Cablegate: Protestant Setback in a Ninh Thuan Village

VZCZCXRO7658
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #1122/01 2760849
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030849Z OCT 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1539
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1093
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1625

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001122

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PINR SOCI PREL KIRF PGOV VM
SUBJECT: PROTESTANT SETBACK IN A NINH THUAN VILLAGE

HO CHI MIN 00001122 001.2 OF 002

1. (SBU) Summary: A local evangelist from an ethnic minority
village in central Ninh Thuan told us that all 30 followers
affiliated with his Inter-Evangelistic Movement had renounced
Protestantism under pressure. Local officials reportedly
threatened to withhold government benefits and ostracize
villagers who remained Protestant. The evangelist also was
pressed forced to leave the village. The head of the Ninh Thuan
provincial Committee for Religious Affairs said that the 30
villagers had "voluntarily abandoned" Protestantism as was a
result of community pressure not because of government policy or
action. In Hanoi, the national Committee for Religious Affairs
informed Embassy that there are only three Protestants in the
village in question. End Summary.

2. (SBU) On September 20, Pastor Ngo Hoai No, a leading pastor
of the HCMC-based Inter-Evangelist Movement (IEM) contacted us
to report allegations of forced renunciation among ethnic
minority IEM followers in the central coastal province of Ninh
Tuan. On September 22, we met in HCMC with Evangelist Ya Guong
who said that over the past six months local police had stepped
up harassment of IEM followers in Ja Rot village. According to
Guong, the IEM established its presence in the village in 2000
when he moved in from Lam Dong Province. The members of the IEM
house church were ethnic Raglai; some converted in 2003, others
in 2005. The communal government leader is ethnic Vietnamese
(Kinh). The senior local police official ethnic Raglai. Guong
is ethnic Chu Ru, but his wife is Raglai. Guong said that, over
the past six months, all 30 members of the house church have
renounced their faith under pressure and because of fear of
losing government benefits.

3. (SBU) According to Evangelist Guong, the community had been
under episodic pressure since its founding in 2000. Recently,
he has been called in repeatedly to attend working sessions by
the district and commune police and was accused of being
affiliated with activists in the Central Highlands working to
establish a ethnic minority state. (He flatly denied this was
the case.) He said that the 33 members of his church (including
Guong and his family) were told that they must renounce their
faith or risk losing all government assistance. On July 17, he
said, the Commune People's Committee gathered all 33 IEM
members, their families, and representatives from five other
villages for a meeting. Guong said that he and his family were
made to stand on a stage for four hours during which they were
questioned and pressured to renounce their faith. Guong
refused. On September 8, Guong and his family were called in
for a "working session" with local police at which he was again
threatened and told to renounce his faith. At that meeting,
Guong said he presented the police with a copy of the February
2005 Prime Ministerial Decree on Protestantism. The police
reportedly told Guong that the decree "does not apply here."

4. (SBU) Guong said that authorities had refused to vaccinate
his children or to issue his infant a birth certificate "until
the issue of Guong's religion is resolved." Guong also said
that he was given a letter to copy and sign which stated that he
wished to leave the village "voluntarily" to pursue more
favorable economic and religious opportunities elsewhere. Guong
said that he did not want to leave his village. He had written
a protest letter to the local Committee for Religious Affairs,
but local officials refused to notarize or accept his letters.

5. (SBU) On September 23, we called the Chairman of the Ninh
Thuan provincial CRA Nguyen Dinh Liem to discuss the
allegations. He said that the GVN policy on religion was clear
and the new legal framework on religion is being implemented in
the province. That said, he agreed to travel to the remote
village to investigate, which he apparently did on September 27.
After that visit, he told us that there was no "forced"
renunciation of faith, nor any refusal of government benefits or
birth certificates.

6. (SBU) Liem acknowledged that 30 of the 33 followers in
Guong's village had "abandoned" Protestantism; and that the
villagers "had asked Guong to go and hold or attend praying
services in a location where there is a church." He explained
that the pressure came "in part" from other ethnic minority
villagers, who feel strongly about maintaining their indigenous
traditional beliefs. He committed to travel to the village
again in early October to meet with Guong. He added that the
province is preparing for various hitherto unregistered
religious groups to register their activities. We were not able
to speak with local officials directly.

7. (SBU) Embassy Hanoi also notified the national CRA of the
incident. On September 29, the Embassy was notified that
"villagers" were upset that Guong was "misrepresenting" the
number of Protestants in the village -- while he maintained
there were 33, in fact, there were only three: Guong and his
two small children. Because of this misrepresentation, they
asked him to leave.

HO CHI MIN 00001122 002.2 OF 002

8. (SBU) Comment: Although members of the IEM have taken strong
positions on some political issues, to our knowledge they have
never participated in activities that could be seen to threaten
Vietnam's territorial integrity. We also have received reports
-- yet unverified -- that other IEM congregations in Binh Thuan
and Binh Phuoc provinces also are coming under similar pressure.
It is possible that authorities are concerned with the IEM
because two of its HCMC-based leaders signed the "Block 8406"
manifesto calling for multi-party democracy in Vietnam.

9. (SBU) Guong appears absolutely sincere in his claims. We
pressed him hard and he gave detailed descriptions of events and
did not appear to have a hidden agenda. Village-level
differences between the newly converted and traditionalists
frequently contribute to conflicts over religion and local
officials may well be using public ostracism and threats of
withholding benefits to discourage evangelical Protestantism.
At least in this corner of Vietnam, the GVN decree on
facilitating the practice of Protestantism appears tenuous. End
Comment.
WINNICK

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