VZCZCXRO2300
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0609/01 1811118
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301118Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9834
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 5980
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000609 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF VM
 
SUBJECT: USCIRF's Travels in Northwest Vietnam 
 
Ref A) Hanoi 500 Ref B) Hanoi 595 
 
HANOI 00000609  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Three USCIRF staff and PolOff traveled to Son La 
and Dien Bien provinces from May 18-21 to meet with Catholic and 
Protestant congregations in two provinces that are well-known for 
difficulties in implementing the national law on belief and 
religion.  In Son La province, while no Catholic congregations are 
registered by the local government, one congregation in Moc Chau 
district has no problems conducting regular services officiated by 
visiting priests while another congregation in Son La City 
experiences regular harassment by local officials which prohibit 
visiting priests from conducting formal services and providing 
Communion.  In Dien Bien province, congregations affiliated with the 
nationally recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam North have 
little difficulty in holding services even in the remotest of areas, 
while churches lacking national recognition experience varying 
degrees of difficulty.  The Assembly of God Church experiences 
low-level harassment from local officials and followers of the 
Inter-Evangelistic Movement Church (IEM) experience regular 
persecution, including attempts by local officials to have followers 
recant their faith.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Son La - Some Catholics OK, Others Not 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Following the departure of both commissioners following 
their visit to Vietnam (ref B), the remaining USCIRF staff and 
PolOff traveled for four days in the Northwest Highland provinces of 
Son La and Dien Bien.  Both Son La and Dien Bien provinces are known 
as some of the most restrictive and backwards in implementing the 
central governments edicts on religion.  In Son La, the delegation 
first met with a Catholic congregation in Moc Chau district which 
meets in the large basement of a wealth parishioner that has been 
converted into a chapel that holds about 100 people. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Catholics in Moc Chau said that harassment from local 
authorities had dropped noticeably in the past two years and that 
they are now able to have a priest travel to the district and hold 
mass and give Communion every other Saturday.  While the 
congregation still lacks formal registration, they are able to 
celebrate Christmas and Easter and have upwards of 600 parishioners 
participate in services on religious holidays.  Parishioners said 
that they are not discriminated against due to their religious 
beliefs and only wish to have registration and be able to build a 
church in the district. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In Son La City, the situation for Catholics is more 
difficult.  The delegation met with over 100 representatives of the 
Catholic community in Son La City in an open courtyard attached to 
the home of a wealthy Catholic parishioner.  The Catholics said 
local precinct officials have regularly prevented visiting priests 
from conducting mass or offering Communion.  This past Easter and 
Christmas, planned celebrations had to be put on hold while local 
officials questioned the visiting priest for an extended period of 
time and then only allowed the priest to pray with those present and 
not to conduct formal mass.  Parishioners said that priests do, 
however, regularly travel to the city to offer Communion in secret. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Parishioners said that they do not face general 
discrimination due to their religious beliefs, but that the 
congregation continues to await a reply to its application for 
registration.  According to local Catholics, in a disturbing use of 
"local democracy" the Chairman of the precinct-level People's 
Committee called together all the heads of household from the 
precinct where the current Catholic meeting point is located and 
held a "vote" to ask whether the Catholics should be registered. 
The vote was overwhelmingly against registering the Catholic meeting 
point. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a meeting with Tran Dinh Yen, Son La province's 
Chairman of the Communist Party's Mass Mobilization Committee, Yen 
stressed that the province was trying to balance the needs of the 
minority of citizens that profess a belief in God against the 
non-believing majority.  Yen asserted that 92 percent of inhabitants 
in the province were atheist and that religious conversions at times 
created a "clash of cultures" within families.  The main goal of the 
government is to support social unity, Yen affirmed.  He noted that 
the province is currently evaluating requests for registration from 
the Catholics and some Protestant churches.  He highlighted that 
religious worship at home is encouraged and said that the province 
did not welcome outsiders coming into the province to celebrate 
religious holidays.  (NOTE: The delegation did not meet with any 
Protestant congregations in Son La at the recommendation of 
Protestant leaders.  They said that their congregations, while not 
yet registered, were not experiencing difficulties like the 
Catholics and that they feared that undue attention from USCIRF 
could complicate their situation.  END NOTE.) 
 
HANOI 00000609  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
Dien Bien - Story of Three Protestant Churches 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In Dien Bien province, the delegation traveled three hours 
on bumpy mud paths and through streams to meet with a small ECVN 
congregation in the mountainous area of Tuan Giao district.  The 
congregation is made up of the entire ethnic H'mong community in Hua 
Sat village in Na Say commune.  The villagers explained that they 
converted to Christianity after listening to Protestant radio 
programs broadcast in H'mong from the Philippines. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) After deciding to convert to Protestantism, the village 
chief and the most observant male member of the community traveled 
to Hanoi to make contact with the ECVN church and express a desire 
to start a congregation.  After making contact with ECVN 
headquarters, the observant male began training to become an 
ordained pastor.  Once he completed his training, he was ordained 
and the province then facilitated registration of the congregation, 
the village chief explained.  The pastor said that each family has a 
Bible and hymnal in H'mong provided by the ECVN headquarters in 
Hanoi.  The villagers said that they have experienced no 
difficulties since their conversion to Christianity at the hand of 
government officials and thanked officials for facilitating their 
travel to Hanoi for religious conferences. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In Dien Bien Phu City, the delegation met with Dien Bien 
province's Chairman of Communist Party's Mass Mobilization Committee 
Liu Van Binh.  Binh claimed that 99 percent of all religious 
followers in the province were Protestant and that the province had 
32,000 Protestants.  (NOTE: The ECVN claims that close to half of 
its followers - over 70,000 people - reside in Dien Bien province. 
With the inclusion of other Protestant religions means the number of 
believers is likely closer to 80,000.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The government has begun the process of registering 
religious meeting points and has currently registered two meeting 
points out of 274 that are currently operating, according to Binh. 
He claimed that nearly all Protestants in the province were ethnic 
H'mong and that more than 70 percent of the H'mong had only recently 
migrated to the province.  He claimed that the constant moving of 
parishioners and church leaders has complicated the ability of the 
province to register local congregations. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The delegation later met with an Assembly of God 
congregation made up of ethnic Thai in Dien Bien District, Nong 
Luong Commune.  Parishioners said that they meet weekly without 
difficulty on Sunday to conduct services with an average of 30 
individuals attending.  A decade ago, it was common for local 
officials to pressure followers to recant their faith according to 
the leader of the congregation, Pastor Khoa.  He said that while 
outright hostility against the church is now abnormal, low-level 
harassment from local officials is still common.  For example, new 
converts are routinely questioned by local officials as to why they 
have chosen to become Protestants and ethnic H'mong followers are 
prohibited from attending their congregation.  Pastor Khoa 
complained that they were unable to register their congregation, in 
spite of repeated attempts. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The delegation encountered many difficulties en route to 
its final meeting in Dien Bien province.  Originally, local 
officials objected to the delegation meeting with an 
Inter-Evangelistic Movement (IEM) congregation in Dien Bien Dong 
district, Pu Nhi commune but after much discussion eventually 
relented to allow the meeting.  While traveling to Pu Nhi commune, 
the delegation encountered three large dump trucks broken down and 
abandoned on the road.  The first dump truck was left unlocked and 
the delegation was able to push it out of the way.  The delegation 
was able to drive off the road around the second abandoned dump 
truck.  The third dump truck was left about 8 km outside of Pu Nhi 
commune in the middle of the road which had a precipitous drop-off 
on one side and a mountain-wall on the other.  PolOff called the 
awaiting IEM pastors, and they agreed to travel to meet with the 
delegation on the side of the road.  The pastors arrived shortly 
thereafter on motorbikes and were followed by approximately 12 plain 
clothes police officers. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) It was immediately apparent why local officials had 
attempted to prevent the meeting from occurring.  The IEM 
lay-pastors reported regular difficulties in several locations in 
Dien Bien province.  They said that the police in the past year had 
routinely disrupted meetings of worshippers and that local 
authorities had pressured several IEM followers to abandon their 
faith.  One lay-pastor reported that his son, a pastor-in-training, 
had been detained in February 2009.  The son, a student with an 
IEM-affiliated Bible school in Ho Chi Minh City, was reportedly 
detained for "illegal evangelizing" while visiting his family.  The 
authorities demanded a fine of VND 2 million (US $114) from his 
 
HANOI 00000609  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
parents in exchange for his release.  Local police from Pu Nhi 
village later reportedly attempted to confiscate a TV, VCR and rice 
cooker from the parents of the student in detention in place of 
payment of the fine.  With the intervention of district police, the 
student was released after his family paid a reduced fine of VND 
500,000 (US $29). 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The Vietnamese have a saying, "The King's law is lower 
than the law of the village."  In remote areas, like the Northwest 
Highlands, provinces typically function with a high degree of 
autonomy and local officials alone decide how to apply or not apply 
national regulations -- on religion or on any other topic.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
¶15.  (U) The USCIRF delegation did not have an opportunity to clear 
this cable.