Vietnam: Persecuted rights advocates in Vietnam seek help from world's democracies.

The following article was written for Morning Star News (MSN), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that specializes in supplying original news reports of persecuted Christians, so as "to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone."

Persecuted Rights Advocates in Vietnam Seek Help from World’s Democracies
Beatings, prison also constitute an attack on liberty.

June 13, 2016 By Elizabeth Kendal for Morning Star News

(Morning Star News) – In 2006, the U.S. State Department removed Vietnam from its list of Countries of Particular Concern, citing the release of religious prisoners and the easing of religious restrictions. Two months later, the United States granted Vietnam permanent normal trade status, paving the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization in January 2007.

As soon as the regime had secured its goals, however, it unleashed a crack-down. Among the first to be arrested was internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer and religious liberty advocate Nguyen Van Dai, a Protestant Christian.

Arrested on March 6, 2007, and deemed guilty of violating Article 88 of the criminal code – “conducting propaganda against the state” – Nguyen Van Dai spent the next four years in prison in Hanoi (to March 2011) followed by four years house arrest (to March 2015).

Dai, 47, was subsequently re-arrested on Dec. 16, 2015, as he was preparing to meet with European Union representatives who were in Hanoi for the annual EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue. He is being held incommunicado, charged with violating Article 88, the maximum sentence for which is 20 years.

Mrs Vu Minh Khanh, 10 May 2016
testimony: pdf
c-span video of proceedings 

Denied access to her husband and fearing abusive treatment and unjust processes, Dai’s wife, Vu Minh Khanh – also a strong Christian and courageous religious liberty advocate – is seeking assistance from the world’s leading democracies.

On May 10, Khanh presented her testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith.

She is now in Australia, traveling with Vietnam Voice.

Green Light for Repression

On May 23, while on an official visit to Vietnam, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted the decades-long embargo on selling lethal weapons to Vietnam without requiring any concessions in return.
This despite the fact that the Vietnam Humans Rights Act of 2015 states, “It is the sense of Congress that: it shall be U.S. policy that further easing of the prohibition on the sale of lethal military equipment to Vietnam shall require Vietnam to take additional and sustained steps to advance human rights protections.”

Smith called Obama’s move an “epic failure of diplomacy.” Phil Robertson, deputy director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch agreed. “In one fell swoop, President Obama has jettisoned what remained of U.S. leverage to improve human rights in Vietnam – and has basically gotten nothing for it,” Robertson said.

In giving the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam exactly what it wanted without requiring anything in return, Obama has essentially given the party a green light to further escalate repression and persecution.

Consequently, religious liberty advocates hold grave fears for Dai and Khanh, especially as those fears are personified in the plight of pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh and his wife, Tran Thi Hong.

Persecution Paradigm

The Rev. Nguyen Cong Chinh, a 45-year-old Protestant in the Central Highlands province of Gai Lai, has suffered systematic, violent persecution at the hands of Communist Party officials since 2003, when he protested ethnic-religious persecution and appealed for religious liberty.

Rev. Nguyen Cong Chinh

Arrested on April 28, 2011, Pastor Chinh was sentenced on July 31, 2012 to 11 years in prison for violating Article 87 of the criminal code, “undermining national unity.” In prison, he has been subjected to lengthy periods of solitary confinement, numerous beatings, deprivations (including being denied the right to pray), and humiliating and traumatizing Cultural-Revolution- style criticism sessions that fuel inmate hostility against him.

Also targeted for systematic violent persecution is Pastor Chinh’s wife, Tran Thi Hong, for she too is a courageous religious liberty advocate.

On March 30 March, local regime officials forcefully prevented Hong from attending her scheduled meeting with a U.S. delegation led by David Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large on International Religious Freedom. The meeting only went ahead after Hong managed to inform Saperstein that she had been ambushed, seized and escorted back home, at which point Saperstein intervened.

Mrs Tran Thi Hong, 14 April 2016.
source

On the morning of April 14, however, officials abducted Hong from her home and took her to the office of the People’s Committee of Hoa Lu Ward, where she was interrogated and beaten by plainclothes agents for three hours, leaving her with injuries to her head, knees, legs, hands, and feet.

In May, Hong was forcibly dragged to the police station and interrogated on May 11, 12, 13, 27 and 28. On May 13, when her distressed 18-year- old son tried to protect her, he too was assaulted, strangled, bound and detained for the rest of the day.

Attracting Interest

The violent persecution of Hong and the re-arrest of Dai and have not gone unnoticed. On April 26, Amnesty International demanded “a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation” into “the alleged torture of Mrs. Tran Thi Hong.” [Amnesty International press release]

On June 2, the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on the government of Vietnam to stop the persecution of Hong, “who has been repeatedly arrested and tortured as retaliation for informing the international community of human rights violations against her husband, who is in prison for peaceful religious activities.” [OHCHR press release]

On June 7, a joint motion was tabled in the European Parliament requesting a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Vietnam: European Parliament resolution on Vietnam (2016/2755(RSP)) [EU Parliament joint resolution on Vietnam]

New Dynamic Creates Opportunity

China’s territorial expansion in and militarization of the South China Sea has Vietnam looking for friends and allies. This new dynamic gives Western democracies more leverage with Vietnam than they have had in years.

What post-Christian “progressive” Western elites need to understand is that in Vietnam, the church is integral to civil society and is at the center of virtually all humanitarian, pro-democracy, and human rights work.

Consequently, a strong defense of religious freedom is a highly strategic means of advancing humanitarian work, human rights advocacy, and capacity building to further democracy and liberty.

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Elizabeth Kendal is a religious liberty analyst and advocate. The author of two books, she publishes a weekly Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, serves as the Director of Advocacy at Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) Canberra, and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology (MST). See: www.ElizabethKendal.com 

Vietnam Gets Green Light to Escalate Repression and Persecution

by Religious Liberty Analyst, Elizabeth Kendal, 3 June 2016

On 16 December 2015, Vietnam's internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer and religious liberty advocate Nguyen Van Dai (47) was re-arrested, just days after being violently assaulted.

On 10 May 2016, his wife, Mrs Vu Minh Khanh, presented her testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, chaired by religious liberty champion, Rep. Chris Smith.

After explaining that her husband has already suffered four years imprisonment (March 2007-2011) followed by four years house arrest (to March 2015) on account of his human rights advocacy, Mrs Vu Minh Khanh proceeded to plead her husband's case.

Mrs Vu Minh Khanh,  Washington, 10 May 2016
testimony: pdf     /   c-span video of proceedings

“My husband has been detained for almost 5 months now,” lamented Khanh, “yet I have not received any information about him. He is at present also not allowed to meet with any family members nor with his defense lawyers because the authorities claim that he is under investigation for ‘violating national security.’

“. . . In 2000, my husband officially began his activism and fought for freedom of religion and was a human rights lawyer. . . Thereafter, my husband provided free legal services to Christians who were oppressed based on their religion, those who fought for democracy and human rights who are harassed and detained, victims of land grabs or home lost, and to people who were physically attacked and arbitrarily detained. He lead training courses about human rights at his law office.

“. . . he always fervently tried to fight for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly through non-violent methods and through providing education on human rights. . . Throughout his human rights activism, my husband was constantly followed, threatened, harassed and beaten. My husband is currently charged under Article 88 of the Penal Code [“conducting propaganda against the state”] and faces 3 to 20 years imprisonment.

“. . . My husband has worked hard to protect human rights and these activities cannot possibly be seen as criminal. Therefore, I hope that Congress and the U.S. government will help demand for his immediate and unconditional release.

“I sincerely thank you for spending time to listen to my husband’s case.”

“Epic Failure in Diplomacy”

Subsequently, on 23 May, whilst on an official visit to Vietnam, President Obama lifted the decades-long embargo on selling lethal weapons to Vietnam, without requiring any concessions in return, leaving Rep. Chris Smith to lament the “epic failure of diplomacy”.

In April 2015, Smith sponsored the Vietnam Humans Rights Act of 2015, which “prohibits U.S. nonhumanitarian assistance to the government of Vietnam in excess of FY2014 amounts unless the President certifies to Congress that the government of Vietnam has made substantial progress respecting political, civil, media, Internet, and religious freedoms, minority rights, access to U.S. refugee programs, and actions to end trafficking in persons and the release of religious and political prisoners.”

The Act also states: “It is the sense of Congress that: it shall be U.S. policy that further easing of the prohibition on the sale of lethal military equipment to Vietnam shall require Vietnam to take additional and sustained steps to advance human rights protections.”

Unsurprisingly, Rep. Chris Smith believes Obama struck a “bad deal”.

“President Obama gave up one of the few remaining leverage points that the United States has in exchange for vague promises of expanded port use by the U.S. Navy,” said Smith, who quite reasonably believes that “Vietnam would have offered the U.S. Navy port access without condition, given China’s advances in the South China Sea.”  

Phil Robertson, deputy director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch agrees. “In one fell swoop, President Obama has jettisoned what remained of U.S. leverage to improve human rights in Vietnam – and has basically gotten nothing for it.”

While Stratfor Global Intelligence confirms that, “Hanoi is reportedly interested in U.S. helicopters, communications equipment, and possibly even used F-16 fighter jets,” the reality is, Vietnam has long purchased the bulk of its weapons from Russia, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Maybe this, and not Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, was foremost in Obama’s mind.  

A Green Light to Escalate Repression

In 2006, the State Department removed Vietnam from its list of Countries of Particular Concern, citing the release of religious prisoners and the easing of religious restrictions. Two months later, the US granted Vietnam permanent normal trade status, which paved the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2007.

However, as soon as Vietnam had secured its goals, repression and persecution escalated. On 6 March 2007, Nguyen Van Dai was arrested as the regime cracked down on pro-democracy and human rights advocates.  Writing in March 2007, I described the crackdown as a “watershed moment”, wherein, “Through a wave of harassments, arrests and criminal charges against human rights and democracy advocates engaged in peaceful and perfectly legal activities, Vietnam is openly showing its hand and waiting to see if anyone will challenge, or if everyone will fold.”

In giving the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam exactly what it wanted without requiring anything in return, President Obama essentially "folded", giving the regime a green light to escalate repression and persecution.

This will certainly crush the hopes of Vietnam’s more than 100 political and religious prisoners, along with their loved ones and supporters. More critically, it will embolden a brutal totalitarian regime intent on silencing a multitude of Vietnamese dissident bloggers, pro-democracy activists, human rights lawyers and religious liberty advocates . . . including, of course, Mrs Vu Minh Khanh, who soon will return to Vietnam.

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For more details on religious persecution in Vietnam, see
“Vietnam: Serious suffering as persecution escalates.” 
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB 359), 1 June 2016
By Religious Liberty Analyst, Elizabeth Kendal.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat.

Elizabeth Kendal’s new book, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East, is presently being published by Wipf and Stock (Eugene, OR, USA) and will be available shortly. 

Religious Freedom and Realpolitik

By Elizabeth Kendal

On 22 May 2013, the Washington Post published a piece by Lauren Markeo, entitled: ANALYSIS: Does religious freedom report need more 'teeth'?

The title is drawn from the words of Knox Thames, the director of policy and research at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), who laments that the State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2012 -- released by Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday 20 May 2013 -- does not include an updated list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs). The USCIRF insists that the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Act that mandates the State Department Report also requires new designations of CPCs annually.

As Thames explained to Markoe, for years the annual report and the CPC designations were simultaneous, but that changed late in the Bush administration and has been continued under Obama. And according to Thames, the list of CPCs "is what gave all of this teeth" . . . for the list prompts "countries to do things they don't normally want to do".

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, REALPOLITIK AND DENIAL

On the contrary, the CPC list did not give the US IRF Act its "teeth"; US economic leverage gave the Act its teeth. The CPC list was only effective because aid could be extended or sanctions applied on the grounds of the religious liberty findings. As long as the US had political will and economic leverage, dictators had economic incentive to reign in their most hostile and belligerent elements and pursue at least a modicum of reform.

As I maintain in the introduction to my book, Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Dec 2012), the US IRF Act "only had teeth as long as the US had economic leverage. Thus the financial collapse of 2008 seriously undermined its power." 

The reality is, persecution escalated dramatically immediately after the financial crisis: "It was as if the veil of protection that US economic . . . leverage had provided was stripped away in a moment, leaving minority Christians exposed and vulnerable before a rising tide of militant religious nationalism, intolerant Islamic fundamentalism and brutal, atheistic totalitarianism."

Compounding the crisis, US financial collapse converged not only with the rise of China -- and who needs US aid when China gives aid without strings attached? -- but also with the decline of US political and military influence in the Middle East.

That the US IRF Act has indeed lost its "teeth" (economic leverage) is a fact about which most persecuted believers and religious liberty advocates are actually in profound denial.

CASE STUDY: VIETNAM

Thames offers Vietnam as an example of how the CPC designations "work", noting that reforms, pressed by US diplomats, resulted in Vietnam's delisting in 2006.

But that was then -- before the financial crisis -- this is now!

Furthermore, Vietnam never really reformed -- it just did what it had to do in order to get from the US what it wanted to get. Behind the dressed-up facade, Vietnam remained a repressive, Communist regime.

As Human Rights Watch reported in October 2009: "In 2006, the State Department removed Vietnam from the [CPC] list, citing the release of religious prisoners and less-restrictive legislation governing religion. Two months later, the US granted Vietnam permanent normal trade status, which led to Vietnam's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO)."
See, Vietnam: Sharp backsliding in religious freedom
HRW, 10 Oct 2009

But soon as Vietnam joined the WTO in January 2007, repression and persecution returned. In March 2007 I wrote of a watershed moment. "Through a wave of harassments, arrests and criminal charges against human rights and democracy advocates engaged in peaceful and perfectly legal activities, Vietnam is openly showing its hand and waiting to see if anyone will challenge, or if everyone will fold."
See: Vietnam's crackdown creates watershed
By Elizabeth Kendal, 20 March 2007

In the US, the usual voices spoke out against the persecution -- US Congressmen Chris Smith, Frank Wolf, Ed Royce, Dana Rohrabacher and others -- warning Vietnam that it risked being returned to the CPC list; but to no avail. By September 2008, Vietnam was right back to its old ways: breaking promises and using state violence to crack down hard on Hanoi's Catholics as they followed the courageous Archbishop Kiet into the streets, week after week, in one of the most courageous and phenomenal prayer movements I have ever seen.  
See: Vietnam: Govt belligerence escalates against Hanoi Catholics.
By Elizabeth Kendal, 26 September 2008

Persecution in Vietnam's Central Highlands also skyrocketed. The HRW report -- Montagnard Christians in Vietnam: a case study in religious repression (March 2011) -- reveals a campaign of widespread systematic harassment, violence and public shaming through which many hundreds, if not thousands, of Protestant families have been forced to recant their faith.

The reality is, since late 2008, persecution with impunity has become the order of the day -- not just in Vietnam, but worldwide. The US can't prevent it and the persecutors know it!

Today's world is a world of realpolitik, where economic and geo-strategic concerns trump inconvenient human rights abuses -- especially the persecution of Christians -- every day.

END DENIAL AND STEP OUT IN FAITH

It goes against the grain of human pride to admit that we are helpless and powerlessness. It is also very frightening. But I would maintain that this is exactly what we must do if we are to lay hold of what God has promised.

When the Assyrian Rabshakeh and his "great army" arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in 701 BC, the Assyrians had already crushed everything and everyone in whom King Hezekiah had hoped: Babylon (the great city), Tyre and Sidon (the great economic powers), Hezekiah's Western Alliance (collective security) and military aid from Egypt (Judah's ally in the south). With the Assyrians "at the gate", the conquest of Jerusalem was imminent and inevitable . . . until Hezekiah returned to the way of faith, and prayed (Isaiah 36-37). And Isaiah makes it perfectly clear that this is not mere history, this is type with universal application.

Religious liberty advocates would do well to take Isaiah as their role model. In the midst of an existential political and military crisis, Isaiah obeyed the Lord and approached the king -- first Ahaz, then Hezekiah. A prophetic voice -- as distinct from a negotiator or union representative -- Isaiah spoke truth to power without ever putting his faith in that power or in his diplomacy or the political process or military might or collective security or economic leverage. On the contrary, his faith was always in the Lord alone.

The world has changed and US influence and leverage is not what it used to be. Yet I believe this may yet prove to be providential. Without its "teeth" (economic leverage) the US IRF Act may be released to just equip us with truth uncontaminated by political considerations -- truth that is absolutely essential if we are to "fight" effectively (Ephesians 6:14) and turn back the battle. Meanwhile, after more than a decade of looking to the US for help, the Church might finally return to the way of faith and look once more to the one who really does rule this world: the faithful, Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. "Blessed are those who wait for him." (Isaiah 30:18)

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Elizabeth Kendal is the Director of Advocacy at Christian Faith and Freedom (Canberra), and the author of Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Dec 2012)

Economics and human rights. Incl. "How is it possible?" by Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang (June 2004)

Boko Haram, the al Qaeda-link terrorist organisation that is traumatising Nigeria, has always been open about its Islamic agenda. The US administration, however, believes it knows better than the terrorists why terrorism happens. Refusing to take Boko Haram at its word, the US administration of President Obama insists that the root cause of Boko Haram terror is not Islamic fundamentalist political ideology, but frustration and grievance over poor living standards. The prescribed remedy, therefore, is socio-economic development.

See: U.S. State Department fails to designate Boko Haram as FTO
Religious Liberty Monitoring, 21 July 2012

Surely the hypothesis that improved living standards lead ipso facto to improved security and human rights has been tested long enough and proved false. Surely such thinking is both naive and a denial of reality.

As a supplement to the above Nigeria posting, I am republishing a piece written in June 2004 by persecuted Vietnamese Mennonite pastor Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang.

The full text of that WEA RLC News & Analysis posting (missing from my blog due to oversight) is available here (ASSIST).  It includes a report on the 8 June 2004 arrest of the Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church; and a translation of a letter dated 21 May 2004 from the leaders of the Vietnam Mennonite Church to the Mennonite World Conference detailing the severe and ongoing persecution in Dong Nai Province.

As noted in that posting, one Western diplomat, when presented with information describing the violent persecution in Dong Nai, responded in virtual disbelief with the question, "How is it possible that a province which is growing economically and which enjoys a lot of foreign investment, and whose standard of living is rising, is not also advancing human rights but is on the contrary is said to be persecuting Christians?"

The June 2004 WEA RLC News & Analysis posting also includes Rev Quang's response to that question. It is a response that is worth republishing today, for it strikes at the West's false yet intransigent belief that human rights are achieved through economic development and modernisation, rather than by challenging the way people think / what people believe.

--------------------------------------------------
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?
By the Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang
(June 2004, full text)

"How is it possible?"  These are the words of a ranking foreign diplomat of a Western country when he heard the story of what happened in Dong Nai [in April-May 2004] and the various ways that Christians were oppressed.  This diplomat, who in many ways supports the bilateral relationship between our two countries and supports the development of Vietnam, was so sceptical that he blurted out, "How is it possible that a province which is growing economically and which enjoys a lot of foreign investment, and whose standard of living is rising, is not also advancing human rights but is on the contrary is said to be persecuting Christians?"

Confronted with such views and ideas from the diplomat, I was at once angry and sad.  I was angry because the people responsible for causing these events "live above the law" and have a low view of our citizens and of humanity in general in the 21st Century.  They do not value human beings, they violate the basic rights of people - the human rights that have been the desire of people for ages - and they have the power to deny the natural aspirations for freedom of the citizens of Vietnam.

I was sad because this country has heard too many politicians say we should serve the high calling of "freedom, democracy and independence", while hundreds of thousands of human beings have fallen in our homeland. At this time many suffer great hardships, even for simply trying to exercise the minimum right of "gathering to worship the Almighty" and are savagely beaten.  The world has been exploding with social aspirations and advanced technology. Huge changes are taking place all over, affecting many governments like a strong whirlwind, bringing some of them to an end.  The choice seems to be "develop, change and survive" or "disintegrate and fade away."

How is it possible?  Is it possible that the extreme confusion of the diplomat, when faced with the fact of this repression, is evidence that he does not want to admit such things happen?  His diplomatic work is to wholeheartedly foster relationships so that his country will understand and support Vietnam.  The diplomat seems to believe in the philosophy that says "Develop the economy and raise the standard of living, and the valuing of human rights and freedoms will inevitably follow."

He has his beliefs, and I have my belief that the Bible's teaching is accurate when it speaks on principles governing humanity. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

If a country honours and places a higher value on things spiritual (as the Kingdom of God, righteousness, etc.) than on material matter and economics, then that country will enjoy peace, stability and development.  Compare the countries that respect the Creator and respect human rights, with countries which denigrate the Creator and trample on human rights. You will see clearly that those which respect the Creator and honour human rights are blessed, and those which disdain the Creator and flaunt human rights seem to be cursed. The difference between South and North Korea is a stark example. The South has a large section of the population that worships the Creator and the country respects human rights, while the North completely puts down the Creator and tramples on human rights is in an incredibly desperate condition.  (The two Germanys formerly and the two Koreas today are clear and concrete examples.)

The Bible teaches in Genesis that in the beginning was God and that the world, the atmosphere, plants, animals, people and other things were created later. To raise the creation higher than the Creator is contrary to the Bible, as is putting material things ahead of the freedom to worship, to enjoy authentic human dignity and democracy and other human rights.

If an evil person is very rich but lives an openly debauched life, then the morality of all society will suffer and a dictator who has in his hands the means, the authority and the power, will use them to strangle freedom, democracy, and faith and morality.

The bankrupt policy of promoting economic development ahead of the values of freedom, democracy and human rights, though it seems to have the advantage in the beginning of winning outside favour, is contrary to the laws of the Creator and so how can it be supported? We have had nearly two decades of so-called "renovation", and a decade without the US embargo, but the situation of human rights and religious freedom for us Vietnamese has gone nowhere.  Ask the Christians in Dong Nai.

So the prioritizing of what "seems right to man"-- that is putting a priority on promoting economic development and ties -- has worked out precisely contrary to the hopes and desires of the diplomacy of countries which enjoy democracy.

Evangelists Ms. Pham Thi Kim Huong, Ms. Trinh Thi Kim Phuong, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, and Mr. Dang Dang Khoa are servants of the Lord who had their house of worship smashed. Then were cuffed and dragged away in front of their flock and before the villagers by Dong Nai security police and government officials on May 2, 2004. They were treated as criminals and thrown into a stinking vehicle used to transport pigs.  The humiliation which the Mennonite pastors, evangelists in Dong Nai had to endure was a great disgrace, but they bravely endured with dignity.

How many times have the faithful been trampled on in Dong Nai? Only the perpetrators know, but nothing is hidden from God - not one of the evil acts in Dong Nai province.

As for the diplomat, he may continue to ask incredulously, "How is it possible?" in reference to our struggle for religious freedom, and the efforts of our government which has recently cranked up its positive announcements and propaganda efforts whilst in actual practice continues it's dirty deeds in Dong Nai. Dong Nai province has given the diplomat a clear answer with its unreasonable and steady harassment and persecution of the believers continuously from Easter until now.  And this is but one small example of a widespread reality.

As a citizen of Vietnam I have a question.  "How is it possible that the government machinery in Dong Nai Province is unaware that it has broken the law according to Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam?"  Local officials continue to deny the right of assembly and the right to worship God, giving orders to suppress Christianity, as has just happened again.  How is it possible that government officials in Dong Nai continue to treat Christianity as an enemy and no one takes any action at all?

Respectfully,
Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang
(June 2004)

Sacrificed on the altar of "quiet diplomacy"?

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a ESV)

VIETNAM: Archbishop of Hanoi, Msgr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet (57), replaced.

Those who have followed the dramatic developments in Vietnam over the recent years will know the significance of Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, Archbishop of Hanoi. Msgr. Kiet has risked his own life and liberty seeking justice and religious freedom for the church in Vietnam. In the process he inspired many hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics, as well as local Protestants and global religious liberty advocates. Consequently, Kiet became a thorn in the flesh of the repressive Communist Party dictatorship that rules Vietnam -- a regime that has spent recent years escalating repression.

BACKGROUND

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels stated in their 1848 Communist Manifesto: 'The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.' Consequently, when the Communists came to power in northern Vietnam in 1945 and in the south in 1975, they confiscated private properties, including those owned by the Church.

Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants have long sought the return of their confiscated properties. For decades the Church and State have been stuck in a cycle of political and diplomatic jostling: church petitions -- government rejections -- church petitions with international support -- minimalist government appeasement followed by more land seizures and demolitions -- more church petitions followed by frustration and discouragement.

In December 2007, as Msgr Kiet petitioned the government for the return of Hanoi nunciature (the Vatican Embassy -- a large and beautiful historic house built next to St Joseph's Cathedral -- confiscated in 1959), he decided to try a new strategy. Frustrated by years of futile political activism, Archbishop Kiet simply asked the faithful to pray. And pray they did. On 18 December 2007, as a Spirit of prayer gripped the church, the Catholic faithful poured out onto the streets of Hanoi.

The public prayer vigils initially focused on the Hanoi nunciature. Crowds grew daily until, on Christmas Eve of 2007, some 5,000 Catholic faithful sang, worshipped and prayed in the open air outside the Hanoi nunciature.

And that was merely the beginning. The prayer vigils spread to other sites across the city as Catholics came out to show solidarity and pray for justice and religious liberty. The prayer vigils in Hanoi's Thai Ha Redemptorist parish were particular large. Those participating in the prayer vigils held flowers and crosses, and candles on dark nights and umbrellas on rainy days.

By August 2008, the government was clearly stressed. Responding as dictator regimes do, they sent in riot police to break up prayer vigils; they started beating and arresting participants and journalists; they started beating and arresting their lawyers; they started sending in Communist vigilantes to do government dirty-work; and they accused Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of inciting protests.

The Catholics, however, were not bowed -- the prayer vigils continued.

Eventually the authorities agreed to return Hanoi's apostolic nunciature to church ownership if only the Catholics would end the prayer vigils.

The Catholics ended their vigils, and then, on 19 September 2008, the Communists bulldozed the Hanoi nunciature to the ground and turned the site into a public park.

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a)

Despite the loss of the Hanoi nunciature the prayer vigils continued. On Sunday 21 September 2008, some 10,000 Catholics turned out in the street to sing, worship and pray for justice and religious liberty. It was the largest public demonstration seen in Vietnam since the Communists seized power.

The Communist Party responded with a virulent media campaign targeting Msgr Kiet and calling for his removal. The Catholic faithful responded with yet more prayer vigils, this time in support of Archbishop Kiet.

See:
Vietnam: Prayer vigils push government to breaking point.
Religious Liberty News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal, 16 September 2008

VIETNAM: PRAYER VIGILS CONFRONT GOVERNMENT
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLP) 496, Wed 17 Sep 2008

Vietnam: Govt belligerence escalates against Hanoi Catholics.
Religious Liberty News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal, 26 September 2008

Vietnamese Catholics Under Communist Iron Grip.
VietCatholic News 29 Sept 2008 (includes pictures)

Biggest protest since 1954 over Hanoi old nunciature demolition
CathNews 22 Sept 2010

State media launch campaign for Hanoi’s archbishop removal
VietCatholic News, 17 Oct 2008 (with photos)


The struggle continued through 2009, with more prayer vigils and more property destruction.

See:
VIETNAM: GREATER DESTRUCTION AS PERSECUTION ESCALATES
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 009, Wed 17 Jun 2009

VIETNAM: BRUTALITY CONFRONTED THROUGH PRAYER
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 017, Wed 12 Aug 2009


. . . and into 2010 . . .

See:
Redemptorist Superior General urges prayer for persecuted Vietnamese Catholics.
Catholic News Agency, 26 Jan 2010 (with picture)

KIET "RETIRES"

In April 2010, Msgr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet (57), Archbishop of Hanoi, announced that he would "retire" for health reason. He would be replaced by Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon (72), a bishop who has the approval of the Communist Party.

Msgr. Kiet reports that his chronic insomnia and asthenia (weakness) is preventing him from fulfilling his duties as Archbishop and so he sought leave from the Vatican to retire. According to Kiet, neither the Bishop's Conference nor the Holy See wanted to accept his resignation. Eventually however, he managed to convince them. Msgr. Kiet is appealing to Vietnamese Catholics to embrace their new Archbishop and stay united.
See:
Archbishop Kiet: They did not want me to retire, I had to ask the Pope myself
by J.B. An Dang, Hanoi, AsiaNews 14 May 2010.

The Communist Party however, is singing a different tune. According to official State media reports, the Communist Party is treating the removal of Kiet as a significant victory on their "road map" to removing stubborn, dissident, religious liberty activist priests. According to State media, the Vatican agreed to remove Kiet and replace him with government-approved Bishop Nguyen Van Nhon, in exchange for a Papal visit to Vietnam and talks on normalisation of diplomatic ties.
See: Hanoi launches a press campaign, using Msgr. Kiet to discredit the Vatican
by Emily Nguyen, Hanoi, AsiaNews, 13 May 2010

The drama is dividing the church. Catholics who believe Kiet is telling the whole and absolute truth, suspect there is a government conspiracy afoot to hurt the Vatican. Others sense a government conspiracy to silence Kiet and decapitate the prayer movement, and that they secured Kiet's removal in a deal struck with the Vatican.

The division is such that the government is scoring a victory no matter what the truth of the matter. However, if Kiet is telling the whole truth, then the Pope needs to confirm his story with a public statement that will end speculation and division. The fact that the Pope has not done so only fuels suspicion that the Communist Party's version is the correct one. Clearly the Communist Party is using its media channels to stoke division -- and doubtless it is loving every minute of it.

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a )

Asia Times Online is unambiguous in its assessment, publishing its report under the title: Vatican, Vietnam sacrifice a holy man (Asia Times Online, 7 May 2010).

The author writes, "Against this backdrop [the continuing prayer vigils and years of persistent government slander and threats against Msgr. Kiet], President Nguyen Minh Triet paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI in December 2009, following Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's historic Vatican trip in 2007. The two sides are reported to be discussing normalization of diplomatic ties.

"Following Triet's meeting with the pope, Kiet went on medical leave and traveled to Rome for treatment. Vietnamese Catholic websites report that Triet insisted that the Vatican remove Kiet as a condition for establishing closer ties. This request, if true, would be consistent with the tone of government-controlled newspapers.

"On returning to Vietnam in April [2010], Kiet announced that he was retiring, for 'health reasons'. His stepping down, though not unexpected, was a disappointment for many Vietnamese, Catholic and non-Catholic, who admired his courageous leadership. Several online petitions have been organized calling on Pope Benedict to keep Kiet as archbishop of Hanoi."

See also :
Vietnam: Catholics shaken by new Hanoi coadjutor's appointment
VietCatholic News, 23 Apr 2010

A ceremony to install Bishop Nguyen Van Nhon of Dalat, President of Vietnam Episcopal Council, as coadjutor archbishop of Hanoi, was held on 7 May. It was however, met with angry protests.
See:
Repercussion of Hanoi coadjutor installation ceremony
VietCatholic News (09 May 2010) (includes photos)

Hanoi Catholic journalist JB Nguyen Huu Vinh, who was beaten by police in February as he was reporting religious repression, told VietCatholic News that he fears the controversy will hurt the good standing the Catholic hierarchy has had in the eyes of Catholic faithful.

Reporting on the installation ceremony he wrote: "In a strategy obviously planned to avoid a direct confrontation with protestors, the procession of bishops and clergy had to enter through a side door, not the main entrance of the cathedral as in other previous solemn ceremony.

"Likewise, at the end of the ceremony, the bishops returned to the archbishopric office by a backdoor where they could escape the sea of protestors." Further to this, reports Huu Vinh, the new coadjutor bishop of Hanoi, Mgr. Peter Nguyen Van Nhon did not give the traditional blessings to the faithful.

And so it appears likely that Archbishop Kiet has met the fate of other problematic front-line religious liberty and justice advocates and been sacrificed on the altar of "quiet diplomacy" by Church leaders who, for some reason and despite the evidence of history, continue to invest their hopes and trust in human beings and human institutions, even in traitors and destroyers whose ultimate ambition is to silence the song of God's people.

GOVT BELLIGERENCE ESCALATES AGAINST HANOI CATHOLICS

Date: Friday 26 September 2008
Subj: Vietnam: Govt belligerence escalates against Hanoi Catholics.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal


Twelve months ago the world's media was transfixed by the sight of thousands of courageous, marching, anti-junta Buddhist monks in Rangoon, Burma. It has been both astounding therefore and sad that the largest public demonstrations to occur in Vietnam since the Communists took power have attracted only the most minimal attention. But the Hanoi demonstrations, which are taking the form of mass prayer vigils attended by candle, cross and flower-holding, singing, praying Catholics, are immensely significant. So WEA RLC will be following the situation, which is escalating week by week.

This posting updates the posting of 16 September 2008 entitled –
"Vietnam: Prayer vigils push government to breaking point."

As previously reported: "The prayer vigils are pushing the government to breaking point. But will they result in a breakthrough in Church-State relations, or an escalation in violent repression?

"The situation is not looking good. The government appears to be closing the door on dialogue, police are being deployed and the State-run media are describing the main prayer vigil in Thai Ha as an 'organisational crime' plotted by 'hostile forces' against the communist government."

--------------------------------------------
UPDATE: GOVERNMENT BELLIGERENCE ESCALATES
--------------------------------------------

GOVT ORDERS DEMOLITION OF FORMER VATICAN EMBASSY IN HANOI

VietCatholic News Agency reports: "Eight months after promising to restore Church ownership of a building that once housed the office of the apostolic nuncio in Hanoi, Vietnamese authorities have suddenly begun demolishing the building, provoking the outrage of Catholic protesters and drawing a heated protest from the city's archbishop.

"Very early [4 am] on Friday morning, 19 September, hundreds of police assembled in front of the archbishop's residence in Hanoi, blocking access to the residence, the cathedral, and all roads leading to the nearby nunciature. Dozens of bulldozers moved into the area and began digging out the lawn of the nunciature. At 6 am, after police and demolition workers were in place, state-controlled television and radio broadcasts announced that the government had decided to demolish the building, to convert the land into a public playground." (Full report: link 1)

The betrayal and the demolition carry an implied threat: "This is what happens when you push us too far!"

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HANOI'S CATHOLICS ARE PUSHED TOO FAR?
10,000 TURN OUT TO PRAY
-- largest public demonstrations since Communists came to power.

VietCatholic News Agency reports (with great photos): "The Sunday [21 Sep] morning protest of Catholics on the streets of Hanoi was probably the largest so far after the Communist takeover in 1954. A bishop and hundreds of priests led more than ten thousand of protesters praying at the nunciature before an open altar set up at the middle of the street." (Link 2)

While police turned back many busloads of worshippers, an estimated 10,000 managed to make it to the site where they braved the rain, heavy police presence, attack dogs and barbed wire to pray for justice and worship the Lord as the bells of St Joseph's Cathedral next door chimed intermittently.

Some 5,000 candle-bearing Catholics also turned out at the former nunciature on the Saturday night. "A student from Hanoi university said: 'I was here last night with at least 5,000 people. I prayed with them until very late. I had just gone home to take a sleep then return here with people. We were very upset with the way this government handle the issue.'

"'My hope [for the return of the nunciature] is gone, but my belief in God is unshaken,' said Phuong Nguyen, another girl at early twenties. 'Last February, we halted the protests out of the trust in them. However, they managed to delay returning the property through various bureaucratic manoeuvres. Then, all in a sudden, they announced to demolish for a playground and immediately carried out their plan with the support of their armed forces. How can we still trust them?' she asked." (Link 2)

MEDIA UNDER FIRE

Associated Press journalist Ben Stocking was covering the story at the former nunciature on Friday morning 19 September when he was violently assaulted by police and temporarily detained. "He [Stocking] reported that he had been choked, punched and bashed with his own camera -- the last assault opening a cut in his scalp that bled profusely. After his 2 1/2 hours in detention, he immediately had to seek treatment at a private clinic for the head injury." (Link 3)

The Vietnamese authorities however deny that Stocking was beaten and maintain that he was arrested for breaking the law. Eye witnesses (including an unknown person who filmed Stocking's removal and posted it on YouTube) maintain that Stocking was openly standing beside police and taking photos without any problems. He offered no resistance when asked to move away, but was later put into a chokehold and beaten. On Monday 22 September Stocking was summoned to the foreign ministry where he was issued a warning. Vietnamese media reported that the ministry was contemplating further action, particularly against Stocking's "slander" that security forces had beaten him. (Link 4)

ARCHBISHOP AND FOUR PRIESTS UNDER FIRE

On Tuesday 23 September Ben Stocking reported from Hanoi: "Communist authorities in Hanoi have threatened to take legal action against the city's archbishop unless he immediately disbands illegal prayer vigils to demand the return of former church lands, state media reported Monday.

"The government campaign against Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet escalated over the weekend, with state television calling into question his patriotism in an apparent attempt to turn public opinion against him." (Link 5)

According to State-run media: "The Hanoi People's Committee's communique accuses Kiet of directly inciting and encouraging violations of land-related laws." Furthermore, the authorities claim Hanoians will support the disciplining of the Archbishop. (Link 6)

However, as Stocking reports, the threats extend beyond the Archbishop. Four priests involved in the prayer vigils at the Thai Ha site also received official warnings. The BBC reports: "The archbishop and priests are accused of 'stirring the population' and encouraging illegal religious activity." (Link 7)

According to State-run media, the priests have "organised illegal religious activities on the occupied land, disturbing security, and social order in the area. For those acts, the Hanoi Mayor issues a warning against Vu Khoi Phung, the priest in charge of the Thai Ha parish and three priests, including Nguyen Van Khai, Nguyen Van That and Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong and demands them immediately stop those law violations, otherwise, they will be treated in line with the law." (Link 8)

The priests have been ordered to remove religious symbols from the site and stop disseminating false information and holding illegal gatherings. The authorities have ordered the crowds to "refrain from extremist actions".

CHURCH UNDER FIRE

In the past week the two main prayer vigil sites -- the Thai Ha Redemptorist monastery and the former nunciature -- have both been attacked by large gangs of pro-government vigilantes. The gangs dress in the blue shirts of the Youth Communist League.

On Friday 19 September at around 1 am a pro-government gang attacked the Thai Ha chapel, ransacking the altar and vandalising church property. Then at around 11.20 pm on Sunday 21 September a 200-strong gang surrounded the monastery and attempted to gain access, smashing everything in their way. "In what one priest called a 'sort of terrorism' against the Catholic faithful, the gang ransacked the building, destroying statues and books while shouting threats against the lives of clergy and religious, Catholic faithful, and the Archbishop of Hanoi." (Link 9)

In each case, the police did not intervene.

Then at 4 pm on Thursday 25 September a gang attacked the former nunciature. "Hundreds of Catholic protesters seeking the return of a former papal nunciature confiscated by the communist government were attacked on Thursday afternoon in a confrontation with youths, military veterans, and members of other communist associations.

"The pro-government gang chased protesters from the area and then gathered at the gate of the Archbishop of Hanoi's office, yelling communist slogans and calling for the head of the archbishop, whom they accused of treason." (Link 10)

According to VietCatholic News Agency the militants, who far outnumbered the Catholic protesters, were delivered to the site by State-owned buses. While the priests took cover in the church offices, the police watched as the mob destroyed the cross that worshippers had erected at the site in January. According to reports, some police even joined in the anti-Catholic rampage. (Link 11)

CHILDREN UNDER FIRE

It has also been reported that the People's Committee of Thanh Oai district has ordered school teachers to monitor their students to see who is attending the prayer vigils at the Thai Ha site. VietCatholic News Agency reports that teachers "can be seen in Thai Ha everyday looking for their students, forcing them to go home, and threatening them with severe punishments including expulsion from the school.

"Most teachers feel reluctant to become persecutors against their students. But, some seem to see it a perfect chance to carry out their anti-Catholicism ideology. Two year 7 Catholic students from Thach Bich, known as Huong and Quynh, told their parents they were forced by their teachers to stand in front of their classmates to be mocked. The 'humiliation session' had dragged for hours until the two 11-year-old children promised not to go to the church again.

"Teachers in Bich Hoa high school, out of the fear of losing their promotion and pay rise, asked all Catholic students to pledge in writing not to follow their parents to Thai Ha. In addition, non-Catholic students were ordered to report the presence of their Catholic classmates at the site.

"Catholic students from Hanoi universities face even more threats. 'We have been repeatedly warned not to go to Thai Ha. We face expulsion and arrest for joining protesters,' said an architect student, who has requested anonymity for his own safety. 'We just come here to pray. We do nothing wrong. We have no weapons and no political ambition. Why they fear us?' he asked." (Link 12)

By Elizabeth Kendal

Links

1) Tensions boil over in Hanoi as government betrays promise, destroys nunciature.
19 Sep 2008 http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58740.htm .
Hanoi Archbishop protests government's expropriation and destruction of former nunciature. 19Sept2008 http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58779.htm
ALSO
BBC. Bulldozers stoke Hanoi land clash
By Nga Pham, 19 Sep 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7625393.stm

2) Huge protest on Sunday morning at the nunciature. 21 Sept2008
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58880.htm

3) Vietnam alleges beaten AP photographer broke law. 19 Sep 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFaTmVF3wvSPYOpCO8AJauwPyMiwD93AP9K00
ALSO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTnukD8uYW4

4) Vietnam summons US journalist over protest coverage. 23 Sep 2008 http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ism9NiNQ2MjlI8eQykV7svM8hzog

5) Hanoi: Church must end vigils or face legal action
Ben Stocking in Hanoi, 23 Sep 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQVjwqiv1eWVsGsnLajOkLkZNAGAD93BSLJ80

6) Hanoi archbishop told to desist from further law violations
http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/?catid=1&newsid=42245
Hanoi City has issued a written warning to Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet of the Hanoi Archdiocese asking him to refrain from disseminating false information and inciting priests and people to take part in illegal activities.
ALSO
Hanoians in support of disciplining Archbishop. 24 Sep 2008
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/09/805253/
Voters have agreed with a decision made by the Hanoi People's Committee to discipline municipal Church Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet and several other priests in line with national law.

7) Vietnam warns priests over land
By Nga Pham, BBC News, 23 Sep 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7632095.stm

8) Hanoi warns Thai Ha priests for law breaches. 23 Sep 2008
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/politics/2008/09/805063/

9) Vietnamese gang ransacks Catholic chapel as police stand by. 22 Sep 2008
http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13865

10) Pro-government mob attacks Catholic demonstrators in Hanoi. 25 Sep 2008
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13899

11) Communist gang attack Hanoi archbishop's office. 25 Sep 2008
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/59162.htm

12) Vietnam: Catholic students mocked at school. 18 Sep 2008
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58665.htm

PRAYER VIGILS PUSH GOVERNMENT TO BREAKING POINT

Date: Tuesday 16 September 2008
Subj: Vietnam: Prayer vigils push government to breaking point.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal


Vietnam's Protestant and Catholic churches have long sought the return of properties seized by the Communist authorities since they came to power. In the north the confiscations date back to the 1950's, while in the south they date back to 1975.

For years the church's petitions have been rejected and ignored. Occasionally however the government will offer minimalist appeasement in the hope of silencing Christian leaders and satisfying international observers. However, these "gifts" are then followed by more property confiscations and demolitions, leaving the church feeling frustrated and discouraged.

But things have changed and a new wind is blowing. Many Vietnamese are seeing something they have never seen before. In late December 2007, thousands of Catholics in Hanoi rallied publicly -- armed with flowers, crosses and candles -- to pray for the return of church land and property.

On 28 March 2008 the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) (ECV(S)) issued a petition not this time to the government, but to the global body of Christ seeking prayer support in their struggle with the Communist authorities over property, interference and discrimination. That petition: "A Call to Prayer -- To the Church of God Everywhere", can be found at Link 1.

A Spirit of prayer seems to have descended upon the Vietnamese Church giving the believers courage, drive and a determination never before seen -- and the government is clearly rattled.

As the Catholic prayer vigils grow and spread, Vietnam's Communist government is working overtime to discredit the churches and their leaders and justify its own intransigence and hostility through disinformation and slander disseminated through the State-run media.

But despite the slander, police violence, threats of arrest, "extreme actions" and an imminent crackdown, the protests continue day and night in all weather and with growing numbers.

The prayer vigils are pushing the government to breaking point. But will they result in a breakthrough in Church-State relations, or an escalation in violent repression?

The situation is not looking good. The government appears to be closing the door on dialogue, police are being deployed and the State-run media are describing the main prayer vigil in Thai Ha as an "organisational crime" plotted by "hostile forces" against the communist government. (Link 2)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEEKING THE RETURN OF CONFISCATED PROPERTIES

The Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) (ECV(S)) petitioned the government three times during 2007 concerning discrimination, government interference in church affairs, and the status of the 265 ECV(S) properties the Communist authorities have seized since 1975 -- but to no avail. The government did actually return a few small properties for appeasement sake but then in November and December of 2007 demolished two more ECV(S) properties.

On 15 December 2007 the Catholic Archbishop of Hanoi, Joseph Ngo Quan Kiet, requested the government restore to the church the building that served as the Vatican ambassador's residence in Hanoi during the 1950s. The Communist authorities requisitioned the building in 1959, and it subsequently came to be used as a restaurant.

Sandro Magister describes what happened next: "Last December 15, the archbishop of Hanoi, Joseph Ngo Quan Kiet, asked for the building to be given back, and called upon the faithful to pray that justice be done.

"The faithful took him at his word. Since December 18, every evening, they have gathered in front of the fence outside the former nunciature, praying and carrying flowers and candles. On Christmas Eve, there were 5,000 of them.

"On December 30, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung came among them. Pushing through the crowd, he entered the archbishop's residence, where he spent fifteen minutes meeting with Archbishop Ngo Quan Kiet. As he left, he was applauded.

"But the protest did not die out. On the contrary, it expanded to other areas of the city.

"On January 6, the Christian feast of the Epiphany, the faithful of the parish of Thai Ha, in Hanoi, began to demonstrate to ask for the restitution of land and buildings confiscated by the regime [from the Redemptorist Order], and now occupied by various government offices and a factory . . .

"On January 12, in Ho Chi Minh City, thousands of faithful took to the streets for a vigil of solidarity with the faithful of Hanoi. The superior of the Redemptorists, Fr Joseph Cao Dinh Tri, appealed in a message to the ruling 379/TTG, which requires the authorities to give back to their owners the goods and lands confiscated over time, if these are no longer necessary to the government for critical purposes. He also recalled the ordinance PL-UBTVQH11 of 2004, which states: 'The legal ownership of sites of religious interest is protected by the law: any violation is prohibited.'

"During those same days, the faithful of the city of Ha Dong, about 25 miles south of Hanoi, also begin demonstrating peacefully for the restitution of a building confiscated from a parish.

"On January 24, a government delegation returned to meet the archbishop of Hanoi. During those same hours, groups of faithful broke through into the garden of the former nunciature, planting a cross there before they were removed by the police . . ." (Link 3)

Sandro Magister goes on to list subsequent meetings between Catholic leaders and government officials that eventually culminated in the 27 February statement by the Patriot Front Official for Religious Affairs who declared that the government can no longer ignore the legitimate request for the former nunciature to be restored to the church.

The Catholics, however, were not appeased and the prayer vigils have continued and spread. As Magister reports (May 2008): "Since March 17, in Ho Chi Minh City, hundreds of sisters and faithful have met every day to pray in front of a building taken away from the sisters of the charitable order 'Vinh Son', in the past turned into a bordello and now about to be demolished to make room for a hotel.

"On May 20, the protest extended to another city, Vinh Long, in the south of the country. A four-star hotel is supposed to be built in a former orphanage belonging to the sisters of St Paul de Chartres. The orphanage was requisitioned in 1977, and now the bishop, the sisters, and the faithful of the city are demanding to have it back."

Magister reports that on 15 April, the government announcement the restitution of another Catholic property "around the basilica of Le Vang, the main Marian Shrine in Vietnam".

However, as Magister also reported in May 2008, "These announcements have not been followed by actions." Thus the Catholic experience mirrors that of the ECV(S).

Meanwhile, it was on 28 March 2008 that the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) (ECV(S)) issued: "A Call to Prayer -- To the Church of God Everywhere" concerning (amongst other things) the status of its 265 confiscated properties. (Link 1)

But the prayer vigil by Thai Ha Redemptionist parishioners in Hanoi's Dong Da district has recently escalated. Since mid-August, the numbers keeping vigil at the Thai Ha Redemptorist property has escalated dramatically as Catholics from across the country, including numerous bishops, have travelled to Hanoi to participate in the prayer vigil in a show of solidarity, transforming the Thai Ha vigil into something far more intensive and pivotal. The Thai Ha property has come to be symbolic of all contentious Church-State land issues.

The government continues to respond to the prayer vigil/protests by slandering the Catholics in the State-run media, accusing them of "criminal behaviour" including vandalism, asserting that the Catholic Church had once signed the property over to the State and even accusing Hanoi's Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of inciting protests. (Link 4)

Father Stephen Chan Tin, who has participated in the prayer vigils, testifies as an eye witness that they have not involved riotous or criminal behaviour. He reports that the praise and prayer services he attended at the Thai Ha site were "organized in a very reverent and careful manner". He laments the blatant slander issued against the church and has issued an appeal for truth. His paper also examines the Communist ideology that motivates such abuse of and disrespect for humanity and private property. (Link 5)

On Thursday 28 August several Catholics were wounded as riot police attacked the pray-ers/protesters with electric batons. Four Catholics were arrested. Father Nguyen Van Peter Khai told AFP that police had attacked the Catholics as they sat on the street for a peaceful vigil. "'We were in the street on Thai Ha street and the police repressed the Christians using electric shocks,' said Khai. 'A lot of people were beaten by police, they were beaten very hard.' He showed AFP digital photographs showing two women bleeding from head wounds who he said were victims of the police baton-charge."

That evening around 100 Catholics protested outside the headquarters of Dong Da district police, calling for the release of those detained. Three more Catholics were then arrested. (Link 6)

On Sunday 31 August a canister of tear gas was thrown in amongst some 3,000 gathered for worship at the Thai Ha site. Police were present in large numbers, armed with cameras, taking photos of the worshippers/protesters.

On Monday 8 September, the New Hanoi and the People's Police papers published ominous words issued by Lt-General Nguyen Van Huong, Vice-Minister of Public Security and Major-General Nguyen Duc Nhanh, the Director of the Hanoi Police Agency, whereby they warned Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, along with his priests and faithful, that a crackdown was imminent.

Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh diocese subsequently warned the communist government "not to use the sword". "Using the sword against innocent civilians is shameful, and will be condemned by international public opinion." (Link 7)

VietCatholic News Agency (VNA) reports that after the Saturday 13 September mass at St Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi, thousands of worshippers proceeded to the former nunciature where vigils had been held through January. Police reinforcements were sent to prevent more Catholics from joining the worshippers who "virtually converted the street in front of the building into an open church for hours". (Link 8)

VNA continues: "Trembled by sudden developments at Hanoi nunciature and the influx into the capital of ten thousands of Catholics from northern provinces, hundreds of anti-riot police raided Cua Bac parish at 6 pm local time. A police intelligence unit had reported a protest in the said parish. However, it was not a protest at all. Thousands of faithful gathered at the church to celebrate Mid-Autumn festival for children."

INTERFERENCE AND PLANTED BOGUS PRIESTS

One of the complaints of the ECV(S) mentioned in the Call to Prayer is that of government interference in church affairs causing division and turmoil. Catholics have likewise reported seriously destructive and unwelcome state interference.

Further to this, AsiaNews reported on 9 September: "Some priests have appeared on Vietnamese state TV and have been interviewed by government newspapers speaking out against Thai Ha parishioners who want the restitution of parish property, except that these men of the cloth are neither priests nor Catholic. At least one of them has in fact been identified as a Communist party official. 'They were "ordained" by the government,' was the scathing comment from the diocese of Hanoi." (Link 9)

CRACKDOWN ON THOSE WHO TALK TO OR READ CHRISTIAN MEDIA

Frustrated by its inability to control all media, the government is now threatening action against anyone who talks to or reads Catholic media. JB An Dang reports for Independent Catholic News: "Police in Vietnam have begun inspecting the computers of Catholics who have taken part in the ongoing prayer vigils over confiscated church properties.

"A source in Hanoi said the authorities are closely monitoring overseas reports on the protests. 'You are in serious trouble should your browsing history include Asia-News, Catholic News Agency, Catholic World News, Independent Catholic News, VietCatholic News, Zenit and others,' he warned.

"Plain clothed police are reported to be hunting for Catholic reporters who are keeping the outside world, and those in Vietnam who access to the Internet, informed about the protest.

"One journalist said: 'I was about to send an email when police swamped in. The person next to me had his browsing history inspected. He even was forced to log into his Gmail account for a 'security inspection'." (Link 10)

PERSECUTION, ANGER AND SLANDER MEET PERSEVERANCE, JOY AND GRACE

VietCatholic News reports: "Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi and Bishop Peter Nguyen Van De of Bui Chu joined more than two thousands of protesters on Friday afternoon [12 September] when the superior of Thai Ha monastery and some other priests were being 'summoned' by police. 'I know at this time all your priests are summoned, no one stay at home. So I am here to help them doing church keeping,' Archbishop Joseph Ngo joked with protesters.

"Bishop Peter Nguyen, who travelled more than 200 km to join with protesters, also joked with them that state television had repeatedly warned to imprison anyone who dared to be here to pray, especially priests. So he wanted to be here 'out of the fear to be alone outside when all priests are jailed.'" His joke was intensely welcomed by protesters." (Link 11)

On Sunday 14 September, the Catholics of Hanoi followed instructions issued by the Archdioceses on Friday and prayed for God to forgive all those associated with the State media disinformation and slander campaign, as well as those who have issued threats against the church. (Link 11)

By Elizabeth Kendal

Links

1) "A Call to Prayer -- To the Church of God Everywhere"
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) (ECV(S)) 28 March 2008
http://www.worldevangelicals.org/news/view.htm?id=2068

2) Bishop of Thai Binh: Bye-bye my dear people, I will go to the jail.
11 Sept 2008 (great pictures)
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58371.htm

3) The Peaceful Revolution of Vietnam's Catholics.
By Sandro Magister 28 May 2008
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/203701?eng=y
SEE ALSO
Holy row over land in Vietnam. By Nga Pham. 26 Feb 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7262411.stm
AND http://vigiaohoiconggiaovn.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!47BCEBC38CCBF581!763.entry

4) Government sheds light on Thai Ha criminal behaviour. 30 Aug 2008
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=03CAS300808
Hanoi Archbishop accused of inciting protests. 9 Sept 2008
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58264.htm

5) "Communism: The End Justifies the Means."
By Father Stephen Chan Tin (8 August 2008)
http://www.worldevangelicals.org/news/view.htm?id=2065

6) Vietnam arrests four in Catholic land dispute, say protesters. 28 Aug 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLVcCIxncCRfGBs5hAUwDl2QyTVQ
Catholics rally at Vietnam police station, three detained. 29 Aug 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkF12kTbAUNUQw7IqqgurLIKYS3Q
SEE ALSO: Prayers and protests in Vietnam
By Nga Pham. BBC News, Hanoi, 2 Sep 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7593251.stm

7) Vietnam: Bishop warns the government "not to use the sword" (great pictures) http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58313.htm 10 Sep 2008

8) Thousand of Catholics protest at Hanoi former nunciature, police raid a Hanoi parish. 13 Sept 2008 http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58478.htm

9) False priests appear on Hanoi media to discredit Catholics
By JB An Dang, AsiaNews, 9 Sep 2008
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13170&size=A

10) Vietnamese warned not to read ICN
By JB An Dang, 12 Sep 2008
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/latdang376.html

11) Hanoi Archdiocese to observe day of prayer for state media personnel
(Great pictures) 12 Sep 2008
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/58431.htm

Vietnam's crackdown creates watershed

Date: Tuesday 20 March 2007
Subj: Vietnam's crackdown creates watershed
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal

--------------------------------------------------------------
VIETNAM'S CRACKDOWN CREATES WATERSHED
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The Vietnam government's crackdown against human rights and democracy advocates (many of whom are Christians acting upon their religious beliefs) is not hidden nor is it subtle. It is bold, challenging and hugely significant. It creates a watershed, especially for the US. Through a wave of harassments, arrests and criminal charges against human rights and democracy advocates engaged in peaceful and perfectly legal activities, Vietnam is openly showing its hand and waiting to see if anyone will challenge, or if everyone will fold.

CONGRESSMEN SPEAK OUT

Several US Congressmen, including Chris Smith, Frank Wolf, Ed Royce and Dana Rohrabacher, are speaking out against the crackdown. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) has introduced a resolution condemning the recent arrests and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of dissidents. According to Voice of America (VOA), "The measure warns that ongoing harassment, detentions and arrests will harm the broadening of ties with the U.S., and result in Vietnam being put back on a list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for severe and ongoing violations of religious freedom." (Link 1)

Congressman Smith told a press conference, "'I have been to Vietnam and met with Father Ly, Nguyen Van Dai and over 60 other dissidents. These are smart, talented and kind people -- some of Vietnam's best and brightest. They harbor no malice toward the government. They only want a better future for their country. These individuals are the Vaclav Havels of Vietnam. Their
incarcerations -- under a bogus Soviet-era article -- are meant to harass, intimidate and keep them from bringing about peaceful change. Their arrests cannot and should not stand,' Smith said.

"Smith also noted that the State Department's removal of Vietnam's Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation is not permanent. 'The U.S. should consider reinstating Vietnam's CPC designation in light of the regime's recent actions. Nothing precludes us from putting them back on that list. We can and should put them back on tomorrow if the regime does not take immediate action to improve human rights conditions in Vietnam,' said Smith." (Link 2)

If the US State Department does not respond to Vietnam's overt repression of faith-motivated human rights and democracy advocates, then the US State Department will be giving tacit endorsement to a false and unsustainable dichotomy whereby freedom to believe is separated from freedom to exercise/act upon that belief. This would seriously undermine much of what the US administration has been working towards over the past decade with regards to the promotion of religious liberty in the world.

UPDATE ON NGUYEN VAN DAI

Lawyer Dai, his female associate Le thi Cong Nhan, and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly are charged with violating Article 88 of the Criminal Code by "propagandising against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". According to sources, one of the accusations levelled against Nguyen van Dai is that he has "consorted with certain extremist elements to gather what is called 'evidence that Vietnam suppresses religion' to distribute to enemy forces and to reactionaries residing abroad".

Two days before his 6 March arrest Nguyen van Dai spoke to an FNA (Free News Agency) reporter in Hanoi. (Link 3)

FNA reports that not only was Lawyer Dai's law office and home raided by police but on 28 February, in response to police pressure, the Business Registration Office of Hanoi's Planning and Investment Bureau cancelled the permit of TNHH Translation and Legal Consultation Firm of which Mr Nguyen Van Dai is a co-founder and the executive director.

Lawyer Dai told FNA that his activities as a lawyer include providing legal assistance to the majority of the country's human rights and democracy activists. As such his work has angered the Communist authorities who have responded by placing him under close surveillance, summonsing him frequently for interrogation, monitoring and even cutting his phone lines.

When asked about the charge of violating Article 88 of the Criminal Code, Dai responded by saying that under Vietnam's Constitution citizens had the legal right to access, store and study information. Only documents that oppose the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government by instigating violent and illegal armed action would be considered to be in violation of the law. Nguyen van Dai, who is a member of Advocates International and Advocates Asia, is convinced he has not stepped outside the bounds of the law.

Lawyer Dai told the FNA that as long as Vietnam did not have freedom or democracy then he would use his legal profession to defend religious and pro-democracy activists. "It seems that the Communist authorities are doing their best to train and turn me into a professional political activist," says Dai. "They do not want me to operate as a lawyer specialised in human rights and religious freedom.

"Should the Communist authorities illegally take away my right to do business and to practice my profession, I would still have a range of options to consider, but it would appear that everybody including the Communists is wishing to see me become a politician mobilising the masses and directly struggling for the democratisation of Vietnam. Deep down, I have always wanted to just be a human rights lawyer, but historical circumstances seem to be steering me in another direction. I still have time to pray to God for his guidance in my final decision. Whatever my action I always wish to be encouraged and supported by the people inside the country, compatriots living overseas and the international community. The Vietnamese people's struggle for freedom and democracy is far from over and will still encounter many difficulties. However, as the path of truth and righteousness, it will receive the undivided support of the people and the support from the international community and will undoubtedly meet with success."

On 13 March the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that Nguyen van Dai and Le thi Cong Nhan's names had been removed from the Ha Noi Bar Association and accordingly the Thien An Lawyers' Office was no longer eligible to operate. VNA claims that initial investigations have shown "that since 2004, Nguyen Van Dai took advantage of the State's permission to establish the Thien An Lawyers' Office and the Viet Luat [Translation and Legal Consultation] company to spread propaganda, lure forces and collude with political opportunists as well as hostile forces at home and abroad which oppose the State. Their acts run counter to the interests of the nation and people." (Link 4)

It has been confirmed that Nguyen van Dai is on a hunger strike.

Elizabeth Kendal WEA RLC


Links

1) US Lawmakers Warn Vietnam on Crackdown on Dissidents
By Dan Robinson, Capitol Hill. 14 March 2007
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-14-voa91.cfm

2) Smith Calls on Vietnamese Government to Immediately Release Political
Prisoners. 15 March 2007
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-15-2007/0004547274&EDATE=

3) Vietnam's communist authorities' desperate repressive measures against
attorney Nguyen Van Dai. 5 March 2007.
http://ykien.net/blog/?p=686 (in three languages)

4) Two lawyers' names erased from Bar Association. 13 March 2007
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/politics/2007/03/672366/

SEE ALSO
Vietnam uncovers democracy 'plot'. Hanoi (dpa)
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=117327

Vietnam: HRW report on persecution of Montagnard Christians.

Date: Thursday 27 January 2005
Subj: Vietnam: HRW report on persecution of Montagnard Christians.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.

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Vietnam: HRW report on persecution of Montagnard Christians.
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The purpose of this posting is simply to promote a reading of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Briefing Paper of 10 January 2005 entitled "Vietnam: Torture, Arrests of Montagnard Christians", and subtitled "Cambodia Slams the Door on new Asylum Seekers".

A summary and link to the full text can be found on-line at:
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/09/vietna9967.htm

MORE THAN 200 RECENT ARRESTS

According to HRW, more than 200 Montagnard Christians were arrested in the highlands in November and December 2004. HRW is concerned that they were arrested because of religious activity, complaints about land rights, or their contacts with Montagnard advocacy groups overseas.

Multitudes of Montagnard Christians, many of them house church leaders who were organising Christmas activities and celebrations, were arrested apparently because the authorities were concerned that the Montagnards might be organising demonstrations.

As HRW notes, "Those who end up being sentenced to prison terms will likely be charged with 'national security' crimes, such as 'undermining the policy of state and party unity' (article 87 of Vietnam’s Penal Code) or 'undermining public security'. (article 89)."

TORTURE: VIETNAM'S PRISON ABUSE SCANDAL

The HRW report also addresses the issue of torture and abuse in detention. A 25-year-old Mnong man was arrested on 10 April 2004 on suspicion of being an organiser of the 2004 Easter demonstration. He was first beaten and kicked into unconsciousness by the arresting officers, before being taken to the district prison in Dak Mil where police tortured him over three days in an attempt to extract a "confession". The police pulled out a toenail and beat him with batons until they knocked out a front tooth. They threatened him with death and with electrocution (apparently a common torture in Vietnamese prisons). He was eventually transferred to the provincial prison at Dak Nong and placed in solitary confinement, in appalling conditions, where regularly he was severely beaten by interrogators. His suffering was such he was convinced he would die.

One activist with the Dega Church movement who was arrested on his way to a wedding in Dak Doa district, was taken to the district police station where police, in an effort to extract from him names of other Dega Church activists, tortured and beat him for hours. He describes the worst part as being, "...that they forced my three-year-old son to sit on my lap the entire time, even though he was crying uncontrollably." He was released that evening, but the following day, the police surrounded his house to re-arrest him, so he fled. This man has not seen his wife or son since that fateful day as he spent the next two years hiding in the forests of Vietnam before fleeing to Cambodia in April 2004.

Montagnards who flee to Cambodia only to be forcibly returned experience appalling violent mistreatment and torture at the hands of the authorities, as do those who are suspected of assisting their escape or "organising illegal migration" in contravention of article 91 of Vietnam's legal code. Fingernails are removed, fingers and feet are tortured, beatings are severe and bloody, causing shocking injuries.

HRW interviewed a Mnong man from Dak Nong who helped his father, a prominent Dega church activist, hide in the forest and then escape to Cambodia in early 2004. In late April 2004, he was arrested by six police officers as he was returning home from his farm. This man details some of the terrible violence meted out to prisoners, young and old. He was eventually told he would go to jail for eight years, but he managed to escape one day when the prison guards were drunk. He fled to Cambodia in August 2004.

2004 EASTER CRACKDOWN

Section four of the report deals with the authorities' violent crackdown on the 2004 Easter demonstrations by Montagnards in the highlands. The Montagnards were calling for religious freedom, the return of ancestral lands, freedom of movement, and the release of Montagnard prisoners of conscience, i.e. basic human rights.

An ethnic Vietnamese man who watched the events from his second storey apartment described the Easter crackdown as, "...like a war. The police were really mad and really beat the protesters. Some local Vietnamese joined in – they were mad too. The Montagnards only had stones and sticks to defend themselves." Another eye witness told HRW that the police provided a whole truckload of wooden clubs for the Vietnamese to use against the Montagnards. Another eye witness reported that even after the demonstrators had dispersed, the police went around beating "every person they met" and destroying many houses as they went house to house hunting for people.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Section five of the HRW report deals specifically with religious persecution. HRW reports that Vietnamese officials are forcing Montagnards to renounce Christianity in public "self-criticism" or "public denunciation" sessions, or in written pledges.

There are 10 officially registered Christian churches in Dak Lak and Gia Lai for as many as 220,000 Christians. All unregistered religious meeting and activity is prohibited. Pastors, whose movements are tightly controlled, are put under immense pressure to publicly denounce Christianity.

REFUGEES

The other issue the HRW report deals with is the issue of the rights of Montagnard refugees. The HRW report examines the Vietnamese authorities' mistreatment of the family members of Montagnard refugees, their mistreatment of Montagnard refugees who repatriate voluntarily, the severe mistreatment and torture of refugees who are forcibly returned as well as those who assist their escape, and Cambodia's responsibility to give refuge to those fleeing persecution in Vietnam.

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The HRW report is compelling and should be widely distributed.

Vietnam is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and should be held accountable. Otherwise these rights covenants are not worth the paper they are printed on.

- Elizabeth Kendal