VZCZCXRO3756
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0623 1641045
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131045Z JUN 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2735
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1956
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2934

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLF, DRL/IRF AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREF KIRF SOCI VM
SUBJECT: ALLEGATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VIOLATION IN ARREST OF 
ETHNIC MINORITY PASTOR IN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS UNFOUNDED 
 
REF: PRM - TSWANSON 6/6/07 EMAIL 
 
¶1. (SBU) On March 4, the South Carolina-based Montagnard 
Foundation (MF) issued a press release asserting that on 
February 17, Vietnamese troops in the Central Highlands province 
of Dak Lak arrested Y-Ja Nie and T-Tuc Buonya "because they are 
Christians who refused to join the government-recognized 
church."  The press release asserts that five days later Y-Tuc 
Buonya was released but Y-Ja Nie was sent to prison "because he 
is the preacher of house church at his village of Buon Moak." 
 
¶2. (SBU) Separately, a New York-based lawyer with a longtime 
interest in Vietnamese refugee issues contacted PRM to inquire 
about the arrest of Y-Ja Nie.  Per ref, Y-Ja Nie is the brother 
of a a refugee family that resettled in Canada in December 2006. 
 ConGen's Humanitarian Resettlement Office (HRS) confirmed that 
Y-Ja Nie, 55, sent a request for a Humanitarian Resettlement 
application form early in 2007.  He was arrested before his 
family received the form. 
 
¶3. (SBU) At the same time, post also was investigating other 
allegations that a second pastor named Ama Bin had been arrested 
in the same village.  On June 7, we spoke with Pastor Huynh Vu, 
General Secretary of the Vietnam Christian Inter-Fellowship 
church (VNCIF), who confirmed to us that Ama Bin and Y-Ja Nie 
are the same person.  Pastor Vu told us that Ama Bin was the 
local representative of his church, having switched from the 
GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) 
some years before.  The pastor told us that the VNCIF house 
church organization has over 2,000 congregations throughout 
Vietnam; some 30 have been registered locally thus far under 
Vietnam's legal framework on religion.  He told us that the 
VNCIF has not had problems of harassment, even in Dak Lak. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Pastor Vu told us that after Ama Bin was arrested, he 
received a call from representatives of the Ministry of Public 
Security who informed him that Ama Bin was arrested for his 
involvement in "the Dega movement."  According to the police, 
Ama Bin was in communication via cell phone with "people in the 
United States."  The police would not provide additional 
details.  The accusation and arrest came as a total surprise to 
the VNCIF, the pastor told us.  Because of the nature of the 
charges, the VNCIF decided not to get involved in the case. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Since its recognition in 2001, some Montagnard 
advocacy groups have sought to paint the SECV as Communist 
collaborators and to cast the arrest of persons who appear to be 
involved with the separatist "Dega Protestant Church" as "true 
Christians" and victims of religious oppression.  For supporters 
of an independent ethnic minority state in the Central 
Highlands, the SECV -- which represents 90 percent of ethnic 
minority Protestants in the area -- is a real threat because its 
success undercuts the argument that ethnic minority groups 
cannot find durable solutions in a GVN-controlled Central 
Highlands.  As we have seen in other cases of MF allegations 
that we have investigated, there is a grain of truth to the 
story, but it has been distorted significantly.  There is no 
doubt that Ama Bin remains under detention in a Dak Lak prison. 
While it is unclear whether he was indeed involved in promoting 
ethnic minority separatism in the Central Highlands or was 
merely talking to his recently-resettled relatives in Canada, 
our discussions with Ama Bin's church colleagues makes clear 
that the MF's allegations that he was detained because of his 
religious practice appear to be spurious.  End Comment. 
 
WINNICK