VZCZCXRO6236
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0669/01 3371007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031007Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6147
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 4042
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 6390

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000669 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: AS LANG MAI FOLLOWERS HUNKER DOWN IN LAM DONG, ANOTHER GROUP 
IS EVICTED IN KHANH HOA 
 
REF: HANOI 873 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000669  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Subject:  As Lang Mai Followers Hunker Down in Lam Dong, Another 
Group Is Evicted in Khanh Hoa 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  More than 200 Lang Mai monks and nuns remain 
at the Phuoc Hue pagoda in Lam Dong province.  Reliable contacts 
report that police continue to monitor their activities and 
attempt to mobilize members of the community to sign a petition 
to evict them.  Twenty-one Lang Mai monks and nuns were forcibly 
evicted from a pagoda in Khanh Hoa province on November 29; an 
additional eleven nuns have taken sanctuary in Hue.  There have 
been no reports of violence since the earlier violence and 
forced evictions in June and September (Ref A). Sympathetic 
provincial Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha leaders continue to press 
the Central VBS and Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) to 
allow Lang Mai followers to practice their faith freely, and 
there are signs the Central VBS has approved sponsorship 
requests from pagodas in Dong Nai and Dalat.  Our Lang Mai 
contacts are pessimistic the CRA will approve the sponsorships, 
however, because they do not believe the GVN wants large groups 
of non-VBS monks congregating and promoting alternative Buddhist 
teachings outside of the legal framework on religion.  ConGenOff 
has requested permission to visit Lam Dong from December 15 - 17 
to meet with all parties involved.  Three resident EU diplomats 
will visit the Phuoc Hue pagoda during the week of December 7. 
Post has reiterated our calls that the situation be resolved 
peacefully and in accordance with the law during November 
meetings with MFA, MPS and CRA officials.  End summary. 
 
 
 
Campaign Against Lang Mai Continues 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) 212 of the 291 Lang Mai monks and nuns forcefully 
evicted from Bat Nha pagoda on September 27 continue to reside 
at Phuoc Hue pagoda in Bao Loc, Lam Dong.  However, HCMC 
contacts report their situation remains tenuous and that some 
local authorities continue to pressure pagoda leaders to evict 
the followers.  One reliable contact who recently visited her 
sister, a Lang Mai nun currently residing at Phuoc Hue pagoda, 
said that police maintain a constant watch on the pagoda from a 
hotel across the street.  They frequently visit Phuoc Hue to 
check the residency permits of pagoda residents to determine if 
they have permission from the local government to reside there. 
This contact said police are also lobbying townspeople in Bao 
Loc to sign a petition asking Phuoc Hue's head monk, Thich Thai 
Thuan, to evict the Lang Mai group. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) VBS leaders in Lam Dong confirmed Internet reports that 
provincial leaders asked Thich Thai Thuan to evict the Lang Mai 
group on November 2.  Thich Thai Thuan told ConGenOff the lunch 
meeting was "friendly," as officials tried to use persuasion 
rather than threats to convince him that harboring Lang Mai 
followers was not in his best interests.  Thuan confirmed 
reports of frequent police checks, as well as attempts by 
visiting delegations from the monks' and nuns' home provinces to 
persuade them to leave and return to their place of residence. 
Several Lang Mai monks and nuns told ConGenOff that local 
authorities have also tried to pressure their relatives to 
persuade them to return home by making life difficult for family 
members, including discouraging employers from hiring them or 
threatening to withhold promotions for those in government 
positions.  One Lang Mai leader said his brother, who is a 
schoolteacher, was forced to attend a meeting where school 
officials denounced the Lang Mai community and the VBS leaders 
who offered them refuge as "instigators of unrest engaged in 
anti-government activities." 
 
 
 
Lang Mai Followers in Khanh Hoa Evicted 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Followers also reported to us that local police 
forcibly evicted 21 Lang Mai monks and nuns seeking refuge at Tu 
Duc pagoda in Khanh Hoa province on November 29.  The eviction 
occurred even though Tu Duc's leader, the Venerable Thich Giac 
Vien, agreed to sponsor and register temporary residence permits 
for two monks and 19 nuns.  Eleven other Lang Mai followers from 
the province were allowed to remain at the pagoda.  Senior Lang 
Mai monk Phap Sy, who was escorted by police to Khanh Hoa 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000669  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
province after being evicted from Bat Nha, said he is living at 
home and routinely asked by local police to report his 
movements.  Another leader, Phap Tu, remains in contact with 
ConGen but declined to reveal his current location.  In addition 
to the groups in Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa, eleven Lang Mai nuns 
are currently residing at Tu Hieu pagoda in Hue province.  The 
Lang Mai contingent in Lam Dong participated in disaster relief 
efforts in Hue led by Phuoc Hue leader Thich Thai Thuan, but 
were reportedly escorted by Lam Dong authorities throughout 
their visit. 
 
 
 
Provincial VBS Leaders Offer Support 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Executive Committee of the VBS initially issued an 
ultimatum that gave Lang Mai followers until November 30 to end 
their "illegal gathering" at Phuoc Hue pagoda in Lam Dong. 
However, the date has come and gone without official action. 
Our contacts report that the Central VBS has approved 
sponsorship offers by the Venerable Thich Minh Nghia of Toan 
Giac pagoda in Dong Nai and the Venerable Thich Vien Thanh of 
Van Hanh pagoda in Dalat.  The sponsorships have been forwarded 
to the National CRA for review.  Lang Mai contacts doubt the CRA 
will approve the sponsorship requests, however, because they 
believe authorities are not comfortable with the idea of having 
large groups of non-resident and non-VBS Buddhists promulgating 
alternative teachings outside of the legal framework on 
religion.  Another monk also pointed out that Thich Minh Nghia 
does not have permanent residency in Dong Nai and Toan Giac 
pagoda is not recognized as an official VBS property. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The situation in Lam Dong province has been 
violence-free since September 28, but some of the remaining Lang 
Mai followers continue to be subjected to less overt forms of 
harassment.  The legal situation of the remaining followers, and 
the local government's plans for them, remain unclear.  In 
November, Embassy officers met with MFA, MPS and CRA officials 
to reiterate the concerns expressed in September and during the 
Human Rights Dialogue that the situation be resolved peacefully 
and in accordance with the law.  Post has requested a meeting 
with CRA Vice Chairman Xuan during the week of December 7, and 
ConGenOff has requested permission (since Lam Dong is not part 
of the GVN-recognized consular district) to visit Lam Dong to 
meet with provincial officials, VBS leaders, and the Lang Mai 
practitioners themselves on December 15.  Three resident EU 
diplomats will travel to the province next week and will brief 
us upon their return to Hanoi. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
FAIRFAX