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Cablegate: Reports of Religious Freedom Violations in Quang Ngai

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000910

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: REPORTS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VIOLATIONS IN QUANG NGAI
PROVINCE

1. (SBU) Following up on an earlier lead from a reliable contact
in the Protestant house church movement, on August 22 we spoke
with Dinh Ruong (strictly protect), a preacher in Quang Ngai
Province of the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of
Vietnam (SECV). Ruong reported that an SECV church that
ministered to local ethnic minority families in the Son Ha
District of Quang Ngai had encountered severe police harassment.
According to Ruong, after Sunday services on August 21, local
authorities told the parishioners that they must renounce their
faith or they would not be allowed to remain in the locality.
Later in the day, individuals reportedly belonging to the local
Veterans' Association burned down the home of the local preacher
that doubled as the place of worship. Three years ago, that
preacher had been expelled from another district in the province
because of local official opposition to his proselytizing among
the ethnic minority community.

2. (SBU) Ruong also reported on an apparently separate incident
involving ethnic minority H're residing in Son Tay District near
the provincial border with the Central Highlands province of
Kontum. Ruong said that local district authorities for "some
time" had pressed unsuccessfully for H're Protestants to renounce
their faith. At the end of July, provincial authorities ordered
10 H're Protestant families to an area closer to the provincial
capital "for better control" and reportedly destroyed their houses
in their village. While some H're complied with the order, others
refused to move, and others fled.

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3. (SBU) An affiliate of the Chief Representative of the Quang
Ngai SECV Representative Board confirmed the reports to us on
August 26. This contact said that the Provincial Chief
Representative would meet with the General Secretary of the SECV's
National Executive Committee.

4. (SBU) The Chief of the Quang Ngai Committee for Religious
Affairs refused to take our phone call on August 24. On August
26, we met with Phan Thu Hang, Pol/Econ Chief in the HCMC Office
of External Relations. We handed over a letter requesting
additional information on the incidents (letter emailed Embassy
Hanoi and EAP/BCLTV). We stressed to Hang that the incidents --
if confirmed -- would be a serious violation of Vietnam's new
legal framework on religion. That said, we understood that
implementation of the new legal framework on religion by local
authorities has been uneven, particularly in more remote areas.
While provincial and other senior-level officials may not be able
to prevent unfortunate incidents, how they respond once they have
been alerted is critical. Hang undertook to contact provincial
leaders and to provide us with a "clarification" as soon as
possible.

WINNICK

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