Group says Vietnam monk in tree threatens suicide
Reuters (07.11.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (07.11.2001) - Website: www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A monk from a Buddhist sect in southern Vietnam has climbed up a tree and threatened to kill himself in a protest for religious freedom, an overseas support group said on Wednesday.
The Santa Ana California-based Central Council of Administrators of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church said Vo Thanh Liem began a hunger strike on the tree in front of his temple on Tuesday and had both gasoline and a knife.
It said he intended to kill himself unless the police stopped harassing him.
The e-mailed statement said Liem's temple at Quang Minh Tu in the province of An Giang was surrounded by communist officials and police.
Police at An Giang provincial police heaquarters said they were checking the report, while a local official in Liem's district said authorities there had no idea what he was doing as he had locked himself in his compound.
The overseas group said Liem had written to the authorities in April last year to protest against repression of the Hoa Hao church and expressed his intention to burn himself to death.
It said Liem had been jailed more than 10 times for his religious protests, once for several years after the authorities persuaded him to come down from a tree where he was meditating.
In March, a member of an outlawed branch of the Hoa Hao sect burned himself to death in a protest and that same month police in Ho Chi Minh City said they had foiled a mass immolation planned by the group in a park.
Several Buddhist monks burned themselves to death in famous public protests in the early 1960s to protest against religious repression by the then government of South Vietnam.
The communist government in Hanoi, which took over South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 insists it respects religious rights but does not tolerate groups operating outside six authorised churches.
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Vietnamese priest gets 15-year prison term
Zenit (19.10.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (22.10.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Vietnam sentenced a dissident Catholic priest to 15 years in prison on charges he undermined the country's unity and violated a detention order, the Associated Press reported.
Vietnam's Communist government earlier rejected a U.S. request for the release of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, saying his arrest was purely a Vietnamese internal affair.
Father Ly had urged in testimony to a U.S. government committee in February that the U.S. Congress delay ratification of a bilateral trade agreement until Vietnam eases restrictions on religion.
Father Ly was placed under administrative detention, the equivalent of house arrest, after his testimony to the U.S. committee. In March, the government also banned him from running his church.
At a one-day trial in central Hue city, the state-owned VTV network showed a gaunt Father Ly listening to the verdict with his eyes closed. Two police then led him out of the courtroom.
Father Ly's sentencing is the latest in a series of tough actions by Vietnam's government against members of non-approved religious groups.
In September, Ho Tan Anh, a 61-year-old farmer and a leader of the Buddhist Youth Movement in central Vietnam, burned himself to death to protest restrictions on his group.
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Activist Christian pastor arrested in Vietnam
Compass (21.08.2001) / C Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A pastor and lawyer who has been regularly harassed for exposing religious liberty abuses in Vietnam was arrested on August 17 along with his wife and another man in the capital city of this Southeast Asian country.
Rev. and Mrs. Nguyen Hong Quang and Truong Tri Hien were arrested in Ward 26 in the Binh Thanh district of Ho Chi Minh City. Their identity cards were confiscated and they are reportedly on a hunger strike, according to local sources.
"The Rev. Quang was struck in the face until it is all swollen, by an officer named Tien," claimed a source who did not want to be identified.
The Rev. Quang, a Mennonite pastor who trained as a lawyer, has been arrested and detained numerous times because of his efforts in documenting attacks on the Vietnamese Protestant Mennonite community and for his evangelistic activities. "I have a paper saying I should be expelled from my country," he wrote in June.
In a June 6 letter published by Compass, Rev. Quang reported that during the first six months of this year, Public Security Police have on four occasions "burst into our house while we are worshipping God." Twice the services were stopped, on April 13 and June 5, and charges were written up against the church members, "throwing most of the congregation into a state of crisis and fear," the Rev. Quang wrote.
Vietnamese authorities have waged a consistent campaign to crack down on the activities of unofficial house churches in Vietnam.
On August 16, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named Vietnam as one of several countries where "grave violations of religious freedom persist."
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Interview with Olivier Dupuis, MEP,
Deported from Vietnam after attempts to visit
an imprisoned Buddhist monk
HRWF International Secretariat (10.07.2001) C Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - On 8 June 2001, Human Rights Without Frontiers reported on the expulsion of Mr Olivier Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament, and his aide, Mr Martin Schulthes, from Vietnam. This act is a corollary of the policy of the Hanoi authorities to label as "unacceptable interference" all activities of international pressure to release the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Thich Huyen Quang. The Patriarch was detained without charge or trial for twenty years. In 1997, he was set free but was not allowed to leave his place of detention.
On 25 June 2001, Human Rights Without Frontiers interviewed Mr Olivier Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament, on his visit to Vietnam and the following deportation from the country.
HRWF: Cases similar to your expulsion from Vietnam normally bring attention to human rights abuses, which otherwise will not be widely publicized. Can you assess the impact of the publicity of your case?
Olivier Dupuis: It is difficult to assess the impact of the publicity of my expulsion, or the impact similar events can have on bringing forth serious violations of human rights. The imprisonment of the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church, Thich Huyen Quang, and of its second highest-ranking member, Thich Quang Do, is a fact known only to those people who specifically follow events in this part of the world. Following my expulsion and thanks to the news coverage by BBC World Service and Agence France Press (AFP), the abuse of religious freedom in Vietnam has become known to the wider public.
HRWF: Therefore, the publicity of your case had worked well.
Olivier Dupuis: In fact, we have not planned for it. Our initiative was somewhat different. It was organised in co-operation with our Vietnamese friends from the Paris-based Information Centre for the Buddhist Church. We had planned to go together with Thich Quang Do to the countryside to take the Patriarch and bring him back to Ho Chi Mihn. This non-violent action was scheduled for 7 June. Just few days earlier, the police arrested Thich Quang Do and sentenced him to two years of house arrest. In an attempt to take some concrete action after we were not allowed to see him, we organised a demonstration outside of the Thanh Minh Zen pagoda where Thich Quang Do was detained. This was the only thing we could do under those circumstances.
HRWF: What are your impressions from the atmosphere in the pagoda?
Olivier Dupuis: The situation is really awful. In the pagoda, there were many more plainclothes policemen than monks. For five hours we could see only two monks and around ten plainclothes policemen. It is really impressive to see a religious place under police surveillance.
HRWF: After the demonstration in front of the pagoda, you and your aide were taken to the police station. What happened there?
Olivier Dupuis: We were interrogated for five-six hours by three different ranks of policemen and security services. Very professional and very polite. Lastly, we had a long old-style speech by the President of the People's Committee of the city Ho Chi Minh. Their only argument was that we were on a tourist visa. It is obvious that otherwise we would not be let into the country.
HRWF: What are your thoughts on the freedom of religion in Vietnam?
Olivier Dupuis: The Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was sentenced without any concrete charges to twenty years in prison. His sentence ended in 1997, but he is still under a de facto arrest. This is a clear example of the malfunctioning and unfair judicial system in Vietnam.
Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do are the two most prominent leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. But there are many others arrested. Not only Buddhists, but also Christians and other religions.
Repressions on both Buddhist and Christians groups are a commonplace practice in Vietnam. Leaders of various religious denominations are in prison, while their activities are officially banned by the Vietnamese authorities.
HRWF: What has to be done?
Olivier Dupuis: For many people in Europe, Vietnam is a faraway country. We need some concrete action and we have to bring these cases of gross violations of human rights to the attention of both the European citizens and the European Union.
Now we have to see whether it is possible to take more initiative at the European Parliament. I am to talk to the Council and the Commission in order to understand what kind of initiative they intend to undertake. We are working with friends from Vietnam and the European countries in order to increase the pressure.
We have to continue to fight for the respect of the freedom of religion and in this particular case, for the release of the Patriarch and the Venerable Thich Quang Do. The Vietnamese authorities have to be influenced to let the Patriarch go back to Ho Chi Minh and receive the medical care he needs and to let the Buddhist monks be free in their religious activities.
HRWF: Can the European Union be this source of influence as regards the abuse of the freedom of religion?
Olivier Dupuis: I have just heard this morning that the meeting between the EU and Vietnam was postponed till December. One interpretation, of which I have read in the newspapers, is that the EU is not satisfied with the situation as regards freedom of religion in Vietnam. I am not sure whether we can have such strong connection between the EU-Vietnam negotiations and religious freedom. It should be admitted, however, that more and more people come to realise that the abuse of freedom of religion in Vietnam is quite serious and is closely intertwined with the freedom of speech, expression, freedom of association, which are the underlying principles of democracy.
HRWF: There is a whole array of countries where there are gross violations of human rights. At the same time, the European Union has to deal with these countries in one way or another. How can the European Union strike the best balance when negotiating agreements with such countries?
Olivier Dupuis: I think it is not so complicated. If a country expects to negotiate an economic and cooperation agreement with the European Union, it has to make concrete steps in the direction of democratisation. We can not expect this to happen overnight, but any agreement should be conditional on governments attempts to have separate, concrete steps towards democratisation and respect for human rights.
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The European Parliament calls for
the release of imprisoned Buddhist monks
HRWF International Secretariat (10.07.2001) C Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - On 8 June 2001, Human Rights Without Frontiers reported on the expulsion of Mr Olivier Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament, and his aide, Mr Martin Schulthes, from Vietnam. This act is a corollary of the policy of the Hanoi authorities to label as "unacceptable interference" all activities of international pressure to release the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Thich Huyen Quang. The Patriarch was detained without charge or trial for twenty years. In 1997, he was set free but was not allowed to leave his place of detention.
Thich Quang Do, the second highest-ranking member of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was placed this June under a two-year sentence of administrative detention in the Thanh Minh Zen Pagoda. He was amnestied in 1998 after twenty years of detention. This time the arrest took place just few days before his planned trip to Hoi Phuoc Pagoda in Quang Ngai province intended to take the ailing Patriarch out of his detention place and escort him to Ho Chi Minh City for medical care.
The Government of Vietnam requires all Buddhist monks to work under the officially recognised Central Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), set up in 1951 and which during the 1960s was involved in protests against the regime in South Vietnam, has publicly campaigned against the policy of having a single Buddhist church.
The most notable religious dissident groups that continue to be repressed and isolated by the Government of Vietnam are the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Cao Dai Church, and the Hoa Hao Church. The Protestant Churches, non-sanctioned by the government, are subject to persecution as well. Catholics also suffer persecution and Father Nguyen Van Ly was imprisoned on 21 May 2001 for having practised his religion following a ban issued by the Vietnamese authorities.
On 5 July 2001, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on religious freedom in Vietnam calling on the Vietnamese authorities to respect the religious freedoms of Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, as well as other so-called non-recognised churches and to stop all anti-religious campaigns throughout the country.
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European Parliament Member expelled
AP (07.07.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (08.06.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net Email: info@hrwf.net - A European lawmaker said Thursday he and his assistant were interrogated for four hours before being expelled from Vietnam for trying to visit a dissident Buddhist monk.
Olivier Dupuis, a Belgian member of parliament, said he and his German aide, Martin Schulthes, were deported late Wednesday after being questioned by a dozen police officers. "They asked us what we were doing in Saigon and they wanted to know if we had contacts here,'' he told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Brussels.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Le Sy Vuong Ha, confirmed Thursday that the two men were deported for "disturbing public order.''
He accused them of trying to meet Thich Quang Do, 73, the second highest-ranking member of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, while on tourist visas.
"On their arrival, they conducted activities other than tourism,'' he said.
Do was placed under house arrest last week for two years and is being detained in the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery.
The church's patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, 83, who suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach ulcers, has been under house arrest since 1992.
The two men have spent more than 20 years in prison or under house arrest for advocating democracy and human rights in Vietnam.
The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is one of a number of independent religious groups banned by Vietnam's Communist government, which permits only seven religious organizations to practice.
Dupuis said the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery was heavily patrolled by plainclothes policemen when he arrived Wednesday and that he and Schulthes were refused permission to meet the elderly monk.
Dupuis said he unfurled banners outside the monastery that said "Religious Freedom for Vietnam'' and "Freedom for Thich Quang Do.''
The two men were taken to a police station where they were interrogated before being escorted to the airport, said Dupuis, the Belgian secretary-general of Europe's Transnational Radical Party.
The crackdown on the church could become an issue in U.S. congressional debate, expected to begin this week, on an agreement to normalize trade relations with Vietnam. Opponents have brought up restrictions on human rights and religion as reasons to delay it.
Vietnam has consistently maintained that its citizens enjoy religious freedom and insists it holds no prisoners of conscience.
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Banned Buddhist held in Vietnam
AP (05.06.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (06.06.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net Email: info@hrwf.net - A Buddhist support group says Vietnamese police have surrounded a temple where the leader of a banned Buddhist sect is being detained so that he cannot be taken away for medical treatment.
Anyone attempting to approach the temple in central Quang Ngai province is strip-searched, the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau said Tuesday.
The church's patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, 83, suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach ulcers, and has been under house arrest since 1992.
The sect's second-highest leader, Thich Quang Do, planned to go to the province over the weekend to escort the elderly monk to southern Ho Chi Minh City for medical care.
But Vietnam's Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that Do has also been placed under house arrest. Do's house arrest stemmed from a conviction in 1995 on charges of "undermining the policy of unity and abusing freedom and democracy encroaching on the interests of the state, social organizations and individuals,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Sy Vuong Ha said.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern Monday over Do's house arrest and called on the government of Vietnam to respect the autonomy of all religions "and to allow all persons to practice their religious faiths freely.''
Quang's Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is one of a number of independent religious groups banned by Vietnam's Communist government, which permits only seven religious organizations to practice. The church has refused any leadership imposed by the government.
The crackdown on the church could become an issue in U.S. congressional debate, expected to begin this week, on an agreement to normalize trade relations with Vietnam.
Opponents of the agreement have brought up restrictions on human rights and religion as reasons to delay it. Vietnam has consistently maintained that its citizens enjoy religious freedom.
Vietnam arrests priest for anti-government plots
Reuters (17.05.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (18.05.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Authorities in Vietnam arrested an outspoken Catholic priest and have accused him of fomenting unrest against the government.
Father Nguyen Van Ly, one of Vietnam's most well-known dissidents, was taken into custody on Thursday morning, according to Nguyen Van Quang of the Phu An commune police.
"He was arrested for spreading propaganda against the government," Quang told Reuters.
On Wednesday, Ly led a religious service of about 150 people in which he distributed leaflets the government said were anti-communist.
Ly, 54, had previously been under heavy police surveillance and in March was denounced by official media as a "traitor" for urging the United States to link religious freedom to ratification of a bilateral trade agreement with Vietnam.
The arrest came amid growing criticism of Hanoi for persecution of religion, an accusation the government denies as "gross interference" in its internal affairs.
It also coincides with talks between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs James Kelly and his Vietnamese counterparts in Hanoi.
Kelly is in Vietnam, briefing Vietnam officials on Washington's proposed National Missile Defense system and follows a two-day visit to Beiijng.
Vietnam insists it grants full religious freedom to its citizens, but some sects are still outlawed and "abuse of religion" punishable by up to a year in prison.
The propaganda charges Ly faces carry penalties of 10 to 12 years in prison.
A longtime critic of the government, Ly has previously spent nearly 10 years in prison and was on Amnesty International's list of prisoners of conscience.
U.S. bases for Vietnam Manwhile, the Vietnamese government said on Thursday it had not talked to the U.S. about the possibility of establishing a U.S. military base in Vietnam.
"Until now, in meetings between Vietnam and the United States, both sides have not exchanged views on such an issue," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung told a news conference.
He gave no indication whether such talks would take place.
On Tuesday, a report authorised by a senior aide to President George W. Bush advocated major adjustments to U.S. strategy and military posture in Asia, including developing Guam as a key military hub and possibly opening new bases in Oman and Vietnam.
The report said the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally that once was home to major American military bases, was an "attractive potential partner" for new bases and that in the longer term Vietnam "could provide additional access in southeastern Asia beyond that offered by Singapore and Thailand."
Vietnam and the U.S. normalised relations in 1995, 20 years after the end of the Vietnam War.
But relations between the former foes only progressed markedly after the signing of a trade agreement last July.
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Minority Christians "punished" in Vietnam
Officials Seek Reprisal Against Believers for Unrest in
Central Highlands
Compass (16.04.2001) HRWF International Secretariat (20.04.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Evangelical Christians blamed for the unrest in Vietnam's Central Highlands in early February have been abducted, tortured and prevented from worshipping together by security police, according to reports from the region.
The latest pressure on ethnic minority Christians in Vietnam stems from accusations by government officials that Christians are associated with the Dega separatist movement based in Dac Lac and Gia Lai provinces. Recent violent protests over land and religious rights issues in the Central Highlands have put the government on edge and prompted provincial officials to seek reprisal for the disturbances.
"We will severely punish Christian believers in the three provinces of the Western Highlands, so that they will not be able to raise their head," said Mr. Y. Luyen on February 8 to a group of local citizens from Cu Eber Commune in the Cu Jut district of Dac Lac province. Luyen, the Communist Party secretary of Dac Lac province, had invited those who were not Christians to meet at the peoples' committee office in the commune.
The next day, police began to carry out his threat. Christians in Buon Ea Mhdar in the Buon Don district reported that security police had prevented them from gathering. Similar reports came from believers in Krong Pac, Ea H'leo and Ea Sup districts.
Pastors and evangelists throughout Dac Lac province indicated that they were not able to function at all. Even weddings and baptisms had to be cancelled. Churches were effectively cut off from their leadership.
Other credible reports gave specific examples of pressure on Christians in Dac Lac province during the February unrest. On February 3, Mr. Ama Ger, a resident of the Cu Bur Commune in the Cu Jut district, was abducted at night by security police and badly beaten. He was taken to a hospital, but his family has been refused permission to visit him. Reports that he has died have not been confirmed.
Mr. Ama Sinh of Buon Bon Commune in Buon Don district was abducted and tortured by security police, even though he had not participated in the demonstrations. Three others in the same commune were also tortured. Many people of Buon Ea Sup, Buon Cuor Knia and Ea H'leo district reportedly fled to the forest. Some have been captured and have disappeared. When others from these areas go to the market to buy food, they are followed by government agents, who swear at them, mock them and make their life
extremely difficult, reported sources closely connected with the minority churches.
In Gia Lai province, authorities tore down a Protestant church on March 10 in their continuing efforts to clamp down on ethnic unrest, the Associated Press reported on March 28.
In recent years, thousands of minority peoples have become Christians, particularly among the Mnong, Ede, Jarai, and Bahnar peoples who live in the regions where the demonstrations took place. One group, the Ede, have seen the number of Protestants grow from 15,000 in 1975 to more than 150,000 today.
Several hundred churches of the minority peoples were confiscated or destroyed immediately following the communist takeover in 1975. Yet the number of tribal minority Christians continues to grow dramatically, even according to government figures. Denied church buildings in most places, many hundreds of minority Christian congregations are forced to worship in circumstances considered "illegal" by the government.
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Hanoi recognises southern Protestant Church branch
By David Brunnstrom
Reuters (03.04.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (03.04.2001) Website:http://www.hrwf.net- Email: info@hrwf.net - Communist Vietnam formally recognised a southern branch of the Protestant Evangelical Church on Tuesday, making it a legal entity for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, a church official said.
However, the official of the Evangelical Church said the legal status granted at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City would cover only about 300 individual churches, whose congregations represent just a fraction of Vietnam's 800,000-one million Protestants.
The official, who did not want to be identified, said about 2,000 Protestants attended the ceremony at which government approval was announced for a church charter and a 23-member executive board chosen by church members.
"The head of the (government's) Bureau of Religious Affairs Le Quang Vinh read out the decision this morning," he said.
Protestants and diplomats have praised the legitimisation process as a modest concession after years of repression, but caution that most Protestants will not be covered.
Among those excluded will be the majority of ethnic minority protestants in the Central Highlands region driven to worship underground by intolerant local authorities.
ETHNIC PROTESTS
Many minority Protestants took part in widespread ethnic protests in February, the worst unrest to hit Vietnam for years.
'Legal recognition' might, in the minds of the authorities, include a maximum of 200,000 of nearly 1,000,000 Evangelicals," said a foreign observer of Vietnam's religious scene.
On Monday, a Western diplomat said the figure could be as low as 25,000.
The Church official said the 300 congregations ranged from at least 100 to several thousand people. He said the churches were mainly in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern province of Ca Mau and the central provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Ngai.
Most minority Christians will still have to worship at illegal "house churches," which have only tenuous links to such lowland congregations.
The foreign observer said there was a danger the law granting recognition could be used as a basis for preventing people meeting to worship in their homes.
He said the test of the government's sincerity would come when it became clear how much freedom the church would have to train clergy, build and repair church buildings, and make contact with international Christian bodies.
"The weight of leadership on the ECVN (south) will be very great," he said. "It will be the de facto spokesperson for the entire Protestant community, including the unregistered house churches and the marginalised minority churches."
Only six religious groups are officially recognised in Vietnam, including the smaller northern branch of the Evangelical Church, which consists of only about 11 congregations.
The United States, which has still to ratify a landmark trade deal signed with Hanoi last year, has been pushing for greater religious freedoms, not least for the Protestants, who first became established in Vietnam due to American missionaries.
Recent incidents calling into question Hanoi's commitment to this have raised concerns about ratification of the pact. Most analysts expect it to go through eventually, but say it could be delayed by rights issues.
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Cambodia to send back Vietnamese
if persecution unproven
WRNS (26.03.2001) HRWF International Secretariat (28.03.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Twenty-four ethnic minority Vietnamese who sneaked into Cambodia will be sent back if it cannot be proven that they fled political persecution, the Interior Ministry said Monday. The ministry's chief spokesman, Gen. Sok Phal, said the 24 will be charged with illegal entry or with being members of an illegal armed group and returned to Vietnam if no proof emerges documenting political links.
"But if it is proven that they are members of a political movement, then we will handle the matter in another way," Sok Phal said. He refused to elaborate, saying superiors would decide the next course of action if political ties are found.
The group was arrested on two separate days earlier this month in the eastern province of Mondulkiri, which borders Vietnam's Central Highlands area where security forces recently crushed a rare unrest by the mainly Christian hill tribe minorities.
The tribes people were protesting against government restrictions on the practice of their Protestant religion and long-standing land grievances.
In a statement Friday, Amnesty International expressed concern that the 24 people may be "forcibly returned to Vietnam, where they would be at risk of serious human rights violations."
It also urged Cambodian authorities to ensure that the 24 Vietnamese are allowed to seek asylum.
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Vietnam government arrests believers,
woman commits suicide
WRSN (21.03.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (22.03.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - In Vietnam more people are giving vent to their anger at government restriction on human rights, particularly religious freedom, even with extreme acts. On Monday, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu, a 75-year-old Buddhist, committed suicide by setting herself ablaze to protest the detention of the Hoa Hao Buddhist sect leader, Le Quang Liem.
The suicide, which took place during a gathering by several hundred Hoa Hao followers in a village in the Mekong Delta to demand more religious freedom, is a signal of growing desperation among Vietnamese believers. The exiled Overseas Hoa Hao Buddhist Association, based in the US state of Maryland, said Thu's last words were, "Religious freedom for Vietnam!"
The Hoa Hao sect, which claims about four million adherents in Vietnam, is recognized officially by Hanoi, but it is looked on with suspicion due to its armed opposition to Communism during the Vietnam War and because for years it has demanded freedom for human rights. Le Quang Liem, 82, his deputy, and several supporters were arrested early on Saturday and detained for more than 24 hours. The arrests came ahead of the 54th anniversary of the abduction of Hoa Hao prophet Huynh Phu So by Communist forces in 1947.
Liem's arrest comes just weeks after he joined three other religious leaders-- two Buddhistsand two Catholics-- to form the Vietnam Interfaith Council to promote religious freedom. One of the three, Redemptorist Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly was detained this month after urging the US Congress not to ratify a trade pact with Vietnam because of constant rights violations in the country. Vietnam's official army newspaper, Quan Doi Nhan, said the priest is "a traitor of the people." Father Van Ly had been under rigid police control since his release in 1992 from ten years in prison
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Vietnam sect leader allowed home, status unclear
Reuters (19.03.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (20.03.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - The elderly chairman of a dissident Buddhist sect says he was detained and beaten for 30 hours in communist Vietnam at the weekend but has been allowed to return home under police guard, a reliable source said on Monday.
Authorities in a southern province, meanwhile, denied a report from an overseas branch of the same Hoa Hao sect that one of its supporters had doused herself with petrol on Monday morning and burned herself to death in a protest to demand religious freedom.
The source, who did not want to be identified, said 82-year-old Hoa Hao chairman Le Quang Liem had told him by telephone he was held in police custody more than 24 hours from early Saturday and hit in the face and stomach.
Liem also said his daughter had been beaten after she went to the police station where he was held in Ho Chi Minh City to demand his release, the source said.
Police have refused to comment and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said she had no information.
Religion is a highly charged matter for Vietnam and with other rights issues, could hold up the country's hopes for early ratification of a landmark trade pact with the United States.
Communist officials in the southern province of Dong Thap also denied a report from Nguyen Van Coi, chairman of the Overseas Hoa Hao Buddhist Association, who told Reuters that 75-year-old Nguyen Thi Thu had burned herself to death in Tan Hoi village.
"No such thing happened here, that's wrong," an official from the local people's committee said.
LAST WORDS
The overseas association said police took the body after using batons to beat off Buddhist who tried to stop them. It said before she died, Thu's last words were "Religious Freedom for Vietnam" and "Religious Freedom for the Hoa Hao Buddhists."
The reported incidents came on the 54th anniversary on Monday of the disappearance of Hoa Hao prophet Huynh Phu So after his abduction by communist independence forces in 1947.
A diplomat quoted sources in Dong Thap's neighbouring province An Giang, where the Hoa Hoa are most prevalent, as saying several hundred supporters marked the day peacefully in Phu My Village, which believers call Hoa Hao Village.
The source said Liem had told him he was allowed to return to his home in Ho Chi Minh City late on Sunday morning but his house was guarded by about 20 police officers.
Liem had said he had refused in custody to sign a document agreeing to spend two years under house arrest, but his current status was unclear given the police guard.
The status of more than a dozen other Hoa Hao supporters the association said were detained as well on Saturday, was also unclear. It said they included deputy chairman Nguyen Van Dien.
Diplomats said the motive for the reported detentions appeared to have been to prevent big protests during the anniversary.
A Hoa Hao statement last week said Liem planned a protest on Saturday to support Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, who was detained this month after urging the U.S. Congress not to ratify the trade pact because of rights abuses.
RIGHTS ISSUES COMPLICATE
Vietnam's communist government is under heightened scrutiny in the United States because of the pact and U.S. officials have warned ratification could be complicated by rights issues.
Last month, Liem joined Ly and two other dissident religious leaders to form the Vietnam Interfaith Council to promote religious freedom.
The report of Liem's detention came just after foreign journalists were allowed a first visit to two provinces of the central highlands after ethnic protests last month. Authorities there were at pains to stress religious rights played no role.
The Hoa Hao claim about four million adherents in Vietnam and have long complained of persecution stemming from their previous armed opposition to communism during the Vietnam War.
Hanoi denies abusing religious rights but the most recent U.S. State Department rights report criticised its record and said groups like the Hoa Hao were harassed and restricted.
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US grapples with how to help curtail religious persecution abroad
by Jane Lampman
Christian Science Monitor (22.02.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (23.02.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - President Bush boldly injected religion into his domestic agenda with a new office to fund faith-based social programming. Will he be as bold on the foreign-policy front?
For two years now, in response to Americans' growing concerns about religious persecution in other countries, the US has kept a close eye on violations of freedom abroad. The US State Department and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom prepare annual reports, and hearings spotlight countries of particular concern. US law provides options for action against the biggest violators.
But the government's responses to the most egregious situations haven't been impressive - says the commission in its assessment for 2000 (www.uscirf.gov). China barely got tapped on the wrist as conditions continued to deteriorate, and Sudan hasn't been hit as hard with sanctions as it could be, despite horrendous practices. Other nations haven't been put on the list though situations warrant it.
Not at all surprising, realpolitik types might respond.National security and economic interests come into play. US action could sometimes be counterproductive, others say.
Can the US have any impact? Just how challenging the picture can be is evident from the commission's latest hearings, held last week on Vietnam. The Clinton administration signed a bilateral trade agreement with Vietnam in July. The US Congress will consider ratifying it this spring. Meanwhile, Vietnam's record on religious freedom may be worse than China's.
"Religious activity is enjoying a real revival," testified Zachary Abuza, of Simmons College, Boston. But while the Vietnamese government allows "individual faith, it fears the growth of organized religion, which it sees as a threat to its monopoly of power."
Consequently, it places strict controls on churches, oversees the appointment of all clergy, must approve all publications, and has seized most properties.Security police infiltrate the clergy, and party leaders at all levels monitor religious activity.
Vietnamese testifiers shared many telling examples:
*On Feb. 8, when Buddhists organized two days of prayer for peace at a Hue temple, security police threatened those trying to attend, and ordered high schools to hold classes over the weekend so teachers and students could not participate.
*On Feb. 4, an elderly Buddhist leader was arrested twice and subjected to seven hours of intense interrogation after making a holiday visit to another elderly leader who has been under house arrest for 18 years.
*Five Catholic priests are serving prison sentences of 5 to 10 years for carrying out pastoral activities without getting local government permission.
*Religious adherents released from prison are not given residence permits, which all citizens must have, thus depriving them of legal status. Last fall, when Buddhists attempted to deliver relief to victims of Mekong Delta floods affecting 4 million people, they were kept from doing so, even though the government had to seek aid from foreign countries.
"How has Vietnam escaped international condemnation when it has been implementing a deliberate policy to suppress freedom of religion in every form?" asked Vo Van Ai, overseas spokesman for Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
Vietnamese testifiers called on the US to incorporate human-rights guarantees into the trade agreement. But policy analysts cautioned against steps that might cause a backlash.
The Bush administration said last weekend it intends to take a tougher line against China at the UN Human Rights Commission meeting in a few weeks. The question remains whether this signals any stronger stance to come on religious freedom.
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Exile group claims 20,000 joined Vietnam protests
Reuters (09.02.201) - HRWF International Secretariat (13.02.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Anti-communist ethnic exiles said about 20,000 ethnic hill farmers took part in protests in Vietnam's coffee-growing central
highlands after two Christians were arrested and beaten.
The U.S.-based Montagnard Foundation Inc, founded by former hill tribe guerrillas who fought alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, said on its Web site (www.montagnard-foundation.org) the two brothers, both hill farmers, were tortured by police at an army camp last week.
Its report, seen on Friday and which cited an unnamed contact in Pleiku, capital of Gia Lai province, said 600 of the hill people who gathered on the town to protest the arrest were "severely beaten" by police and 200 were "seriously hurt."
It said demonstrators in the town, numbering about 20,000, fought back to defend themselves, wounding 20 police officers, but the authorities eventually agreed to free the two prisoners.
The estimate for the number of demonstrators was far higher than that given by local residents, who estimated some 4,000 minority people gathered in Pleiku last Friday to protest over land issues and religion.
However, the Vietnamese government has also cited the arrest of two men, who it accused of trying to cause ethnic discord, as the catalyst for the protests that swept Gia Lai and neighbouring Daklak provinces in recent days.
It said the men, who it did not name, were released after admitting their illegal behaviour and asking for leniency.
The government and official media has blamed "bad elements" and "extremists" for whipping up the unrest, which they blamed on land disputes, and accused such elements of destroying state property and injuring police officers.
The Foreign Ministry said 20 people had been arrested in what diplomats described as Vietnam's worst unrest for years.
Residents said the protests had been punctuated by violence, although no deaths have been reported.
A coffee trader in Daklak said he had heard reports that a police officer in one district had his hand cut off by a protester on Wednesday and demonstrators captured a commune official and strung him up to a pole by his hands and beat him.
The Montagnard Foundation was founded by former members of FULRO -- the French acronym for the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races.
FULRO was founded by the colonial French in the 1950s and its tribal fighters, often armed only with crossbows, continued to stage hit-and-run attacks on communist forces after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 from bases in the Central Highlands and neighbouring Cambodia and Laos. FULRO is now thought to be largely defunct.
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Vietnam plans to recognise southern Protestants
Reuters (09.02.2001) - HRWF International Secretariat (13.02.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Vietnam will officially recognise the southern branch of the Protestant Evangelical Church after the church passes its charter and elects an executive board at a conference due to end on Friday, but the government must also approve the charter, an official said.
"The state has permitted the church to hold its conference and will grant recognition after approving its charter," said the official from the Government Board for Religious Affairs, who did not want to be identified.
Official media said the conference in Ho Chi Minh City, which began on Thursday, would discuss "the orientation and plan for religious practice and regulations for the Church's operations under the guideline "Living the gospel amidst the nation."
It comes ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington on February 13, which will consider whether Washington should consider sanctions to press Hanoi to improve its rights record.
In particular the meeting in Washington will consider what effect giving Normal Trade Relations status to Hanoi under the terms of a landmark bilateral trade accord, signed last year but yet to be ratified by Congress, would have on religious freedoms.
The Nhan Dan (People) newspaper said the church would elect an executive board and adopt a charter "respecting national tradition and social life in conformity with Vietnam's Constitution and laws."
The conference, the first of the southern Evangelical Church since the Vietnam War, was attended by 482 dignitaries and believers, 278 guests, as well as senior officials from the Board for Religious Affairs and the Vietnam Fatherland Front - the ruling Communist Party's mass organisation.
Nhan Dan quoted Le Quang Vinh, head of the religious affairs board, assaying the state "understands and respects the aspirations of Protestant dignitaries and believers" and urged them to contribute to national unity.
Some Protestants believe official recognition will be a positive step that will ease harassment of believers. Others dismissed the meeting as an attempt by authorities to bring more Protestants under control.
Especially critical are pastors of small Protestant "house churches," whose congregations make up the bulk of Vietnam's 700,000 or more Protestants and are not represented at the meeting.
House churches have been viewed with suspicion by the communist authorities, not least because they are difficult to control and have taken strong root in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities of questionable loyalty to Hanoi.
These include two central highland coffee growing provinces, Daklak and Gia Lai, scene of widespread protests in recent days.
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Vietnam Buddhist sect leader jailed for five years
Reuters (22.01.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (24.01.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A court in southern Vietnam has jailed a leader of a Buddhist sect for five years for violating a restriction order and "abusing democratic rights," a court official said on Monday.
Ha Hai, secretary-general of the Hoa Hao sect, was sentenced by the court in Cho Moi district of An Giang province on January 16, said the official, who declined to be identified. He said Ha Hai had until January 31 to lodge an appeal.
"The court sentenced Ha Hai to five years imprisonment on two charges: of violating surveillance orders made by local authorities and abusing democratic rights to encroach on state interests," the official said.
He said the surveillance order had restricted Ha Hai from moving outside a certain area.
A police officer in the neighbouring province of Can Tho, meanwhile, denied an allegation by the Maryland-based Overseas Hoa Hao Buddhist Association that the deputy chairman of the group, Nguyen Van Dien, had been arrested on Sunday.
"It's wrong information, we did not arrest anybody," said the officer in Can Tho's Thot Not district.
The U.S.-based group described Ha Hai and Dien as key officials working with the church's leader Le Quang Liem, who it forecast would be the next group member arrested.
The U.S.-based group warned in a statement that Liem's arrest would spark big protests by Hoa Hao followers.
The Hoa Hao, who claim four million adherents in communist-ruled Vietnam, have long complained of persecution stemming from their previous armed opposition to communism during the Vietnam War.
Last month Hanoi authorities said Ha Hai's health was "still normal," despite a claim from supporters that he had been on hunger strike for 32 days.
In September, five Hoa Hao members were sentenced to between one and three years in jail on charges of slandering the government and "abusing democratic rights." Their church said they had complained of abuses of power.
During one of his last overseas trips as U.S. president, former President Bill Clinton urged Hanoi in November to show greater religious tolerance. Hanoi routinely denies restricting religious and other rights.
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Vietnam PM sees threats in religion, rights issues
Reuters (05.01.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (09.01.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has said opponents of the nation's communist regime were using religion and human rights as methods to destabilise the country.
The Communist Party daily Nhan Dan (People) on Friday reproduced a speech in which Khai told representatives of the country's police force that plots against Vietnam had become more wicked.
"(Hostile forces) have taken advantages of 'hot spots' and complicated issues such as religious and ethnic issues to cause disturbances," Khai said.
He did not give any examples of the alleged plots. Vietnam uses the term "hostile forces" to describe opposition to its government.
International rights groups and some foreign governments accuse Vietnam of restricting religious and political freedoms -- charges Hanoi denies.
Khai said corruption by local officials and party members was an important factor that also threatened political, economic and social stability.
Khai's remarks echoed those by Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu earlier this week, who alerted the country's armed forces to attempts by hostile forces to sabotage and subvert the regime.
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