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 
------- 
 
¶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 
------- 
 
¶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