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