Cablegate: Committee for Religious Affairs and Protestant Organization
VZCZCXRO2237
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #3059/01 3560852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220852Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4190
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2280
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003059
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM
SUBJECT: COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS AND PROTESTANT ORGANIZATION
UPDATE POLOFF ON RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS
REF: HANOI 1880
HANOI 00003059 001.2 OF 002
Summary
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1. (SBU) The Government Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) told
Poloff on December 19 that it will issue recognition certificates to
two previously unrecognized church organizations on December 23.
The CRA also confirmed the existence of a controversial training
manual on Protestantism. The manual, intended for use by local
officials, includes language that might be construed as encouraging
forced renunciation of some recently converted ethnic minority
Protestants. The CRA suggested that this language may be revised.
Northern Protestants confirmed two new registrations of ethnic
minority congregations and predicted others, though "progress has
slowed" in some provinces. We are encouraged by positive statements
of government officials and Protestants going into the New Year, but
will continue to encourage the CRA to increase the pace of
registration work and revise the training manual so that it cannot
be interpreted by officials as authorization to encourage
renunciations of faith. End Summary.
2. (SBU) On December 19, Dang Tai Tinh, Director of the CRA
International Cooperation Department, briefed Poloff on year-end
religious freedom developments in Vietnam. Tinh expressed the CRA's
appreciation for the USG's recent decision to remove Vietnam from
the list of Countries of Particular Concern on religious freedom.
"One way or another, the GVN will continue to promote the spiritual
well-being of its citizens," Tinh added.
Religious Freedom Developments
------------------------------
3. (SBU) Tinh read Poloff portions of the end-of-year internal CRA
report on religious developments. The report confirmed that, in
September, CRA provided recognition certificates to 3 previously
unrecognized religions, the United World Mission Church and two
Buddhist organizations and during October issued registration
certificates to 25 Protestant congregations, in addition to others,
in Ho Chi Minh City, including 17 belonging to unrecognized
organizations. Beyond this previously reported information, Tinh
also confirmed that the CRA will issue recognition certificates to
the 7th Day Adventists and the General Baptist Conference (Grace
Baptist Church) on December 23. (Note: Both churches were among
those allowed to register "sub-congregations" in Ho Chi Minh City in
October. This latest certificate will legalize their entire
organizations. End Note.) In addition, there are now 781 Southern
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) "meeting points" registered in
the Central Highlands (an increase of 73 since October), and another
123 registered places of worship affiliated with other religious
organizations in the region.
4. (SBU) The CRA report also confirmed that between June and
October, 27 Evangelical Church of Vietnam North (ECVN) churches in 9
Northern and Northwest Highlands provinces were issued registration
certificates as part of the CRA's pilot registration program. As
promised, the CRA is now assisting provinces in the North to develop
their own registration programs based on the results of the pilot
registrations. Tinh could not provide numbers of additional
congregations registered since October, but stated that "a few
additional churches have received their certificates."
5. (SBU) Tinh also noted that the CRA met with a delegation of U.S.,
Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City representatives of the Church of
Latter Day Saints on November 9 and the CRA is now considering
whether to register several Mormon congregations in Hanoi. Tinh
also highlighted the CRA's recent publication and distribution of
bibles (and Buddhist materials) in the ethnic minority languages of
Jarai, Ede and Bana (and Khmer) in the Central Highlands.
Protestantism Training Document
-------------------------------
6. (SBU) Poloff asked Tinh to confirm the existence of a CRA
training document designed for local officials on Protestantism, and
noted our concern that the current version of the document, provided
to us by religious activists, divides Protestants into three cohorts
depending on the length of time these ethnic minority individuals
have professed belonging to the religion. Poloff also noted that
the training document's instructions to local officials to encourage
recently converted Protestants to return to their traditional
beliefs appears to be an explicit instruction to force some
Protestants to renounce their faith.
7. (SBU) Tinh confirmed that the training document is a CRA
publication used as a training manual for provincial, district and
commune officials in the North. The manual is issued to officials
who attend training workshops on the PM's Instruction on
HANOI 00003059 002.2 OF 002
Protestantism and is designed to educate them about the religion.
The division of Protestants into 3 cohorts reflects an internal GVN
compromise brokered by CRA in order to address the concerns of local
officials (who are often ethnic minority traditionalists) about
"instability" arising in remote regions from conflict between ethnic
minority traditionalists and recent Protestant converts. Tinh
acknowledged that the manual's language about encouraging recent
converts to return to their traditional customs could be interpreted
as an instruction to force renunciation; however, "to err is human"
and CRA has already made several edits to the manual correcting
language that could be misinterpreted by unsophisticated officials
at lower levels.
The Protestant View
-------------------
8. (SBU) On December 14, ECVN General Secretary Au Quang Vinh told
Poloff that the ECVN is delighted with recent developments
concerning religious freedom in the North. For example, immediately
following Vinh's November 19 participation in an ecumenical prayer
service with President Bush in Hanoi (and a meeting later that day
with Secretary Rice at the Ambassador's residence), he traveled to
Lang Son Province to participate in the inauguration of a new ethnic
H'mong church in Bac Son District associated with the legacy Dzao
ECVN church in the same locality. This congregation was not on the
list of pilot registrations promulgated by the CRA before the APEC
November Summit. Vinh said that provincial officials decided to
allow the congregation's registration shortly after, and in direct
response to, the Ambassador's visit with the Dzao congregation in
July (Ref A). Vinh also reported that another congregation in Thai
Nguyen Province was allowed to register in November and ECVN plans a
similar event as above with this new church. This congregation was
also not on the list of pilot registrations promulgated by the CRA
before APEC. Vinh speculates that other previously unregistered
churches have similarly received their registration certificates in
the North and Northwest regions, but he simply has not heard from
them yet.
9. (SBU) Poloff asked if there has been any GVN retrenchment on
religious freedom since the APEC summit. Vinh reiterated that ECVN
has not heard any reports of police harassment of churches in the
North since last January. He said that, since APEC, progress on
religious freedom continues to advance in some areas while "slowing
in some others"; however, the situation has not actually
deteriorated in these problematic areas, rather "forward progress
has simply slowed". (Note: Vinh did not elaborate. End Note).
Vinh reported that ECVN President Pastor Phung Quang Huyen traveled
to Lai Chau Province in early November (during APEC) as planned.
Huyen received a chilly reception from provincial officials and a
slightly more lukewarm reception from district officials; however,
the provincial and district authorities allowed Huyen an
unprecedented opportunity to meet and worship with an unregistered
ECVN church while he was in the province (NFI).
10. (SBU) Vinh also reported that Protestant and Catholic relations
in the North are "the best they have ever been" since the November
19 ecumenical service. ECVN and the Hanoi Archdiocese have had a
good exchange of ideas on promoting religious freedom for Christians
in Vietnam since the event and some Catholic parishioners have even
started attending Protestant services and vice versa in order to
learn more about each other's faiths.
Comment
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11. (SBU) While we had hoped for more concrete information on end of
year religious developments, particularly on Protestant
registrations before Christmas, we are encouraged by the level of
good feeling expressed by the CRA and the ECVN about the status of
religious freedom in Vietnam. We were also encouraged by the CRA's
acknowledgement of the problems with their training manual. Now
that the CRA has confirmed that the document is official, we will
document our specific concerns and more formally press for
revisions.
ALOISI