VZCZCXRO7882
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0582/01 0730335
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140335Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1102
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0704
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HANFORD MEETS CHAIRMAN THI OF THE 
COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS 
 
 
HANOI 00000582  001.4 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for 
International Religious Freedom John Hanford met February 21 
with the head of Vietnam's Committee for Religious Affairs. 
They agreed that the GVN has taken important steps to 
establishing religious freedom in most of the country; 
however the Northwest Highlands remains problematic for 
removing the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) 
designation.  Over the next six months, the CRA will focus 
its efforts on educating local authorities in this region 
about Government policy promoting the registration of 
Protestant groups.  Chairman Thi also promised to provide by 
June a province-by-province breakdown of statistics on 
freedom of religion, including the number of new churches 
registered.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) United States Ambassador-at-Large for International 
Religious Freedom John Hanford, accompanied by Ambassador 
Marine, met February 21 with Chairman Ngo Yen Thi of the 
GVN's Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA).  Ambassador 
Hanford commended and thanked the GVN and CRA for their 
efforts to improve conditions for all groups of religious 
believers in Vietnam.  With the CRA's leadership, the 
"irritant" to the bilateral relationship of Vietnam's CPC 
designation could be removed.  Of the four issues that 
generated the CPC designation (discussed below), all but one 
have been substantially resolved.  With high-level GVN 
efforts, the remaining issue of registration of Protestant 
groups in the Northwest Highlands area could be resolved 
before the President visits Vietnam for the November APEC 
summit.  The President takes a personal interest in 
Vietnam's approach to religious freedom, so our mutual 
efforts to improve the situation for believers have proven a 
positive development for the bilateral relationship.  . 
 
¶3. (SBU) In terms of recent positive developments, 
Ambassador Hanford listed:  the creation of a new legal 
framework for religious freedom; the virtual abolition of 
forced renunciations; the release of all religious prisoners 
of conscience, except for Ma Van Bay; the registration of 
many places of worship in Gia Lai Province; the GVN's 
decision to permit the Evangelical Church of Vietnam North 
(ECVN) to hold a long overdue national conference; the 
decision to allow Thich Nhat Hanh's visit to Vietnam; the 
decision to allow various religious groups to train and 
appoint new leaders; and, most significantly, the 
promulgation of new laws allowing previously unregistered 
congregations and faiths to legally register their 
activities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Chairman Thi thanked Ambassador Hanford and noted 
that all of these achievements were the result of mutual 
efforts undertaken by both governments in recognition of the 
importance of improving the bilateral relationship.  He 
promised by June to provide Ambassador Marine with an 
official GVN summary of the progress in 2005 broken down by 
province, as requested.  This report would specifically 
record the number of Protestant groups applying to register 
and the number approved in each province in 2005, as well as 
other statistics on the numbers of new and renovated places 
of worship.  This report will be followed with an update for 
2006 statistics, Thi said. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Regarding Protestants, the Chairman noted that the 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) has become 
"stabilized" as an organization.  One of five new SECV 
training facilities has already been completed, and 684 
places of worship have been registered in the Central 
Highlands.  The SECV's new bible school will allow them to 
train more than twice the number of pastors than before. 
Thus the situation for Protestants in the Central Highlands 
is getting better.  Thi agreed, however, that the situation 
for Protestants in the Northwest Highlands remains 
problematic, as implementation of the PM's Instruction on 
Protestantism has been slower in this region than in the 
Central Highlands.  The CRA has sent officers to the region 
to investigate a number of allegations forwarded by 
Ambassador Marine in recent months, particularly in Lao Cai 
and Ha Giang provinces.  These officers report that local 
authorities generally claim either there are no Protestants 
in their districts or that "the few" under their 
administration are followers of the "Vang Chu" sect and thus 
a source of instability that must be suppressed.  This 
problem is compounded by the fact that "there are many 
branches of Protestantism, and it's difficult to ascertain 
which dogma each branch follows," especially since most 
local Protestants don't have resident pastors to guide them, 
Thi noted.  Local officials are also worried about 
significant disagreements within H'mong communities in the 
 
HANOI 00000582  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
northwest between ECVN converts and the more numerous 
followers of traditional beliefs, particularly in disputes 
over the division of family lands. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Chairman gave several examples of the CRA's 
efforts to investigate allegations of discrimination against 
and abuse of Protestants raised by the Embassy in recent 
months.  Among these, a recent ECVN allegation that two 
followers were beaten in Lao Cai Province had proven 
groundless when the local officials subjected the 
individuals in question to an independent medical 
examination.  In a similar case (NFI), district officials 
asserted that the individuals alleged to have been beaten 
were fictitious.  Despite local explanations, however, Thi 
acknowledged that the CRA believes that abuses do occur in 
the region -- though he was careful to state that the GVN 
assumes these abuses are the fault of local citizens, not 
local authorities.  Whatever the explanation, the CRA has 
been meeting with provincial and district officials to 
explain what Protestantism is and to train them in how to 
help Protestant groups register. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In conclusion, Thi noted that the CRA had recently 
recognized two new religious organizations:  the Ho Chi Minh 
City branches of the Baptist Church and the 7th Day 
Adventists (which will allow them to begin registering 
individual congregations).  In addition, the CRA has 
recommended that the National Assembly approve a new law 
that will assist religious groups wishing to conduct 
charitable programs for the benefit of society. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Hanford replied that the positive 
developments in the Central Highlands demonstrate the good 
intentions of the CRA and the GVN towards the freedom of 
religion.  Of the four issues underlying CPC designation, 
forced renunciations still occur, but in very low numbers. 
Furthermore, all religious prisoners have been released, 
except Ma Van Bay, although the less severe issue of "pagoda 
arrests" continues.  Thus, the only real remaining problem 
is the issue of registration of places of worship, and it is 
from the northwest that we hear the most complaints.  (Note: 
The fourth issue, punishment of officials for religious 
freedom violations, was not discussed.  End Note.)  Since 
May of last year, 300 congregations in northern Vietnam have 
applied to register, but none has received any kind of 
answer from local officials.  In fact, in some cases, local 
officials have actually taken advantage of the application 
process and used application lists of followers to target 
people for harassment.  Some have been beaten, and others 
have been threatened if they do not cease meeting for 
worship.  In some cases where believers point to the new 
laws, local officials claim that they have not been 
instructed by Hanoi.  A recent DFA article cited similar 
problems in the northwest, Ambassador Hanford said. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Turning to the issue of the tendency for Protestant 
groups to splinter into numerous different denominations, 
Ambassador Hanford stated that it is important for the GVN 
to give such groups the freedom to split and to allow 
smaller groups to apply for recognition and registration. 
However, it seems that most Protestant groups in the 
northwest wish to be part of the officially recognized ECVN. 
As the GVN gave the SECV permission to register a number of 
groups en masse, a similar approach with the ECVN would 
clearly demonstrate the Government's positive inclination 
towards churches in the northwest.  This would also help 
force local authorities to become more transparent in their 
dealings with the Protestants.  The GVN should also increase 
its efforts to allow the ECVN to train local pastors and lay 
preachers, and to hold local authorities to account for 
abuses against followers worshipping legally, Ambassador 
Hanford urged. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In conclusion, Ambassador Hanford applauded the 
CRA's efforts to promote the legalization of faith-based 
charitable works, noting that in the United States over one 
half of charitable giving goes to religious institutions. 
These institutions provide a very large portion of social 
care for the needy.  In a related issue, Ambassador Hanford 
asked for a clarification of GVN law on whether religious 
groups are allowed to conduct various activities outside 
normal worship (religious retreats, charitable works, etc.) 
without first informing the Government, or whether they need 
to seek prior approval from local authorities. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Chairman Thi answered that religious groups are 
allowed, under the Ordinance on Religion, to conduct normal 
religious activities (services, rituals and small festivals) 
 
HANOI 00000582  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
at officially recognized places of worship without prior 
approval; however, officials must approve any activities 
conducted outside places of worship.  In addition, large 
festivals also require prior approval.  Thi also explained 
that groups are allowed to select their own leaders 
according to their own rules and processes provided the 
Government accepts their choices. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Ambassador Hanford reiterated the importance of 
movement on religious freedom in Vietnam for the sake of our 
bilateral relationship.  He stated that Secretary Rice had 
specifically asked him to participate in the Human Rights 
Dialogue after her conversation with FM Nguyen Dzy Nien in 
Busan in November 2005.  Ambassador Hanford said he would 
try to return to Vietnam "once or twice" over the next six 
months to seek to resolve, where possible, remaining issues 
connected with CPC designation.. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Ambassador Marine thanked the CRA for its efforts 
to investigate allegations brought forward by the Embassy, 
noting that this transparency has helped the United States 
to better understand many of these cases.  He pledged to 
continue to share issues of concern with the CRA as they 
arise.  We look forward to soon reading the CRA's province- 
by-province statistical report on religious freedom, as this 
will be helpful in further discussions of CPC designation. 
In addition, the United States shares the CRA's enthusiasm 
for allowing religious groups to do charitable work in 
Vietnam, particularly in the area of HIV/AIDS relief. 
Finally, the ECVN should be allowed to establish a training 
center for new pastors in Hanoi, the Ambassador emphasized. 
Chairman Thi responded that he had heard about the ECVN's 
desire to establish a new bible school, but he has not 
looked into their request yet. 
 
¶14. (U) Ambassador Hanford cleared this message. 
 
MARINE