoped to meet with several dissidents who were under house arrest.
She applied for a travel visa in May but never heard back from the Vietnamese.
This week, Vietnamese officials told the U.S. Embassy in
Negrete said Sanchez visited
She met with dissidents on both occasions, Negrete said.
In a written statement issued by her office, Sanchez said she was disappointed Vietnamese officials refused her entry but was not surprised, saying that the government "has proved its intolerance in dealing with people who do not share its point of view."
Sanchez, a member of the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, represents the
largest expatriate Vietnamese community in the
Negrete said Sanchez met with Thai
officials to discuss the smuggling of people into the
For Immediate Release:
(
The recent attacks on the Mennonites, a Protestant denomination not recognized by the government, occurred against a backdrop of a crackdown on independent religious groups, in particular members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and ethnic minority Protestants in the northern and central highlands. During the last year, several protestant pastors and independent Buddhist monks have been detained and their places of worship shut down, cordoned off, or placed under surveillance. At least two Catholic priests and one Catholic layperson are serving long prison sentences for holding training courses and distributing books or leaflets.
The Vietnamese government bans independent religious associations and only
permits religious activities by officially-recognized churches and
organizations whose governing boards are approved and controlled by government.
The
“Bulldozing a Mennonite chapel is just one aspect of the Vietnamese government’s crackdown on freedom of religion,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Whether through legislation or through violence, the government has shown it is increasingly unwilling to tolerate religious practice outside its strict control.”
On the morning of September 24, more than 200 officials, including paramilitary police from Unit 113, descended on the chapel and home of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh in Kontum province. Pastor Chinh is superintendent of the Mennonite churches in the Central Highlands. The attack marked the second time the chapel was destroyed this year. On January 16, authorities bulldozed the same chapel, which doubles as Pastor Chinh’s residence.
In the September 24 attack, government officials confiscated Chinh’s
property and farm animals, set fire to the house and chapel, and then used two
bulldozers to flatten the remains. Chinh was out on a pastoral visit at the
time, but his wife and children were arrested by officials and detained at Vinh
Quang district headquarters from
“All that remains of the Mennonite chapel in the
A new Ordinance on Religious Beliefs and Religious Organizations, passed by
The Ordinance, which applies to all religious activity in
In late September, leaders of
“Thousands of Vietnamese citizens are being persecuted simply because they
want to worship outside government restrictions,”
Background on Crackdown on Mennonites in
The Mennonite Central Committee, which is the social service arm of the
In June, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, an outspoken Mennonite church leader in
In 2002 and 2003 Human Rights Watch received several reports about police ransacking the homes of Mennonite believers and confiscating Bibles in Kontum. Officials have withheld the residence permit (ho khau in Vietnamese) of Pastor Chinh and other Mennonites, which makes it difficult to legally find work, travel, and rent or own a home. In addition, local vigilantes in Kontum have reportedly beaten Mennonite workers and arranged hit-and-run motorcycle “accidents” to intimidate members of the church and pressure them to renounce their faith.
In September 2004, the US State Department designated
For more information, please contact:
In
In
In
Committee to Protect Journalists
“The harsh conditions of Pham Hong Son’s imprisonment add to the cruel tally
of human costs in
Son’s wife, Vu Thuy Ha, told RFA that her husband is suffering from a hernia, a condition that requires immediate treatment. Ha reported that on her last visit with him, in August 2004, Son told her that he had been confined to a windowless cell since August 2003.
Dr. Lam Thu Van, a former surgeon and vice chair of the Vietnam Human Rights Network, said that Son’s condition could lead to fatal complications if he does not receive surgery.
According to Ha, authorities notified her in early September that Son was
transferred to a remote prison in
Son was imprisoned on
Son’s original sentence of 13 years’ imprisonment on espionage charges was later reduced on appeal to a five-year sentence, plus an additional three years of house arrest, in August 2003.
Son is one of three journalists currently behind bars in
Abi Wright
Asia Program Coordinator
Committee to Protect Journalists
212-465-1004 x140
www.cpj.org
The Associated Press -
The new
But Marine also expressed concern about
Earlier this month,
Marine, 57, a career foreign service
officer, is the third
International Religious Freedom Report 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Both the Constitution and government decrees provide for freedom of worship;
however, the Government continued to restrict significantly those publicly
organized activities of religious groups that were not recognized by the
Government, or that it declared to be at variance with state laws and policies.
Although some nonrecognized groups faced relatively few restrictions in
practice, their status remained technically illegal. The Government generally
allowed persons to practice individual worship in the religion of their choice,
and participation in religious activities throughout the country continued to
grow significantly; however, strict restrictions on the hierarchies and clergy
of religious groups remained in place. The Government maintained supervisory
control of the recognized religions, in part because the Communist Party (
Respect for religious freedom remained fundamentally unchanged; while it
slightly improved in practice for many practitioners, it remained poor or even
deteriorated for some groups, notably ethnic minority Protestants and some
independent Buddhists. In 2003, the
On April 10, ethnic minority protests took place in the Central Highlands. Several foreign organizations alleged that the protests were largely sparked by lack of religious freedom. Many Protestant and Catholic leaders in the Central Highlands claimed the reasons were more complicated, but they acknowledged that restrictions on religion added to an already volatile situation caused by land disputes, local corruption, and historical discrimination in education and employment. Credible reports as well as government accusations pointed to mobilization of the demonstrations by overseas groups with political or separatist agendas. Religious practice and observance generally was less restricted in other parts of the country.
In October 2003, authorities detained many of the leaders of the banned
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) after they held an organizational
meeting without government permission in
The relationship among religions in society generally is amicable. In various parts of the country, there were modest levels of cooperation and dialogue between Catholics and Protestants, Catholics and Cao Dai, Buddhists and Hoa Hao, and Buddhists and Cao Dai. Religious figures from most major recognized religions participated in official bodies such as the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the National Assembly.
The U.S. Embassy in
The country has a total area of approximately 127,000 square miles, and its population is approximately 80 million. The Government officially recognizes one Buddhist organization (Buddhists make up approximately 50 percent of the population), the Roman Catholic Church (8 to 10 percent of the population), several Cao Dai organizations (1.5 to 3 percent of the population), one Hoa Hao organization (1.5 to 4 percent of the population), two Protestant organizations (.5 to 2 percent of the population), and one Muslim organization (0.1 percent of the population). Many believers belong to organizations that are not officially recognized by the Government. Most other Vietnamese citizens consider themselves nonreligious.
Among the country's religious communities, Buddhism is the dominant
religious belief. Many Buddhists practice an amalgam of Mahayana Buddhism,
Taoism, and Confucian traditions that sometimes is called the country's
"triple religion." Some estimates suggest that more than half of the
population is at least nominally Buddhist. Buddhists typically visit pagodas on
festival days and have a worldview that is shaped in part by Buddhism, but in
reality these beliefs often rely on a very expansive definition of the faith.
Many individuals, especially among the ethnic majority Kinh, who may not
consider themselves Buddhist, nonetheless follow traditional Confucian and
Taoist practices and often visit Buddhist temples. One prominent Buddhist
official has estimated that approximately 30 percent of Buddhists are devout
and practice their faith regularly. The Office of Religious Affairs uses a much
lower estimate of 11 percent (9 million) practicing Buddhists. Mahayana
Buddhists, most of whom are part of the ethnic Kinh majority, are found
throughout the country, especially in the populous areas of the northern and
southern delta regions. There are fewer Buddhists, proportionately, in certain
highland areas, although migration of Kinh to highland areas is changing the
distribution somewhat. Mahayana Buddhist monks in the country historically have
engaged on occasion in political and social issues, most notably during the
1960s, when some monks campaigned for peace and against perceived injustices in
the former
There are an estimated 6 to 8 million Roman Catholics in the country,
although official government statistics put the number at 5,300,000. French
missionaries introduced the religion in the 17th century. In the 1940s, priests
in the large Catholic dioceses of Phat Diem and Bui Chu, to the southeast of
Estimates of the number of Protestants in the country range from the
official government figure of 421,000 to claims by churches of 1,600,000 or
more. Protestantism in the country dates from 1911, when a Canadian evangelist
from the Christian and Missionary Alliance arrived in
The Cao Dai religion was founded in 1926 in the southern part of the
country. Official government statistics put the number of Cao Dai at 2.2
million, although Cao Dai officials routinely claim as many as 4 million
adherents. Cao Dai groups are most active in
The Hoa Hao branch of Buddhism was founded in the southern part of the country in 1939. Hoa Hao is largely a quietist faith, emphasizing private acts of worship and devotion; it does not have a priesthood and rejects many of the ceremonial aspects of mainstream Buddhism. According to the Office of Religious Affairs, there are 1.3 million Hoa Hao followers; affiliated expatriate groups estimate that there may be up to 3 million followers. Hoa Hao followers are concentrated in the Mekong Delta, particularly in provinces such as An Giang, where the Hoa Hao were dominant as a political and military as well as a religious force before 1975. Elements of the Hoa Hao were among the last to surrender to Communist forces in the Mekong Delta in the summer of 1975. The government-recognized Hoa Hao Administrative Committee was organized in 1999.
Mosques serving the country's small Muslim population, estimated at 65,000
persons, operate in western An Giang Province, HCMC,
There are several smaller religious communities not recognized by the Government, the largest of which is the Hindu community. Approximately 50,000 ethnic Cham in the south-central coastal area practice a devotional form of Hinduism. Another 4,000 Hindus live in HCMC; some are ethnic Cham but most are Indian or of mixed Indian-Vietnamese descent.
There are an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 members of the Baha'i Faith, largely concentrated in the south, a number of whom are foreign-born. Prior to 1975, there were an estimated 200,000 believers, according to Baha'i officials. Some Baha'i members in HCMC were allowed to hold a quiet ceremony to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Baha'i faith in the country on May 22.
There are several hundred members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (Mormons) who are spread throughout the country but live
primarily in HCMC and
At least 10 active but unofficially unrecognized congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, with several hundred members, are present in the country. Most of the congregations are in the south, with five in HCMC.
Of the country's approximately 80 million citizens, 14 million or more reportedly do not practice any organized religion. Some sources strictly define those considered to be practicing Buddhists, excluding those whose activities are limited to visiting pagodas on ceremonial holidays. Using this definition, the number of nonreligious persons would be much higher, perhaps as high as 50 million. No statistics are available on the level of participation in formal religious services, but it generally is acknowledged that this number has continued to increase from the early 1990s.
Ethnic minorities constitute approximately 14 percent of the overall population. The minorities historically have practiced sets of traditional beliefs different from those of the ethnic majority Kinh. Except for the Khmer and the Cham, most minorities are more likely to be Protestant than the majority Kinh, although many ethnic minority Protestants continue to observe some traditional animist practices.
Several dozen foreign missionary groups throughout the country are engaged in developmental, humanitarian, educational, and relief efforts. These organizations legally are registered as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing humanitarian assistance. Foreign missionaries legally are not permitted to proselytize or perform religious activities. To work in the country, they must be registered with the Government as an international NGO. Undeclared missionaries from several countries are active in the country.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution, government decrees, and a January 2003
The constitutional right of freedom of belief and religion is interpreted and enforced unevenly. In some areas, local officials allow relatively wide latitude to believers; in other provinces in the north, the Northwest Highlands, the Central Highlands, and the central coast, religious members of nonrecognized entities sometimes undergo significant harassment or repression and are subject to the whims and prejudices of local officials in their respective jurisdictions. This particularly was true for Protestants in highland areas, many of whose requests for affiliation with one of the two recognized Protestant organizations have not been approved by the Government.
There are no known cases in recent years in which the courts acted to interpret laws to protect a person's right to religious freedom. National security and national solidarity provisions in the Constitution override guarantees of religious freedom, and these provisions reportedly have been used to impede religious gatherings and the spread of religion to certain ethnic groups. The penal code, as amended in 1997, established penalties for offenses that are defined only vaguely, including "attempting to undermine national unity" by promoting "division between religious believers and nonbelievers." In some cases, particularly involving Hmong and Montagnard Protestants and Hoa Hao adherents, when authorities charged persons with practicing religion illegally, they used Article 258 of the Penal Code that allowed for jail terms of up to 3 years for "abus[ing] the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of belief, religion, assembly, association and other democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State."
A 1997 directive on administrative probation gives national and local security officials broad powers to detain and monitor citizens and control where they live and work for up to 2 years if they are believed to be threatening "national security." In their implementation of administrative probation, some local authorities held persons under conditions resembling house arrest. The authorities use administrative probation as a means of controlling persons whom they believe hold independent and potentially subversive opinions. Some local authorities cite "abuse of religious freedom" as a reason to impose administrative probation. Two-year administrative probation terms were placed on four UBCV leaders during the period covered by this report.
The Government does not favor a particular religion, and virtually all
senior government and
The Government requires religious and other groups to register and uses this process to monitor and control religious organizations, as it does with all social organizations. The Government officially recognizes Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, and Muslim religious organizations. Individual congregations within each of these religious groups must be registered as well. Some leaders of Buddhist, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai organizations and many believers of these religions do not recognize or participate in the government-approved associations. Some, especially Protestant denominations, have requested official recognition of their own independent organizations, so far unsuccessfully. Their activities, and those of the unregistered Protestant house churches, are considered illegal by the authorities, and members of these groups sometimes experience harassment or repression as a result. Other Protestant house churches are seeking affiliation with one of the two existing recognized organizations. Under the law, only those activities and organizations expressly sanctioned by the Government are deemed to be legal. To obtain official recognition, a group must obtain government approval of its leadership, its structure, and the overall scope of its activities. Recognized religious groups in principle are allowed to open, operate, and refurbish places of worship, train religious leaders, and obtain permission for the publication of materials.
Officially recognized religious organizations are able to operate openly in most parts of the country, and followers of these religions are able to worship without harassment. Officially recognized organizations must consult with the Government about their operations, including leadership selection, although not about their basic articles of faith. While the Government does not directly appoint the leadership of the official religious organizations, to varying degrees it plays an influential role in shaping the process of selection and must approve investitures of religious titles. The Government's influence varies by level of the title, religion, and local authority. For example, the power to approve a religious office holder below the provincial level lies with the provincial authorities. Higher-level officials receive much closer scrutiny. Decree 26 from 1999 explicitly gives the Government the power to approve all holders of religious offices; the Government effectively, but not explicitly, has veto power. In general, religious bodies are confined to dealing specifically with spiritual and organizational matters and are restricted in the other activities, such as charitable programs, that they can conduct.
On June 18, the National Assembly's Standing Committee passed an Ordinance on Belief and Religion, which will take effect in November. The ordinance reiterates citizens' right to freedom of belief, religion, and freedom not to follow a religion, and it states that violation of these freedoms is prohibited. It advises, however, that "abuse" of freedom of belief or religion "to undermine the country's peace, independence, and unity" is illegal and warns that religious activities must be suspended if they negatively affect the cultural traditions of the nation. The ordinance also reiterates the principle of government control and oversight of religious organizations, specifying that religious groups must be recognized by the Government and must seek approval from authorities for many activities, including the training of clergy, construction of religious facilities, preaching outside a specifically recognized facility, and evangelizing. Many activities, including promotion and transfer of clergy and annual activities of religious groups, appear to be held under the new ordinance to the lower standard of "registration" with the Government, rather than approval. The ordinance encourages religious organizations to engage in certain charitable activities.
Over the past several years, the Government has accorded much greater
latitude to followers of recognized religious organizations, and the majority
of the country's religious followers have continued to benefit from this
development. The Government and
Religious organizations must register their regular activities with the authorities annually. Religious organizations must in theory obtain permission to hold training seminars, conventions, and celebrations outside the regular religious calendar; to build or remodel places of worship; to engage in charitable activities or operate religious schools; and to train, ordain, promote, or transfer clergy. They also must obtain permission for large mass gatherings, as do nonreligious groups. Many of these restrictive powers lie principally with provincial or municipal people's committees, and local treatment of religious persons varies widely.
The degree of government oversight of church activities varied greatly among localities. In some areas, especially in the south, Catholic priests and nuns operated kindergartens, orphanages, vocational training centers, and clinics, and engaged in a variety of other humanitarian projects. In HCMC the Catholic Church is involved in running HIV/AIDS hospices and treatment centers, and providing counseling to young persons. Buddhist groups engaged in humanitarian activities, including counternarcotics programs, in many parts of the country. The Hoa Hao organization reported that it engaged in numerous charitable activities and local development projects. Foreign missionaries and religious organizations are not allowed to operate as such in the country. Some religiously affiliated international NGOs are registered with the Government to carry out humanitarian assistance. They may not engage in proselytizing. Catholic and Buddhist groups are allowed to provide religious education to children. Children also are taught religion and language at Khmer Buddhist pagodas and at mosques outside regular classroom hours.
In 2001, the Government recognized the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV). The SECV has affiliated churches in all of the southern provinces of the country, but administrative boards in five provinces and HCMC remain not formally recognized. In February 2003, the SECV opened a government-sanctioned theological school in HCMC with 50 students. Since December 2003, 10 additional SECV congregations have been officially recognized in the Central Highlands.
The northern branch of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) has been recognized since 1963 and officially has 15 approved churches in the northern part of the country. The ECVN also has issued papers of affiliation to over 800 ethnic-minority house churches in the northern and northwestern parts of the country, although it has not formally applied for official recognition for any of these churches. The ECVN has not been allowed freely to hold a national convention since 1988. During much of the period covered by this report, the ECVN engaged in discussions with the Government about holding a new convention. Despite progress, these discussions ultimately stalled as a result of ongoing government restrictions.
Because of the lack of meaningful due process in the legal system, the actions of religious adherents are subject to the discretion of local officials in their respective jurisdictions. There are no significant punishments for government officials who do not follow laws protecting religious practice, although a new law provides channels for citizens to seek payments for miscarriages of justice. There are no known recent cases in which the courts acted to interpret laws to protect a person's right to religious freedom.
There are no specific religious national holidays.
The Office of Religious Affairs occasionally hosts meetings for leaders of diverse religious traditions to address religious matters, and during the period covered by this report it had training sessions on religious freedom and "normal" practices for officials in the Central Highlands. The local branch in HCMC also has hosted training on religion for local officials over the past few years, with assistance from local clergy.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The Government continued to maintain broad legal and policy restrictions on religious freedom, although in many areas Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, and the Government itself reported an increase in religious activity and observance. Operational and organizational restrictions on the hierarchies and clergy of recognized religious groups remained in place. Religious groups frequently faced difficulties in obtaining teaching materials, expanding training facilities, publishing religious materials, and expanding the number of clergy in religious training in response to increased demand from congregations, although enforcement of these types of restrictions appears to have been easing gradually for several years.
The Government continued to ban and actively discourage participation in what it regards as illegal religious groups, including the UBCV and Protestant house churches, as well as the unapproved Hoa Hao and Cao Dai groups. The withholding of official recognition of religious bodies is one of the means by which the Government actively attempts to restrict some types of religious activities. Religious and organizational activities by UBCV monks are illegal. Many evangelical house churches do not attempt to register because they believe that their applications would be denied, or because they want to avoid any semblance of government control. Some recognized religious groups carry out underground religious activities that they do not report to the Government and have faced little or no harassment. Some nonrecognized Protestant groups also conduct religious services and training without noticeable restriction from the Government.
The Government requires all Buddhist monks to be approved by and work under
the officially recognized Buddhist organization, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha
(VBS). The Government influenced the selection of the leadership of the VBS,
excluding many leaders and supporters of the pre-1975 UBCV organization. The
number of Buddhist seminarians is controlled and limited by the Office of
Religions Affairs, although the number of Buddhist academies at the local and
provincial levels has increased in recent years in addition to several
university-equivalent academies. Khmer Theravada Buddhists are allowed a
somewhat separate identity within VBS. The Government continued to oppose
efforts by the unrecognized UBCV to operate independently. In early October
2003, senior monks of the UBCV held an organizational meeting without
government permission at a monastery in
During the period covered by this report, the Catholic Church hierarchy
remained somewhat frustrated by government restrictions, but a number of clergy
reported continued easing of government control over church activities in
certain dioceses, including in a few churches in
The Catholic Church operates 6 seminaries in the country with over 800 students enrolled, as well as a new special training program for "older" students. All students must be approved by local authorities, both for enrolling in seminary and again prior to their ordination as priests. The Government had approved a seventh seminary, but the provincial government where it was to be located blocked the seminary, allegedly on the grounds that the province had no office to oversee institutions of higher education. The Catholic Church is now attempting to establish the seminary in a different location. The Church believes that the number of students being ordained is insufficient to support the growing Catholic population and has indicated it would like to open additional seminaries and enroll new classes every year in at least some of its seminaries.
The ECVN has not held an annual meeting or elected new leadership since 1988, in part because of the Government's ongoing efforts to influence ECVN leadership and its refusal to recognize some ECVN clergy. In the spring of 2004, both sides made steps towards holding a new congress, with a hope of convening the general congress in 2004. The ECVN operated a theological school from 1988 to 1993; informal training of religious and lay leaders continues. The ECVN has issued papers of affiliation to 800 mostly ethnic minority congregations since 2002, representing approximately 110,000 members located in the northern and northwestern highlands. However, the Government has not officially accepted these enrollments, and the congregations remain unrecognized.
In 2001, the Government ordered almost all unrecognized Protestant
congregations and meeting points in the Central Highlands, reportedly numbering
several hundred, to close. Provincial governments have now recognized and
permitted 28 of these to reopen. In December 2003, the Committee on Religious
Affairs in
Many pastors of Protestant denominations such as the Seventh-day Adventists,
Mennonites, Baptists, and Assemblies of God (
Despite the small increase in the number of legal SECV churches in the
Central Highlands, provincial authorities continued to restrict Protestant
activities in the region, particularly among ethnic minorities, such as the
Mnong, Ede, Jarai, and Bahnar. Protestant Christmas and Easter celebrations in
the
There are no officially recognized Protestant churches in the Northwest
Highlands, despite the estimated presence of over 100,000 believers in the
region. Officials from Ha Giang, Lai Chau, and Dien Bien have specifically told
The Hoa Hao have faced some restrictions on their religious and political activities since 1975, in part because of their previous armed opposition to the Communist forces. After 1975 all administrative offices, places of worship, and social and cultural institutions connected to the Hoa Hao faith were closed. Believers continued to practice their religion at home but the lack of access to public gathering places contributed to the Hoa Hao community's isolation and fragmentation. In 1999, a new official Hoa Hao body, the Hoa Hao Administrative Council was formed. Several leaders of the Hoa Hao community, including several pre-1975 leaders, openly criticized the Council, claiming that it was subservient to the Government, and demanded official recognition instead of their own Hoa Hao body, the Hoa Hao Central Buddhist Church (HHCBC). The Government turned down a group that subsequently tried to register the independent Hoa Hao organization. Some members of this group were incarcerated and remained in custody at the end of the period covered by this report. The Government continued to restrict the number of clergy that the Hoa Hao can train. On June 8-9, the Hoa Hao Administrative Council held its second congress, attended by 500 representatives from around the country. At the conference, the council approved a new charter to replace the regulations under which the council formerly operated and elected a new 21-member Executive Board in place of the old 11-member Representative Board.
The Government never dissolved the
The Muslim Association of Vietnam was banned in 1975 but reauthorized in 1992. It is the only registered Muslim organization in the country. Association leaders state they are able to practice their faith, including saying daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and teaching the Koran. At least 9 Muslims made the hajj during the period covered by this report, and at least 75 Muslim students from the country were studying abroad.
The Government restricts and monitors all forms of public assembly, including assembly for religious activities; however, on some occasions large religious gatherings have been allowed, such as the Catholic celebrations at La Vang, traditional pilgrimage events such as the Hung Kings' Festival, and the Hoa Hao Founding Day and commemoration of the Founder's death, with attendance estimated at hundreds of thousands each year. Even house church Protestants have been able to gather in groups of as many as 5,000 for special worship services in HCMC and elsewhere. In March, the police in HCMC reportedly sent a circular to hotels noting an increase in the use of hotel function rooms for "illegal preaching" and other prohibited activities and reminded owners to exert proper oversight and alert the police to such meetings.
In 1999, the Government issued a decree on religion that prescribed the rights and responsibilities of religious believers. The religious decree states that persons formerly detained or imprisoned must obtain special permission from the authorities before they may resume religious activities. Religious activities are not allowed in prisons, nor are visits by religious workers.
The Government prohibits proselytizing by foreign missionary groups and discourages public proselytizing outside of recognized worship centers, even by Vietnamese citizens. Some missionaries visited the country despite this prohibition and carried on informal proselytizing activities. The Government has in the past deported some foreign persons for unauthorized proselytizing, sometimes defining proselytizing very broadly, although there were no known cases during the period covered by this report.
In
Government policy does not permit persons who belong to unofficial religious groups to speak publicly about their beliefs, but at least some continue to conduct religious training and services without harassment. Members of registered groups in theory are permitted to speak about their beliefs and attempt to persuade others to adopt their religions, at least in recognized places of worship, but are discouraged from doing so elsewhere. The Government has been known to restrict religious speech on various legal pretexts including "sowing division between believers and nonbelievers" and "damaging national unity."
The Government requires all religious publishing to be done by the Religious Publishing House, which is a part of the Office of Religious Affairs, or by other government-approved publishing houses after the Government first approves the proposed items. A range of Buddhist sacred scriptures, Bibles, and other religious texts and publications are printed by these organizations and are distributed openly. The Religious Publishing House has printed 250,000 copies of parts of the Hoa Hao sacred scriptures, along with 100,000 volumes featuring the Founder's teachings and prophesies; however, Hoa Hao believers reported that the Government continued to restrict the distribution of the full scriptures, specifically the poetry of the Founder. The official Hoa Hao Representative Committee cited a lack of funds, not government restrictions, as the reason why the Hoa Hao scriptures had not yet been published in full. The Muslim Association reportedly was able to print enough copies of the Koran in 2000 to distribute one to each Muslim believer in the country. Unrecognized Protestant groups are often unable to obtain Bibles and other religious materials through legal channels. Bibles in ethnic minority languages are also in very short supply.
The Government allows religious travel for religious persons; Muslims are
able to undertake the hajj, and Buddhist, Catholic, and Protestant officials
also have been able to travel abroad for study and for conferences. Some
religious believers, such as UBCV monk Thich Thai Hoa, who do not belong to
officially recognized religions occasionally have not been approved for foreign
travel, but since early 2001 many ministers of underground Protestant churches
have been able to travel frequently overseas. Like other citizens, religious
persons who travel abroad sometimes are questioned about their activities upon
their return and required to surrender their passports. However, this practice
appears to be becoming more infrequent, and even many leaders of underground
Protestant churches reported in 2002 and 2003 that they were not questioned. In
January, Vietnamese house church pastors Tran Dinh Ai and Ho Hieu Ha, who had
recently emigrated abroad, were refused re-entry to the country. Catholic bishops
face no restrictions on international travel, including to
Religious affiliation is indicated on citizens' national identification cards and on "family books," which are household identification documents. In practice many citizens who consider themselves religious do not indicate this on their identification card, and government statistics list them as nonreligious. There are no formal prohibitions on changing one's religion. While it is possible to change the entry for religion on national identification cards, many converts may find the procedures overly cumbersome or fear government retribution. Formal conversions appear to be relatively rare, apart from non-Catholics marrying Catholics. The Government does not designate persons' religions on passports.
The Government allows, and in some cases encourages, links by officially
recognized religious bodies with coreligionists in other countries; however,
the Government actively discourages contacts between the UBCV and its foreign
Buddhist supporters. Contacts between
On April 10, protests by ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak and Gia Lai, and possibly Dak Nong, reportedly were violently suppressed by police and government authorities. Some of the protestors turned to violence as well, throwing stones and threatening police. Montagnard Foundation, Inc. representatives claimed that restrictions on religious freedom were a major cause of the protests. The Government, as well as many Catholic and both official and unofficial Protestant church leaders within the country, said the protests were largely unrelated to religious issues but were due primarily to land disputes, local corruption, traditional ethnic animosities, and perceived discrimination against ethnic minority groups by the majority Vietnamese Kinh.
Adherence to a religious faith generally does not disadvantage persons in
civil, economic, and secular life, although it likely would prevent advancement
to the highest
The 1999 religious decree stipulates which local offices must approve
renovations, modifications, and repairs of religious structures. It also
requires groups to obtain the approval of provincial authorities before constructing
religious structures. Local authorities reportedly have used these measures to
justify the closure and demolition of small religious structures belonging to
unregistered Protestant groups, particularly in Dak Lak and other Central
Highlands provinces. The decree stated that no religious organization can
reclaim lands or properties taken over by the State following the end of the
1954 war against French rule and the 1975 Communist victory in the south.
Despite this blanket prohibition, the Government has returned some church
properties confiscated since 1975. One of the vice-chairmen of the recognized
VBS stated that approximately 30 percent of Buddhist properties confiscated in
HCMC have been returned since 1975, and from 5 to 10 percent of all Buddhist
properties confiscated in the south have been returned. However, the former
Protestant seminary in Nha Trang is used for secular purposes, as is a former
Protestant seminary in
The Government does not permit religious instruction in public schools;
however, it permits clergy to teach at universities in subjects in which they
are qualified. Buddhist monks have lectured at the Ho Chi Minh Political
Academy, the main
Local Protestant sources alleged that authorities in many localities in Dak Lak prohibited Protestant children from attending school past the third grade. There have been unconfirmed allegations that Christians are excluded from special ethnic minority boarding schools. Discrimination of this sort has been denied by local authorities and some church leaders, but such reports persist. General discrimination against ethnic minorities has long been a problem in the region.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
A significant number of religious believers experience harassment or
repression because they operate without legal sanction. Local officials have
repressed unregistered Protestant believers in the Central and
The penal code establishes penalties for offenses that are defined only vaguely, including "attempting to undermine national unity" by promoting "division between religious believers and nonbelievers." In some cases, particularly involving Hmong Protestants, authorities have used provisions of the penal code that allow for jail terms of up to 3 years without trial for "abusing freedom of speech, press, or religion." There have been ongoing complaints that officials fabricated evidence, and that some of the provisions of the law used to convict religious prisoners contradict the right to freedom of religion.
A 1997 directive on administrative probation gives national and local security officials broad powers to detain and monitor citizens and control where they live and work for up to 2 years if they are believed to be threatening "national security." In their implementation of administrative probation, some local authorities held persons under conditions resembling house arrest. The authorities use administrative probation as a means of controlling persons whom they believe hold independent opinions. Some local authorities cite "abuse of religious freedom" as a reason to impose administrative probation.
On numerous occasions throughout the country, small groups of Protestants belonging to house churches were subjected to harassment or arbitrary detention after local officials broke up unsanctioned religious meetings. There were many reported instances, particularly in remote provinces, in which Protestant house church followers were detained, beaten, or fined by local officials for participation in peaceful religious activities such as worship and Bible study.
On June 8, authorities in HCMC detained activist Mennonite house church pastor Nguyen Hong Quang for "inciting others to interfere with public security officers in furtherance of their duties." At the end of the period covered by this report, Quang had not been released or formally charged with any crime, as authorities carried out their investigation. Quang's detention is directly related to a March 4 incident in which several of his followers confronted persons they believed to be public security officers surveilling the pastor's home and seized an officer's motorbike. Those same followers then scuffled with other public security officers who arrived at the scene to retrieve the motorbike and investigate the incident. Four of Pastor Quang's followers were detained at the time, and another was detained afterwards in connection with Pastor Quang's arrest.
In December 2003, police in
Authorities in the Central and
There are unconfirmed reports that officials in Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang,
and other provinces in the north and northwest attempted to force Hmong and
other ethnic minority Christians to recant their faith, often without success. There
are also unconfirmed reports that in Hoang Su Phi district of Ha Giang Province
at least three Protestant house church leaders were sentenced to prison terms
for leading "gatherings that caused public disorder" after organizing
unauthorized religious services. Officials in Bac Ha
district of Lao Cai Province reportedly detained four Protestant house church
leaders and pressured other Protestants to sign documents renouncing their
faith. In Muong Te District of Lai Chau Province, two girls reportedly were
raped by government officials or militia to punish their families for adhering
to Protestantism. Also in Muong Te district of Lai Chau Province, local
authorities reportedly damaged or destroyed two houses used for nonrecognized
Protestant services.
Hmong Protestant Vang Seo Giao of Ha Giang Province died in July 2003,
reportedly after being beaten by authorities at the office of the People's
Committee in Che La commune. A
Hmong Protestant believer Mua Say So of Dien Bien district,
There were reports that local authorities used a noxious gas to break up a
Hmong Protestant worship service in
According to reports from the Central and
Despite restrictions the number of Protestants continued to grow. The
repression of Protestantism in the Central Highlands is complicated by the
presence of the small "Dega" separatist group, which advocates an
autonomous or independent homeland for the indigenous persons who live in the
area, particularly in southern Gia Lai and northwestern Dak Lak provinces. The
Dega have links to a group residing in the
On April 10, several thousand ethnic minority citizens protested against authorities in several districts in the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak and Gia Lai (and possibly Dak Rong). Authorities reportedly violently suppressed the protests, including beating or killing some of the protestors. A number of the protestors reportedly resorted to violence as well. Individuals supporting the Dega movement from abroad claimed that restrictions on religious freedom were a significant motivating factor in the protests. The Government, as well as many official and unofficial religious leaders, depicted the protests as being entirely political in nature. However, a government official indicated that, in the wake of the protests, the Government would delay further registration of churches and normalization of religious activities in the region. The Government blocked access to the Central Highlands by most foreign observers for 2 weeks after the April protests. When it again began to allow access for foreign diplomats, journalists, and others, strict control by officials, police, and plainclothes security agents made obtaining genuinely free and independent assessments of the situation in the area extremely difficult.
Outflows of ethnic minority highlanders--usually called "Montagnards"--seeking
refugee status in
Protestants also reported that authorities in Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and
some nearby provinces detained, beat, and harassed numerous Protestant
believers, often in conjunction with pressure to renounce their faith. In
March, officials in Sa Thay district,
A purported Party document dated
A May 2003 report by a foreign NGO alleged a program by local authorities,
with the stated intention to "eradicate Christianity," to force
Protestants in Dak Song Commune in then-Dak Lak Province (now in
The Government continued to isolate certain religious figures by restricting
their movements and by pressuring supporters and family members. In October
2003, the UBCV held an unauthorized conference in
Hoa Hao believers stated that a number of the leaders of the unofficial Hoa
Hao Central Buddhist Church (HHCBC) remained in detention at the end of the
period covered by this report. Those in detention include Ha Hai, the
third-ranking officer of the HHCBC who had been sentenced to 5 years in prison
in 2001 for abusing "democratic rights," as well as Hoa Hao believer
Truong van Duc, who had been involved in an incident in 2000 in which 60 to 70
individuals attacked a group of Hoa Hao headed by church leader Le Quang Liem.
Hoa Hao follower Nguyen Van Lia reportedly was sentenced to 3 years'
imprisonment in October 2003, after holding a commemoration of the
disappearance of the Hoa Hao prophet.
Priests and lay brothers of the Catholic order Congregation of the Mother
Co-Redemptrix continued to face government restrictions. Founded by Reverend
Tran Dinh Thu in Bui Chu Diocese in 1953, the historically anti-Communist order
re-established its headquarters in Thu Duc District of HCMC in 1954. In 1988
police surrounded the 15-acre site and arrested all the priests and lay persons
inside the compound. All but two of those detained--Father Pham Minh Tri and
layperson Nguyen Thien Phung--subsequently were released. Father Tri reportedly
was in poor health. Father Tri and Phung remained imprisoned at Xuan Loc camp,
Cao Dai believer Ngo Van Thong was arrested in 1977 and sentenced to death
by a Tay Ninh provincial court; his sentence was later commuted to life
imprisonment. He is believed to be in prison near
In February 2001 at Tu Hieu Pagoda, on the day before the start of the
"week of prayer," Catholic Father Nguyen Van Ly, Hoa Hao elder Le
Quang Liem, and Buddhists monks Thich Thien Hanh and Thich Chan Tri met for the
purpose of forming an interreligious body independent of government authority.
Later in the same month, police surrounded Father Ly's church and placed him
under administrative probation. His detention was reported widely in the state-controlled
press, which identified him as a "traitor" for submitting written
testimony critical of the Government to a
It was impossible to determine the exact number of religious detainees and
religious prisoners. There is little transparency in the justice system, and it
is very difficult to obtain confirmation of when persons are detained,
imprisoned, tried, or released. Moreover, persons sometimes are detained for
questioning and subsequently held under conditions amounting to house arrest
using administrative probation regulations without being charged or without
their detention being publicized. By the end of the period covered by this
report, there reportedly were at least nine religious detainees thought to be
held without formal arrest or charge; however, the number may be much greater.
Unconfirmed reports suggest there may be over 100 other Protestants detained in
the
There were an estimated 44 religious prisoners and detainees, although the actual number may be much higher. This figure is difficult to verify because of the secrecy surrounding the arrest, detention, and release process. At least 11 other individuals were held in conditions resembling house arrest for reasons related to the expression of their religious beliefs or attempts to form nonauthorized religious organizations, despite the apparent lack of any official charges against them. Those persons believed to be imprisoned or detained at least in part for the peaceful expression of their religious faith at the end of the period covered by this report included: UBCV monk Thich Thien Minh; Catholic priests Pham Minh Tri and Nguyen Van Ly, and Catholic lay person Nguyen Thien Phung; Protestant believers Mua A Chau, Vang Chin Sang, Vang Mi Ly, Ly Xin Quang, and Ly Chin Seng; Cao Dai believer Ngo Van Thong; and Hoa Hao lay persons Nguyen Van Lia, Ha Hai, and Truong Van Duc. UBCV monks Thich Tue Sy, Thich Nguyen Ly, Thich Thanh Huyen, and Thich Dong Tho were given 2-year sentences of administrative detention in 2003. Other religious leaders, including UBC monks Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do and Catholic priest Pham Van Loi, were under de facto house arrest. Hoa Hao leaders Nguyen Van Dien and Le Quan Liem remained under formal administrative detention.
There were numerous reports that groups of vigilantes or "gangs of
hoodlums" beat Protestant believers in the Central Highlands. In 2002,
allegedly at the instigation of commune and district authorities, a
"gang" in the predominantly Catholic
Forced Religious Conversion
On multiple occasions, local officials in several northwestern villages reportedly attempted to convince or force Hmong Protestants to recant their faith and sometimes also to perform traditional Hmong religious rites such as drinking blood from sacrificed chickens mixed with rice wine. Local authorities reportedly also encouraged clan elders to pressure members of their extended families to cease practicing Christianity and to return to traditional practices.
Following ethnic unrest in the Central Highlands in 2001, there also were
numerous reports of local authorities attempting to force ethnic minority
Protestants to renounce their faith. In the villages of Druh, B'Le, B'Gha,
V'Sek, Koyua, Tung Thang, Tung Kinh, and Dung in Ea H'Leo district of Dak Lak
Province, ethnic minority commune and district officials, some of whom are
ethnic minorities themselves, were assigned to coerce Protestant followers
symbolically to abandon Protestantism by drinking alcohol mixed with animal
blood in a ritual called "the ceremony of repentance." In the
villages of Buon Sup, Buon Ea Rok, and Buon Koya in Ea Sup district,
In other provinces, authorities encouraged "revival of traditional
culture," which includes abandoning Christian beliefs. According to what
appears to be an official document from
There were no reports of forced religious conversion of minor
Abuses by Terrorist Organizations
There were no reported abuses targeted at specific religions by terrorist organizations during the period covered by this report.
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom
The status of respect for religious freedom overall remained fundamentally
unchanged during the period covered by this report. It improved slightly in
some areas, but remained poor or even deteriorated in parts of the
After the issuance of the decree on the "Operation of Protestantism in the Central Highlands and Binh Phuoc Province" by the Office of Religious Affairs in December 2003, 10 new churches were officially recognized in the Central Highlands, and preparations began to establish a local bible school for training classes that may lead to the recognition of many preachers working in unofficial status. In February 2003, the SECV opened an official theological school with 50 students and informed the Government that it was training more students outside the school.
Some leaders of nonrecognized Protestant churches reported that they continued negotiating with the Government for recognition, although no new recognitions were granted. Some pastors also reported that police surveillance of their worship activities has declined or ended, in some cases as long ago as early 2001. Some also reported that they have been able to conduct training activities openly. Many leaders of Protestant house churches have been allowed to travel overseas on multiple occasions.
Catholic leaders reported they were able to assign priests more easily than in the past, even in some remote areas where no priests had been assigned for decades. Attendance at religious services continued to increase during the period covered by this report. The number of Buddhist monks and Catholic priests also continued to increase. Local authorities in many parts of the country allowed religious organizations to engage in more charitable and social activities in line with the Party's new resolution. Many Catholic priests and nuns and Buddhist monks continued to operate orphanages, vocational centers, and health clinics with the knowledge of the Government. In addition there was continued gradual expansion of the parameters for individual believers adhering to one of the officially recognized religious bodies to practice their faiths.
Several thousand prisoners benefited from early releases through general amnesties during the period covered by this report, but it is unknown whether any of them were imprisoned for reasons related to expression of their religious faith.
Section
In general there are amicable relations among the various religious communities, and there were no known instances of societal discrimination or violence based on religion during the period covered by this report. In HCMC there were some informal ecumenical dialogues among leaders of disparate religious communities. Buddhists, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai reportedly sometimes cooperate on some social and charitable projects. Working-level cooperation between the Catholic and Protestant churches occurs in many parts of the country. Various elements of the UBCV Buddhists, Catholics, Cao Dai, Protestant, and Hoa Hao communities appeared to network with each other; many of them reportedly formed bonds while serving prison terms at Xuan Loc.
Section IV.
The U.S. Embassy in
The U.S. Ambassador, the Deputy Chief of Mission, the Consul General in
HCMC, and other Embassy and Consulate officers have raised religious freedom
issues with senior cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister, two Deputy
Prime Ministers, the Foreign Minister, other senior government and
The Ambassador and other
The April 2001 recognition of the SECV followed direct advocacy by
Representatives of the Embassy and the Consulate General met on numerous
occasions with leaders of all the major religious communities, including
Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Muslims, Hindus, and
Baha'is. In March, a Consulate General officer met with the recognized Hoa Hao
Administrative Council in An Giang Province and maintained regular contact with
Hoa Hao dissidents and Hoa Hao elder Tran Huu Duyen.
The U.S. Government commented publicly on the status of religious freedom in
the country on several occasions. The Assistant Secretary for
U.S. Government pressure may have had an immediate impact in some cases.
After Consulate General officials highlighted the case of an unofficial
Protestant church threatened with demolition in HCMC, authorities backed off
their threats and eventually allowed the church to continue operations. After
continued pressure through diplomatic channels, the Government allowed the U.S.
Ambassador access to Thich Huyen Quang, and also permitted access of a U.S.
Senator to imprisoned priest Nguyen Van Ly. The December 2003 decree laying out
steps for increased activity by the SECV in the Central Highlands followed
shortly after the visit of the Ambassador at Large for international Religious
Freedom. In broader terms, some religious sources have cited diplomatic
intervention, primarily from the
Released on
Committee to Protect Journalists
330
Fax:
================================
Abi Wright or Sophie Beach
Tel:
================================
Khue's sentence accounts for time already served, so he is slated for
release on July 29. Khue has been imprisoned since
Khue was arrested after meeting with Hanoi-based writer and political activist Pham Que Duong, who was also arrested and who still faces trial. In recent years, Khue has written several articles and open letters critical of government policy. He established two online publications, Dialogue 2000 and Dialogue 2001, which included articles he and others wrote advocating political reform. In January 2002, the Vietnamese government ordered local officials to confiscate and destroy all printed copies of the publications.
At the time of his arrest, Khue was serving a two-year term of
administrative detention, or house arrest. Authorities imposed the house arrest
order on
Pham Que Duong was arrested on
"Tran Khue should never have been convicted for exercising his
constitutional right to free expression,"
For more information about the cases against Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong,
see:
CPJ alert, July
7, 2004 CPJ
alert, June 10, 2004
The Committee to Protect Journalists is
an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom
worldwide. For more information about press conditions in
Committee to Protect Journalists
330
Fax:
======================
Contact: Abi Wright or Sophie Beach
e-mail: asiaprogram@cpj.org
Telephone:
======================
The sentence accounts for time already served, so Duong, who was arrested on
Duong, 72, was arrested at the
A former colonel in the Vietnamese army, Duong served as editor of Tap Chi Lich Su Quan Su (Military History Review) from 1982 to 1986. He later renounced his membership in the Communist Party and began writing essays and open letters advocating political reform, support for human rights, and press freedom.
In recent years, Duong has been under tight surveillance by authorities
after becoming the de facto spokesperson for the pro-democracy movement in
"
For further information about Pham Que Duong and Tran Khue, please see:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (
------------------------------
Committee to Protect Journalists
phone:
fax:
http://www.cpj.org
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ASA 41/015/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 179
Yet another elderly dissident, an Amnesty International member, is to be
brought to trial next week in
"Why do the Vietnamese authorities lock up, for years at a time, distinguished old men for nothing more than speaking their minds?" Amnesty International asked today. "Dr Nguyen Dan Que should never have been arrested and must be released immediately and without conditions."
Dr Que was arrested on
Dr Que was initially held incommunicado and only in recent months has his wife been allowed to meet him in prison. He is in bad health and is known to be suffering from kidney stones, a bleeding ulcer and high blood pressure that requires medication.
"Dr Nguyen Dan Que -- a winner of numerous international human rights awards -- has worked tirelessly to defend the fundamental human rights of his fellow Vietnamese. His repeated imprisonment is both a personal and national tragedy," Amnesty International added.
Amnesty International understands that he is to be charged with "abusing democratic rights to jeopardize the interests of the State" -- the same charge levelled against two other elderly dissidents, who were brought to trial in the last two weeks. Dr Nguyen Dan Que has not been permitted to meet with a lawyer and his family have not been given a formal charge sheet detailing the accusations against him. It is likely, therefore, that he will have no legal defence at his trial.
Amnesty International is calling on the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that Dr Que's trial meets with international fair trial standards and is open to outside observers.
Background
Dr Que has previously been imprisoned twice, for a total of 18 years. In February 1978, he was arrested and accused of "rebelling against the regime" and forming a "reactionary organization named the National Front of Progress". He was released in 1988 after 10 years of imprisonment without trial.
He was arrested again in June 1990 after he founded the Cao Trao Nhan Ban (High Tide of Humanism Movement) that called for democratic change. He also became a member of Amnesty International, which was used as an accusation against him. In November 1991, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for "activities aimed at overthrowing the People's Government." He was released under a special amnesty in September 1998. On both occasions, Dr Que was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty
International's press office in
Amnesty International,
For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org
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Suzi Clark
Director Strategic Communications A/g
Amnesty International
Ph: 02 9217 7640
Fax: 02 9217 7663
Email: sclark@amnesty.org.au
Amnesty International
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Call 1300 300 920 or visit www.amnesty.org.au
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By a vote of 323-45, the chamber passed the Viet Nam Human Rights Act that bars the government from increasing non-humanitarian assistance to the southeast Asian nation over this year’s level of about 40 million dollars unless the president certifies that Hanoi is releasing political prisoners and is making steps to improve its overall human rights record.
It also authorized the White House to spend four million dollars in fiscal 2004 and 2005 to provide support for Vietnamese dissidents and groups that “promote internationally recognized human rights.”
More than 10 million dollars are being offered over the same period of time to overcome Vietnamese jamming of Radio Free Asia, a surrogate Congress-financed radio station that beams US programming to the region.
“The government of
But the bill also grants the president broad waiver authority that will
allow him to overlook its provisions if he deems it necessary to further
“We cannot stand idly by while the human rights situation in
He vowed to do everything in his power to overcome the Senates opposition to the measure.
The bill first passed the House three years ago, but it died in the Senate where, according to Smith, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the current Democratic presidential candidate, placed a hold on it and prevented it from being brought to the floor.
Human Rights Watch
For Immediate Release:
(
Quang, who is trained as a lawyer, has defended land rights cases of
impoverished farmers from the provinces, spoken out against the arrests of
religious and political dissidents, and publicized the plight of minority
Christian churches in
"Quang's arrest appears to be part of the Vietnamese government's mounting repression of activists who promote human rights or religious freedom," said Dinah PoKempner, general counsel at Human Rights Watch.
The religious leader's arrest took place in the midst of a massive crackdown against Montagnard Protestants in the Central Highlands. The Vietnamese government bans independent religious associations and only permits religious activities by officially recognized churches and organizations.
Quang was arrested at
The charges against the Mennonite clergyman apparently refer to an
altercation in March between Quang and members of his church with police
officers who had been harassing and monitoring Mennonite church members,
including the head of the Mennonite church in Kontum province in the
On March 2, dozens of church members gathered at Quang's church after a dispute broke out between police and several Mennonites, who had photographed the motorbike of one of the plainclothes police officers posted outside the church. More than 100 paramilitary police officers from Unit 113 of the Ministry of Public Security were dispatched to the scene, where they scuffled with the crowd of church members. Police arrested four church members: church elder Nguyen Hieu Nghia, and evangelists Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen van Phuong, all of whom were severely beaten.
Since the March incident, Quang and his colleagues have mounted a campaign to call attention to the arrests and possible torture of the four Mennonites, who have been detained for more than two months without official orders being issued for their imprisonment or the prosecution of their cases.
On May 18, Quang released an eight-page report on the March arrests that
included a section entitled "Violations of the Law by Public Security
Officers of District 2 and
"People should not be arrested for criticizing injustice or asking
government officials to abide by their own laws," said PoKempner.
"Once again,
Background
Quang, 45, is general secretary of the
In December, Quang and 30 other church leaders held a sit-in at a police
station in
In September, Quang issued a strongly worded essay via the Internet that
criticized the trial and convictions of several relatives of one of
For more information, please contact:
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Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release
today of cyber-dissident Le Chi Quang, two years before he was due to complete
his prison sentence, and it called on the authorities to show similar clemency
toward the six other cyber-dissidents currently detained in
Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release
today of cyber-dissident Le Chi Quang, two years before he was due to complete
his prison sentence, and it called on the authorities to show similar clemency
toward the six other cyber-dissidents currently detained in
Arrested in February 2003 for posting essays criticising the government online, Quang is suffering from serious kidney problems. This appears to have been the reason for his early release.
"Quang's release is an encouraging first step, but we still expect
A government source said Quang was freed for "humanitarian"
reasons. His health got much worse in prison, where he did not receive the
treatment he needed for his kidney ailment. Reporters Without
Borders had already urged the authorities to release him on medical grounds on
The six cyber-dissidents currently detained in
1- Nguyen Vu Binh, a former journalist with the Communist Party newspaper
Tap Chi Cong San, who was arrested on
2- Pham Hong Son, the representative of a foreign pharmaceutical company, who
was arrested on
3- Nguyen Dan Que, an intellectual arrested on
4- Pham Que Duong, a former colonel in the Liberation Army, who was arrested on
5- Tran Khue, a literature teacher and co-founder of an anti-corruption group,
who was arrested on
6- Nguyen Khac Toan, a businessman and former army officer, who was arrested on
On 22 June, Reporters Without Borders will issue a new report on the obstacles to the free flow of information online in Vietnam and some 60 other countries. It will be available on the Reporters Without Borders website (www.internet.rsf.org).
Background
Quang was sentenced to four years in prison on
Quang was arrested in a cybercafé by a policeman posing as an ordinary Internet user. The Vietnamese authorities have stepped up monitoring of Internet cafés since March 2004, asking owners to keep a record of the names of all their customers and the websites they visit.
Australian embassy officials deny its diplomats have made public remarks
about a visit to
The Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday that Australian Foreign Ministry officials "acknowledged that there were no signs of violation of human rights and discrimination in Gia Lai [province]".
The report added the officials had said "genuine equality reigns among the community of ethnic groups".
An embassy official says a group of seven embassy and visiting officials visited Gia Lai and Daklak provinces on the weekend.
"We have made no public comment and have given no interviews," the official said.
It is the second time this year diplomats have openly disagreed with state media reports on visits to the communist country's coffee-growing highlands.
Travel to the area by envoys and foreign media is restricted and tightly supervised.
Four ambassadors who went to the region in May disavowed comments attributed to them that praised the development in Daklak province.
The two provinces saw an outbreak of demonstrations in April by hill tribe minorities known loosely as Montagnards, many of whom practise an unsanctioned form of Protestantism.
Human rights groups say the unrest was over land and religious rights, and were a repeat of larger protests in February 2001 that the Vietnamese Government quelled with military forces.
The Vietnamese Government blames overseas groups for instigating the unrest.
Some of the minority tribes accuse the Government of seizing ancestral lands and of discrimination against them in favour of the majority Kinh population.
The region is among the poorest in
-- Reuters
Interview With Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang
The demonstrators, members of regional tribes, were asking for the return of
their lands confiscated by the government. They were also asking for religious
freedom, and for development of the region, one of the poorest in
To understand the situation better, ZENIT interviewed Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang, who works in the Vietnamese editorial office of Vatican Radio.
Q: Who are the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards, or "Degar," are one of
the oldest native peoples of
Although the majority live in
When the
With the end of the war in
The Montagnards represent a population of more than 30 different tribes, with thousands of combatants. The two principal tribes are the Banar, with close to 400,000 people, and the Jarrai, with 300,000. In large measure they are Christians.
The Communist government has never put up with them, first because they allied themselves with the Americans, then because many of them are Christians, and now because their only interest is to possess their lands. But the Montagnards are a hard, fierce ethnic group, and so they rebel.
Q: Is the news about their persecution true?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards have always been very courageous. Back in 2001 they held a demonstration of 20,000 people against the government.
According to some, it is possible that the government ordered their men to stir these protests to be able to decimate all the Montagnard leaders, enticing them to a snare -- a classical strategy used by all dictatorships worldwide.
On the eve of the 2004 Easter celebrations, the Montagnards organized a
demonstration starting from their widespread villages, across municipalities
and reaching provincial capitals in the central highlands of
The motto was "Moak Hrue Yesus Kgu Hdip" -- Joyful Day, Christ Has Risen. According to local sources, there were 130,000. Government forces used arms causing about 400 deaths.
It is difficult to confirm what really happened because the Vietnamese government impeded foreigners from going to the region. All foreign citizens had to get off airplanes going to Buon Ma Thout; flying over the area was prohibited.
Personnel from the U.S. Embassy traveling by car to the region were blocked for security reasons.
Q: How important is the Christian faith for the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: One hears from different quarters talk about persecution against Christian Montagnards. Despite the persecution and the exodus of priests and missionary pastors at the time the Communist regime was established, the Montagnards have kept the faith.
In my diocese alone there are more than 180,000 Catholic Montagnards. We
have gathered several testimonies of Montagnards who have been able to keep the
faith and not forget the liturgical prayers by listening to Radio Veritas,
which broadcasts from
The regime has threatened them, demanding that they abandon the Christian faith, but they have refused to do so.
They have lost their jobs, they cannot send their children to the public school, but they continue to defend their faith. They recently built six wooden churches in six different villages.
Q:
Father Hoang Minh Thang: From the point of view of human rights and religious freedom, the government is obliged to keep them in mind for commercial reasons. But in general it tends to resist changes.
To tell the truth, no Communist believes any longer in Communist ideology, which they themselves have betrayed, now following the capitalist system. The only thing they believe in is money, a lot of money, and power.
This explains the plague of corruption never before seen in the history of
But this cannot last forever, because the seed bears in itself its own destruction.
WASHINGTON (April 29, 2004) -- Despite reported improvements in religious freedom in Vietnam, the "violent repression" of some Vietnamese Christians and tthe detention of a Catholic priest are sources of "grave concern," according to the chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' International Policy Committee.
In a letter sent yesterday to Nguyen Tam Chien,
However, he called the treatment of the Montagnard or Dega people, and particularly "the violent repression of their Easter observances this month ... especially reprehensible."
Bishop Ricard also requested a full commutation of the prison sentence
imposed on Father Nguyen Van Ly, "whose only known offense was to submit
testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom critical of
Bishop Ricard asked that the ambassador forward the
The full text of his letter follows:
"Dear Mr. Ambassador,
"Five years ago, together with other American bishops, I had the
pleasure of visiting
"We were pleased to hear from our brother bishops of the improvements in the area of religious freedom in recent years, especially as concerns the Catholic Church. While full religious freedom for all believers seems still a future hope, we believe that the annual visits of the delegation of the Holy See have played a helpful role in these improved relations. We continue to hope that your Government will see the wisdom soon of establishing the long-desired official relationship with the Holy See.
"Recent and widely reported events affecting the Montagnard or Dega
people in the Central Highlands, however, are a matter of grave concern to us
who wish only good for the Vietnamese people. These largely Protestant
Christians have been treated brutally by the authorities for years, with the
violent repression of their Easter observances this month being especially
reprehensible. I ask you to convey to your Government these concerns of the
Catholic Church in the
"Another painful issue is the continued detention of a priest whose only known offense was to submit testimony to the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom critical of
"I urge your Government to commute, not merely further reduce, Father Ly's sentence. May I ask you also to convey this additional concern of the Catholic Church here to your Government."
Office of Communications
To the delight of observing crowds, council members easily pass a resolution
voicing opposition to visits by
By David Haldane
Times Staff Writer
With a unanimous vote Tuesday by the City Council,
Because "the vast majority of … residents of Vietnamese descent … reject the current dictatorial rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party," reads the resolution passed before a cheering throng of Vietnamese American residents, the city "does not welcome or sanction high-profile visits, drive-bys or stopovers by members and officials of the Vietnamese communist government. "
The resolution urges city employees and officials to refrain from "initiating engagements with or facilitating" visits by Vietnamese communists, opposes the expenditure of city funds to promote such events and directs the police chief to require a minimum 14-day notice from any agency or jurisdiction requesting public safety assistance in connection with them.
"This is a moral issue for these people," Mayor Bruce Broadwater, who proposed the resolution, said following the vote as an overflow crowd of about 200 Vietnamese residents, who had watched the meeting on television monitors from an adjacent room, chanted "Thank you" and "We love you."
"They have very strong feelings about this," Broadwater said.
Added Councilman Mark Rosen, speaking directly to the crowd: "As long
as the people in
The council's resolution — which expires on
Both
Chien Ngoc Bach, a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in
"Those who favor and advocate such a resolution," he said,
"do not serve the interests of the majority of the Vietnamese people, and
they are making a desperate attempt to hinder an irreversible trend of contacts
and exchanges between the government of
In reaching out to Vietnamese Americans, he said, the government of
The
The tour was canceled when police said they couldn't ensure the delegates' safety.
Last year, both cities adopted laws declaring that the flag of the former
nation of
And in 1999, Vietnamese community members — at one point numbering 15,000 —
demonstrated for 53 days after a
Tuesday's resolution has been debated by
legal and political experts, some of whom see potential legal and ethical
issues. A constitutional law expert reviewing the proposed
For Immediate Release:
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"The international community must act now and insist that
Large-scale unrest involving between 10,000 and 30,000 indigenous minority
Montagnards occurred in the Central Highland provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai, and
Dak Nong on April 10 and 11, according to
Human Rights Watch has received firsthand reports that security forces and men in civilian clothing, armed with metal bars, shovels, clubs with nails attached to them, machetes, and chains, confronted Montagnard protesters at more than a dozen locations leading into Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Dak Lak province, on the morning of April 10. According to witnesses, the demonstrators were not armed, although some defended themselves when attacked by throwing stones at the police.
In 12 eyewitness accounts obtained by Human Rights Watch, sources from seven
different locations in Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Dak Nong provinces described seeing
Vietnamese police, and civilians working with the police, beating protesters.
Clashes broke out at more than a dozen locations when security forces and
ethnic Vietnamese in civilian clothes blocked demonstrators on roadways leading
into Buon Ma Thuot, including Phan Chu Trinh Road northwest of the city; at Ea
Knir Bridge on the road from Ea Kao commune, which lies east of the city; and
at three locations along the road leading to Krong Pak district town, which
lies northeast of the city, including the Ea Pak and Krong Ana bridges.
Particularly hard hit at
"The security forces were well prepared for the protesters," said PoKempner. "They had set up ambushes at key places such as bridges and the main roads into the city, and assembled people dressed as civilians holding crude weapons to block the roads and attack the protestors."
Security officials confiscated and burned hundreds of the farm tractors and makeshift trailers that many Montagnards were traveling on, which had been packed with food and supplies in preparation for several days of protests.
In Gia Lai province, Vietnamese state media reported that demonstrators from
Ayun Pa, Cu Se, Dak Doa, Duc Co and Chu Prong
districts gathered at the provincial administrative offices in Pleiku
provincial town on April 10. On April 11, Montagnards gathered to demonstrate
in numerous communes in
State media reported that the provincial hospital in Pleiku received 52 injured people. The provincial hospital in Dak Lak reported 40 injured people on the night of April 10. Prior to a government-imposed news blackout on hospital personnel, staff at Pleiku hospital told reporters that they had received scores of wounded people on Sunday night, many with deep gashes and head injuries, and that at least two demonstrators died that night. Many other wounded demonstrators, fearing arrest, have not gone to the hospitals despite being in need of medical attention, Human Rights Watch said.
Witnesses said authorities quickly collected wounded people and dead bodies from the Phan Chu Trinh area, and that within days, the blood on the roadway had been washed away.
Human Rights Watch stressed the urgency of an independent investigation.
"We fear that a huge cover-up operation has likely already taken place," said PoKempner. "The Vietnamese government needs to account for the large numbers of people who never returned to their villages after the demonstrations and are now feared to be dead or detained at unknown locations."
Hundreds of Montagnards have fled their villages and gone into hiding, Human
Rights Watch said. In violation of
Testimony: The Killings on
A 26 year old
"They suddenly rushed at the unarmed crowd, beating the demonstrators until many were lying in the streets," she said. "They chased demonstrators who tried to flee, including children and women."
She and many other demonstrators fled to the coffee fields behind the shops lining the roadway, chased by security forces. She described what happened:
A thousand people tried to get away from the slaughter by the police and civilians. They were beating us with metal bars and sticks. People were bleeding from their throats, noses, mouths, and eyes. The villagers were crying as they tried to get away from the slaughter by the police and civilians. We were running helter-skelter. Those who tried to hide in the coffee plantation were caught, beaten and killed on the spot. Police, students, and Vietnamese threw rocks at us. Many of us were bleeding from being hit on our heads with rocks. Many people were injured and bleeding. We didn't have any first-aid for their wounds. They were bleeding from their throats, noses, mouths, and eyes. A blind woman sitting on the farm tractor was killed on the road by a dozen Vietnamese people, including police. They asked her to get down from the tractor but she could not because she was blind. They rushed at her and beat her until she fell from the tractor and died. The police and Vietnamese civilians smashed and stepped on our food, clothing and blankets we had prepared for a long-term peaceful demonstration asking for freedom and the end to harassment of our religion and our Montagnard life.
For more information, please contact:
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In Washington D.C., Liz Weiss: +1
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Independence-Liberty-Happiness
To: Party and State Leaders
The People’s Court of Hanoi
From: Do, Thi Cu
Wife of Colonel Pham Que Duong
Learning that the People’s Court is about to try my husband, Colonel Pham Que Duong with the espionage charge, despite his ailing conditions, I feel compelled to send this letter to all of you.
I had previously sent 3 letters to the Party and state leaders, but have yet to receive a word of response. Where do I go to seek justice? The situation brings back to my mind the lyrics of a song: “I call upon God, God did not hear me. I call upon the Earth, Earth did not respond. I call upon the Party; the Party turns a deaf ear. Where do I go to find justice?”
My name is Do Thi Cu. I am 62 years of age and have 38 years with the Party.
When I was still active with the lumber union of
I am a simple woman. I’m not strong in litigating, but I know my husband
well. My husband can never be a spy. He joined the revolution way before 1945
and is rewarded with senior pension for his service during the pre-revolution
years. Through various projects and different positions, he was promoted to a
high ranking officer position with the people’s army. If he is a spy, then the
effort to train cadre of the party for more than half a century is down the
drain. Accusing him of espionage is to dishonor the proud history of the
people’s army, to humiliate the revolutionary history of
I can understand your anger at Mr. Duong for his candid, bold statement without regard that the mistakes were committed by his superiors. But, to accuse him of espionage is mean.
As a wife, I cannot keep quiet knowing that my husband is in danger. That
would be wrong of me. My question is, for which country are you accusing my
husband of spying for? Is it the U.S?
The statement/announcement from the Office of Thoughts/Culture about the charge of espionage on my husband is very mean, it is full of ambiguity, not to mention unlawful.
It was said that the search of my home turned up 902 documents, yet the type of documents was not clearly stated. What spy would be foolish enough to keep 902 documents in the house? In fact, those are written documents on democracy, on historic and famous sites, on the hero of yesteryear and today as well as letters of complaint from people asking for help. My husband is a media man and a history researcher. He needs documents to do his research.
Would a spy be naïve enough to keep receipt of payment at home? I don’t know
how much money my husband had at time of arrest, but the amount of $2,001
dollars the police confiscated from me in
What spy would loudly voice up his opinion to comment on the mistakes of the Party and the state? A spy would keep a low profile, stay undercover and make a front so the police and state leaders would trust him. A spy would not publicly state his political opinion. Therefore, to accuse my husband of spying is unjust, unfounded.
My husband does not share the same political opinion with the Party and the State. He protests the Party elimination of General Tran Do. He returned his Party identification card. He filed an application to form an anti-corruption association. He speaks against the arrests, confiscation of books and publications as well as other violations of human rights of the state. His actions upset the state’s leaders, but his actions are not illegal. Anger can be dealt with in many different ways such as debate and criticism; arrest, condemnation and unjust accusation should not be used.
I strongly protest your accusation that my husband is a spy.
I ask that the trial of my husband be an open one as provided by the law so everybody can attend. The domestic and international press should be allowed to attend and report on it. The trial should not be closed to public as the previous ones, for that is unfair for the accused. To quietly try and condemned someone of an unfounded crime is a crime. That is unacceptable. An unfair trial will not earn respect from anyone, will convince no one.
I am asking the state leaders to consider my letter.
I am asking the people’s court of Hanoi to consider my letter
Written in
Do Thi Cu
Wife of Colonel Pham Que Duong
Address: 37 Ly
Copy to:
Office of the General Secretary of the Politburo
Office of the President
Office of the Prime Minister
Office of the Parliament
KSNDTC Institute
People’s Court of Vietnam National Front
Veterans’ Association
Media/Press
Free
Press Release
According to sources in
On
Since September 2003, the Vietnamese Communist government has stepped up attacks against Christians. In addition to the ongoing repression in the Central Highlands, authorities have targeted the Mennonite house churches throughout the southern party of the country.
Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, who serves as vice president of the
The Free Vietnam Alliance urgently calls on the international community to intervene on behalf of Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh and all other Vietnamese being persecuted for their peaceful religious activities.