VZCZCXRO0239
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHM #0960/01 2610946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180946Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3120
INFO RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 0038
RUEHVN/AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE 0015
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3328
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 0314
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 2180

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000960 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, PRM, AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: CENTRAL HIGHLANDS ETHNIC MINORITY PASTOR FREE BUT RATTLED 
 
REF: HCMC 0623 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Y Ja Nie, a Central Highlands ethnic minority 
Protestant pastor arrested on February 12, 2007 (reftel), was 
released on August 31.  ConGenOffs met privately with Nie and 
separately with local officials in M'Drak district, Dak Lak 
province, on September 6.  According to local government 
authorities, Nie was arrested because he had "damaged national 
unity" and needed to be re-educated.  Authorities did not 
recognize Nie's status as a pastor and considered his some of 
his activities (religious and non-religious) to be outside the 
law.  His denomination, the Vietnam Inter-Christian Fellowship 
(VNICF) does not yet have GVN recognition at the national level, 
and only a handful of congregations have been able to register 
nationwide.  In contrast to reasons given by local officials, 
Nie said he believed he was arrested because he had been 
contacted by a Front Unifie de Lutte des Races Opprimees (FULRO) 
"exile" in the United States.  This person had asked him to 
receive and distribute money to the families of seven imprisoned 
ethnic minority individuals.  We have not yet learned whether 
any money was actually transferred.  He did not report any 
particular problems with either practicing his faith or working 
as a pastor.  Nie's release after six months of detention may 
indicate that the GVN did not perceive his actions to be 
especially serious.  Post is continuing to monitor his situation 
closely, especially because he has asked to be resettled in the 
United States.  End Summary. 
 
Who is Y Ja Nie? 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Y Ja Nie, also known as Ama Bin, an ethnic Ede, first 
came to Post's attention in December 2006 when he requested a 
Humanitarian Resettlement application.  Subsequently, as reftel 
reports, he was arrested for "involvement with the Dega 
movement."  A week after his release, ConGenOffs met with him in 
his house church.  Nie told us that he was on the staff of the 
pre-1975 Ministry of Ethnic Minority Affairs, but was too young 
to have been in re-education.  He became a Protestant with the 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) in 1973 and joined 
the VNICF in 2003.  His house church congregation was also 
established in 2003 and he became a VNICF pastor in 2004 after 
receiving training and passing an exam in Ho Chi Minh City. 
Currently his house church has 120 members, although he noted 
that attendance had fallen while he was jailed.  Nie is also the 
Deputy Chief of the VNICF in M'Drak and two neighboring 
districts in Phu Yen and Gia Lai provinces.  There are a total 
of 510 followers in the three districts.  All are ethnic Ede and 
use the Ede language in their worship.  He did not report any 
particular problems with the VNICF house churches or among other 
Protestants in his area, most of whom belong to the SECV. 
 
How did he get into this mess? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Nie's sister fled to Cambodia and has been resettled 
in Canada (NFI).  He has been in touch with her since she 
resettled.  Nie speculated that she gave his phone number to Y 
Duen Bon Dak (phonetic), whom Nie described as an exiled FULRO 
member.  In June 2006, Dak called him and asked Nie to receive a 
bank transfer and distribute the money to the families of seven 
ethnic minority prisoners jailed for their involvement with 
exiled FULRO members.  Nie said he felt it was his pastoral duty 
to help the families.  However, he believes the contact with 
exiled FULRO members eventually led to his arrest.  After he was 
arrested, he said there were criticism sessions in his community 
denouncing his connection to FULRO. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Before going to Nie's home, we called on the M'Drak 
District People's Committee Chairman who told us that Y Ja Nie 
was arrested because he had violated the national unity policy 
and that he had needed to be "re-educated."  The Chairman then 
informed us that Nie had been released and that we could visit 
him.  (Note:  We had previously not been aware of Nie's release 
and had only asked to meet with his family.  End note.) 
Initially the Chairman planned to join us for the visit, citing 
his desire to ensure Nie "spoke accurately" about his 
activities.  However, after we noted that our reports are 
considered more credible if GVN officials are not involved in 
our meetings, the Chairman changed his mind and allowed us to 
meet with Nie privately. 
 
A pastor or not? 
---------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to the Chairman, Nie is not a pastor and 
cannot lead his congregation because his organization (VNICF) 
has not yet been officially recognized by the GVN.  The Chairman 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000960  002 OF 002 
 
 
said Nie had only followed Protestantism for "a short time" and 
had used local donations for his own personal political 
activities.  The Chairman stated Nie also had contact with 
unspecified "illegal organizations" in the province. 
 
Forced to join the SECV? 
------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a March 4, 2007 press release, the Montagnard 
Foundation (MF) alleged that the GVN was trying to force Nie to 
join the "government recognized church" (the SECV).  We asked 
Nie whether this was true and he responded that he had not heard 
of the report, nor had he ever been forced to join the SECV.  We 
asked whether he was under any current restrictions and he 
replied that he knew of none.  However, a week after his 
release, he did not yet feel comfortable enough to leave the 
area of his home.  (Note: ConGen's political dissident contacts 
often report feeling same sense of 'virtual' house arrest 
because their houses are under police surveillance and they are 
followed when they leave their homes.  End note) 
 
What does this mean? 
-------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Nie was far more comfortable discussing FULRO than 
most ethnic minorities we have encountered.  Nonetheless, his 
overall manner was subdued and he admitted that he was 
frightened about what had happened to him.  We discussed the 
status of his Humanitarian Resettlement application and 
confirmed that he was still interested in resettling in the 
United States. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  Receiving and distributing money from FULRO 
could have led to serious charges and a long prison sentence, 
but Nie's release after about six months' detention indicates 
that the GVN did not find his "violation of national unity" 
serious enough to follow-up with formal charges.  Local 
authorities do not appear to be infringing on Nie's basic rights 
to religious belief, but they are concerned about Nie's 
leadership position.  Although he may have been acquainted with 
the "FULRO exile" who telephoned him, Nie said he had no 
previous involvement with FULRO.  Though he did not explicitly 
say whether he actually transferred money for FULRO, Nie 
admitted that he had been naive about the implications of being 
a conduit for money from FULRO.  The incident shows both the 
GVN's ongoing sensitivity to "FULRO" activities and perhaps some 
ability to distinguish material threats from humanitarian 
gestures. 
FAIRFAX