VZCZCXRO5119
RR RUEHCHI RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0270/01 0850843
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260843Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2258
INFO RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1619
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2438

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000270 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CONDITIONS IN HUE 
 
REF: A. A) HCMC 266; B) HCMC 261; C) HCMC 248 AND PREVIOUS; D) 
 
     ¶B. 06 HCMC 1089; E)05 HCMC 623 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000270  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Religious freedom conditions in Central 
Vietnam's Thua Thien Hue conditions continue to gradually 
improve for the Catholic archdiocese and the small 
Protestant community.  The decision of a house church group 
in the province to apply for registration under Vietnam's 
legal framework on religion reflects not only this local 
improvement, but a decision of its HCMC-based leadership to 
seek to legalize operations throughout the country.  In 
contrast, conditions for the outlawed Unified Buddhist 
Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in Hue remain difficult.  The 
authorities continue to view the UBCV as a substantial 
threat.  Recently they have moved aggressively to tighten 
movement restrictions on key Hue-based UBCV leaders and to 
counter UBCV efforts to appoint new leaders to strengthen 
its organization.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a visit to Hue on March 1 and 2, Embassy 
and ConGen PolOffs met with local government officials and 
religious leaders to assess developments in religious 
freedom in the province.  Chairman of the Provincial 
Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA), Duong Viet Hong, 
stressed the province's commitment to implement Vietnam's 
legal framework for religion.  He assured us that the 
approximately 605,000 Buddhists, 55,000 Catholics, 300 
Protestants, and 200 Cao Dai followers who reside in the 
province are treated fairly.  He acknowledged that the 
return of expropriated religious property and role of 
religious institutions in education remain unresolved 
challenges.  The province still considers land expropriated 
from the Catholic Church and the Buddhists -- principally 
religious schools and hospitals -- as "contributions."  He 
hailed Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung's recent meeting 
with the Vatican and hoped it would bring the Catholic 
Church and the government closer together. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Hue CRA Chairman also said the province was 
looking forward to welcoming back Zen Master Thich Nhat 
Hanh to Hue (Ref B).  Hanh's visit to Vietnam is an example 
of the GVN's tolerant policy on religious freedom, he 
asserted.  Hanh is welcome because he "shares the same 
religious belief" as other Buddhists in Hue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The CRA Chairman noted that Protestantism has only 
a very modest footprint in the province.  Of the 300 
Protestants the CRA records in the province, 250 are 
affiliated with the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical 
Church of Vietnam (SECV) in two churches.  Another fifty 
are affiliated with a number of house churches, including 
the Mennonites and the Seventh-Day Adventists.  Although 
not yet registered, they can worship freely, the CRA 
Chairman stated.  Hong noted that he has encouraged the 
house churches to register under the legal framework, but 
thus far they have opted not to do so because the 
provincial authorities allow them to worship regardless of 
their legal status. 
 
"A Limit to Hue's Tolerance" 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Hong cautioned that the GVN is very strict when 
individuals violate Vietnamese laws by using religion as a 
front for political "extremism."   Catholic priest Father 
Nguyen Van Ly is being pursued by police because of his 
political and not/not religious views, he claimed.  (Ref A 
reports on Father Ly's indictment on charges of 
"propagandizing against the state.")  Separately, officials 
from the Hue External Relations Office characterized both 
Father Ly as well as Thich Thien Hanh of the outlawed 
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), as examples of 
political figures who are abusing their religious position 
to promote anti-government extremism. 
 
The SECV's Ongoing Challenges in Hue 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) In the presence of Hue ERO officials who insisted 
on attending our meeting, Pastor Dinh Van Tu, head of the 
SECV in Hue, reported that his church has a good 
relationship with the province.  The Pastor, who took over 
the leadership role in Hue four months earlier, said that 
his small congregation -- he estimated 300 worshipers -- 
did not face any harassment.  However, the SECV has 
requested that the Hue government return three expropriated 
SECV properties that are being using as public schools, but 
awaits a government reply.  Pastor Tu also complained that 
SECV students attending Hue University had their off-campus 
Christmas gathering disrupted by police.  He refused to 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000270  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
discuss specifics in front of the Hue officials, noting 
with a smile, "you can go but we stay."  Pastor Tu added 
that the problems the SECV faced were not with the CRA but 
with local police. 
 
And Police Still Suspicious of House Churches 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) When we entered the house of Pastor Nguyen Van 
Phai of the United Gospel Outreach Church (UGOC), he 
whispered that a police official was stationed in an 
adjacent building and that our conversation was being 
recorded.  Pastor Phai was on edge and spoke in hushed 
voices. (When we met with the Pastor in 2005, police 
similarly were present.)  Pastor Phai said that he planned 
to submit an application to register his church in the 
coming weeks and that his church's interaction with the 
local authorities has improved since the creation of 
Vietnam's legal framework on religion.  His church has 
approximately 100 followers in Thua Thien Hue province and 
another 1,000 worshipers in neighboring provinces.  The 
UGOC has four house churches in the province; all receive 
"the same level of attention from the police."  He added 
cryptically that other members of the UGOC in Hue had hoped 
to attend our meeting, but "failed." 
 
¶8. (SBU) In a follow-up cell phone conversation on March 
22, Pastor Phai elaborated that, prior to the passage of 
the legal framework police harassment against his 
congregation was severe.  Prayer services were frequently 
broken up police and congregants heavily fined or detained. 
Since March 2005, police have not intervened during 
services, nor have they harassed worshipers.  Police do 
call on him occasionally to "review the church's 
operations." 
 
Hue Buddhists:  UBCV and VBS On Separate Paths 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (SBU) In the austere setting of his chambers at the Bao 
Quach Pagoda, we met in private with the Venerable Thich 
Thien Hanh (strictly protect), the senior-most member of 
the UBCV in Hue.  Thich Thien Hanh began by condemning the 
police arrest of Father Ly.  In his view, the persecution 
of Father Ly is part of an intensified nationwide GVN 
crackdown against political dissidents after the end of 
2006 APEC Summit, the U.S. President's visit and Vietnam's 
entry into the WTO. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The UBCV leader told us that he remains under de 
facto "pagoda" arrest, and noted that when the police moved 
against Father Ly, they also increased their presence 
around his pagoda.   In September 2006, he was able to 
"escape" Hue to join UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang in 
Binh Dinh and accompany him to HCMC for medical treatment 
(ref D).  Although his movements are restricted, he still 
can communicate with the Patriarch and with UBCV General 
Secretary Thich Quang Do in HCMC.  He said that, on January 
 
SIPDIS 
25, approximately 1,000 police officials interrupted, but 
did not stop, a ceremony he was officiating to promote 
junior monks at the Phuoc Thanh Pagoda to positions in the 
UBCV's Youth Wing.  However, in mid-March, Hue police 
stepped up their harassment of two Hue monks responsible 
for UBCV youth affairs -- Thich Le Cong Cau and Thich Chi 
Thang.  The two UBCV members have been summoned for police 
interrogations virtually every day for the past week, UBCV 
contacts told us on March 23. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Hanh said that the relationship between the UBCV 
and GVN-recognized Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) monks in 
Hue remains "good" and that "they talk," although he 
disapproves of VBS ties with the GVN.  "We do not want the 
Communist Party to use Buddhism to promote itself, the UBCV 
leader said.  Warming to the theme, Hanh added that 
Vietnam's 82 million people should not be under the control 
of "two million atheist Party members."  Hanh said that he 
would support a merger with the VBS were the new 
organization outside the ambit of the Fatherland Front and 
the Party and were the GVN to pledge not to interfere in 
the internal affairs of the merged organization, including 
the educational curriculum of Buddhist acolytes. 
 
¶12. (SBU) In contrast to the UBCV Patriarch who told the CG 
that he would meet with Thich Nhat Hanh (ref A), the Hue 
UBCV representative said that he will not/not meet the Zen 
Master when he returns to Hue at the end of March. (In 
2005, Thich Tien Hanh was the only ranking UBCV member to 
meet with Thich Nhat Hanh.)  The Hue UBCV representative 
said that Thich Nhat Hanh has grown too close to the GVN. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000270  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Venerable Thich Hai Anh, Deputy Chief of the Hue 
VBS and two assistants welcomed PolOffs to a brightly lit, 
open-air hall at the Tu Dam Pagoda and to a table laden 
with snacks and beverages.  (The ERO insisted on sitting in 
on our meeting.)  Anh described VBS operations in Hue as 
"independent" of the GVN.  The VBS has "absolute freedom" 
to organize and worship in Hue and has maintained good 
relations with the GVN since 1975.  (The VBS technically 
was created in 1981, following the "disbanding" of the 
UBCV.)  In cooperation with the Hue Catholic Archdiocese, 
the VBS operates a health clinic that offers counseling and 
anti-retroviral medication to approximately 60 people 
living with HIV/AIDS.  The VBS told us that it would 
welcome USG funding to expand the program.  Anh told us 
that the VBS still has normal relations with Thich Tien 
Hanh, but has no "formal interaction" with the UBCV. 
Unlike Thich Tien Hanh, the VBS is looking forward to close 
cooperation with Thich Nhat Hanh during his visit to Hue; 
the VBS is the Zen Master's official host. 
 
The Catholic Church Pursues a Gradualist Approach 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Nguyen Nhu The, Archbishop of Hue, told us that 
the relationship between his diocese and its 55,000 
Catholics and the Hue government is improving, despite the 
Father Ly incident.  (Ref C reports on our conversation 
with the Archbishop on Father Ly.)  The government does not 
prevent people from becoming Catholic and Catholics may now 
enter university.  For Christmas 2006, the GVN finally 
permitted the diocese to send a priest to minister to the 
Catholic population in Quang Binh province, part of the Hue 
Archdiocese.  In the past, priests have had to slip into 
Quang Binh illegally.  The Archbishop also noted the 
ongoing cooperation with local authorities and the Hue VBS 
to offer services to people in the community with HIV/AIDS. 
According to the Archbishop, the Prime Minister's recent 
meeting with the Vatican will only serve to "open up a 
brighter future for Catholics and other religions." 
 
¶14. (SBU) Problems remain, however.  His diocese can only 
enroll ten students in the seminary every two years.  The 
Archbishop has asked the GVN to increase that number to 40 
and to allow more ordained priests, but thus far the 
government response has been negative.  There has been no 
real movement on expropriated property, but the Archbishop 
espouses a gradualist, patient approach.  His highest 
priority is for the GVN to fulfill the Church's request to 
get back land in La Vang, a Catholic pilgrimage in Quang 
Tri province.  This issue, he told us, is of interest to 
the national Catholic Church, and not just the Hue diocese. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) During this visit, officials were far more 
insistent and persistent in accompanying us to non- 
government meetings than in previous visits, a reflection 
of a trend we a seeing throughout the Consular District and 
not an indication of backsliding on religious freedom 
issues.  Overall religious freedom conditions in Hue 
continue to slowly move forward, although more needs to be 
done.  It is encouraging that the Catholic Archdiocese is 
able to move forward with some work on HIV/AIDS -- 
following in the footsteps of the more extensive operation 
that the HCMC Archdiocese already has in place.  The 
decision of the UGOC house church to move ahead with 
registration reflects not only improved conditions in Hue, 
but a decision by the national leadership of the 
organization based in HCMC to seek to legalize its 
operations throughout the country.  Nonetheless, Hue is a 
conservative town, socially and politically.  Its 
conservatism is reflected it continued police surveillance 
of the unregistered house church movement and the 
authority's sluggishness in approving routine requests from 
the Catholic Archdiocese. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Comment Continued:  Hue is one of the core 
centers of Buddhism in Vietnam.  This visit reinforces our 
judgment that UBCV monks -- especially Thich Tien Hanh -- 
continue to be well respected in the Hue Buddhist 
community, but viewed as a serious threat by the 
authorities.  As in ongoing cases of human rights 
violations against other UBCV leaders elsewhere in southern 
Vietnam, harassment against the Hue chapter of the UBCV is 
carefully calibrated and almost certainly centrally- 
directed.  GVN pressure is focused at countering UBCV 
efforts to perpetuate and strengthen its organization. 
CHERN