INTERFAITH COUNCIL OF VIETNAM
Letter of protest regarding recent harassment and suppression incidents by the Vietnamese Communist Authorities
To
- Distinguished dignitaries and followers in all religions in Vietnam,
- Vietnamese reside inside and outside of Vietnam,
- Democratic governments and international human rights agencies.
As Vietnam has become a member of the UN Human Rights Council this year, the Communist government in Ha Noi appears to show their goodwill under international pressure by running a campaign to collect public opinions regarding drafting and amending many laws, including the Law on Religion and Belief and the Law on Association.
However, during this period, Interfaith Council of Vietnam (ICV), a civil society organization that struggles peacefully for freedom of religion, democracy and human rights by bringing together many dignitaries from the five major religions in Vietnam, has experienced ongoing harassment and suppression by the authorities:
1. On March 15th 2015, the ICV partnered with the monks in Phuoc Thanh Pagoda (under the Delegation of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, located in Hue city) to plan a meeting and appreciation event for wounded veterans of the Republic of Vietnam residing in Thua Thien Hue and Quang Tri.
Although the Council was aware that the authorities in Thua Thien Hue did not approve this event, a delegation from the ICV (including one Buddhist monk, two Protestant pastors, three Cao Dai sub-dignitaries, four Hoa Hao dignitaries) still left Sai Gon. Around 1.00 a.m. on March 15th, when the delegation was staying overnight in a hostel in Phu Bai town (near Hue city), about one hundred provincial police besieged the hostel and forced the delegation to leave Hue immediately.
The police confiscated the driver’s papers and forced the dignitaries to travel to Da Nang, citing a made-up excuse that the group was going to a “complicated and sensitive area”. Two police cars escorted the delegation. They promised to return the papers after the cars passed Hai Van tunnel, but they did not keep their promise. When the group stopped at Quang Nam, the dignitaries got off the car and walked to find a restaurant for breakfast, the police still surrounded them and even demanded restaurant owners to refuse serving the group. The police followed the delegation all the way to Binh Dinh.
On March 15th 2015 in the morning, Phuoc Thanh Buddhist temple was besieged by many police in uniform and plain-clothes both inside and outside the temple. They pressured Venerable Abbot Thich Chi Thang to cancel the gift distribution ceremony for wounded veterans. Other temples under the Delegation of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were monitored closely. The police confiscated the wounded veterans’ invitation letters and forced them to promise that they would not come to the temple again.
2. On May 7 th 2015, nine religious dignitaries including Monk Thich Khong Tanh (Buddhism), Father Dinh Huu Thoai and Father Le Xuan Loc (Catholics), Pastor Nguyen Hoang Hoa, Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung and Pastor Dinh Diem (Protestant), Sub-dignitary Nguyen Bach Phung and Sub-dignitary Nguyen Thanh Nghiep (Cao Dai), Deputy Head Le Van Soc (Hoa Hao Buddhism) visited subdignitary Hua Phi in Duc Trong, Lam Dong. Sub-dignitary Hua Phi and other Cao Dai dignitaries had just returned from a visit to other Cao Dai followers in Tuy An temple, Phu Yen, which had been demolished completely by the authorities.
Around 10.00 a.m. when everyone was talking, six men claiming to be police approached the gate and demanded loudly that sub-dignitary Hua Phi let them in to check the household registration book. It was an unreasonable administrative request, so sub-dignitary Hua Phi refused to comply. They left eventually.
When the dignitaries were having lunch, another bigger crowd gathered. They broke the gate lock and rushed in the front yard and then the house. In a manner similar to that of unruly gangsters, they searched and looked around, took pictures and videotaped the group without permission, some even threatened and attempted to snatch a dignitary’s camera.
3. On August 21st 2015, a delegation of dignitaries from the ICV visited a Redemptorist monastery in Can Thanh town, Can Gio district. The district authority mobilized police, traffic police, residential police and other security forces to interfere with the visit.
At first, they stopped the delegation’s car on the road twice, with made-up excuses such as the dignitaries not wearing seatbelts, or the car causing an accident and leaving the scene. When the delegation arrived at the monastery, about 20 people were sitting at the entrance and tried to prevent them from entering the monastery. These people had threatened the monastery on the phone the day before.
When the dignitaries went in their rooms to rest, the authority sent a “spontaneous crowd” to cause troubles. Without permission, they rushed into the monastery. When politely requested to leave, they reacted aggressively and said they were entitled to come inside and know who had arrived. They threatened to hit the religious and prevented them from locking the gate. When the delegation was having lunch and a meeting, the Can Gio district police rushed to the dining table and the coffee table to videotape each person, completely disregarding citizen’s right to privacy.
4. On September 28th 2015, sub-dignitary Hua Phi travelled to Bangkok on behalf of the ICV to attend the Conference on Freedom of Religion in South East Asia with an invitation from the organizing committee. He was stopped at the Tan Son Nhat airport in front of many dignitaries who saw him to the airport.
The airport police arbitrarily accused sub-dignitary Hua Phi of “not being allowed to leave the country due to a security reason stipulated in Clause 6 of Article 21, Decree 136/NĐ-CP”. When questioned what “security violation is, why, and when”, the police dodged the questions by making an unreasonable request. They asked the sub-dignitary to go to the Immigration Management Department in Lam Dong provincial police office to resolve the incident. Later, they confiscated his passport, which is utterly lawless.
This is yet another case when the authorities prevent a citizen from leaving the country without an appropriate order or legitimate reason. Meanwhile, the victims only knew they were not allowed to leave when they had bought flight tickets, arranged their business and were going through check-in at the airport.
On October 8th 2015 in the morning, sub-dignitary Hua Phi went to the Lam Dong provincial immigration police to pick up his passport. Taking advantage of this trip, many police interrogated him, which caused his blood pressure to increase. He was admitted to a hospital as a result, and then returned home exhausted. They did not stop there but demanded that he showed up the next day to continue interrogation.
5. Right after the incident at Tan Son Nhat, Buddhist Monk Thich Khong Tanh, Sub-dignitary Hua Phi and Sub-dignitary Nguyen Bach Phung returned to Vinh Long city and went to Ward 4 to visit Sub-dignitary Nguyen Kim Lan, who had just had a heart surgery. The ward police were informed about the three guests and the guests had a peaceful rest that night. However, on September 29th 2015, around 10 o’clock in the morning, the ward People’s Committee, the Fatherland Front, provincial police, civil defense and a gang, totaling about over 60 people approached Sub-dignitary Nguyen Kim Lan’s house and forced the guests to leave immediately, citing a made-up reason that they were “disturbing local security”. They replied that they would leave after lunch.
Twenty minutes later, when everyone was having lunch, the crowd approached again, this time totaling about 100 people. They rushed into the house and snatched Sub-dignitary Nguyen Bach Phung’s phone. They read out loud a fake “letter of denunciation”, accusing some individuals of gathering illegally, then forced the group to report to the ward police station. Sub-dignitary Hua Phi’s blood pressure went up all of sudden and he fainted, so he was left alone, but Buddhist Monk Khong Tanh and three Cao Dai dignitaries were forcefully dragged to the police station by the arms. They were interrogated and a report was made. The monk was banned from coming into Vinh Long in the future. The following day, the police again showed up at Sub-dignitary Kim Lan’s house to expel Sub-dignitary Hua Phi even though he was still very weak.
Furthermore, the authorities broadcasted on Vinh Long radio and television that Sub-dignitary Nguyen Kim Lan housed some strangers who had criminal records. On September 30th in the afternoon, this sub-dignitary was denounced in the neighbourhood because he “held gatherings that disturbed social order and security”.
The cases above are some serious incidents. In addition, many other harassments and suppression targeted individual members of the ICV this year. On January 1st (subsequently on January 18th and June 6th), Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, in charge of the Mennonite Binh Duong Protestant Church, was severely beaten by police dressing as gangsters when the Pastor was carried out his duties in the congregation. On March 22nd, Father Le Ngoc Thanh, Redemptorist Church, was prevented to leave for Philippines by the police at Tan Son Nhat airport. His passport was confiscated.
On the same day, when Buddhist Monk Thich Khong Tanh visited Father Phan Van Loi in the latter’s house in Hue city, the monk was surrounded by many police officers. The officers shouted at him, insulted, cursed him and forced him to return to Sai Gon immediately. On April 2nd, and five more times after that (May 5th, July 23rd, September 8th, September 11th, September 30th), Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung, in charge of the Chuong Bo Protestant Church, residing at Tan Lap street, Dong Hoa ward, Di An town, Binh Duong province, was harassed by police dressing as gangsters. They threw rocks at his glass windows, smashed his furniture and threatened to kill him.
On July 21st in the evening, the police threw six packages of dirty rotten food into Father Phan Van Loi’s house on Phan Chu Trinh street, Hue city. On September 25th, Mr. Nguyen Van Dien, Head of Central Hoa Hao Buddhism organized his father’s death anniversary in his house. Hundreds of police officers from different forces blocked all the paths leading to his house and prohibited everyone from attending the event. Buddhist monk Khong Tanh is facing a possibility of losing Lien Tri temple after Vietnam entered TPP, as of October 5th, 2015. The police have been threatening him that “After the Vietnamese government finishes negotiating the TPP, they will demolish Lien Tri pagoda”. Will this threat be carried out soon?
All of the incidents described above are in the Communist authorities’ plan to suppress on both fronts. In terms of legal principles, they propose laws, such as the Law on Association and the Law on Religion, mentioned at the beginning of this letter. While this appears to be an effort to amend the law, in reality, the laws have tightened, which has triggered strong criticism. In terms of practice, they increase harassment and suppression of religious organizations and civil society organizations. Other civil society organizations besides the ICV have spoken out about their experiences of oppression.
Composed in Vietnam on October 9th 2015
Signed by Dignitaries in the Interfaith Council of Vietnam
Catholics:
- Father Phê-rô Phan Văn Lợi (phone: 0984.236.371)
- Father Giu-se Đinh Hữu Thoại (phone: 0935.569.205)
- Father An-tôn Lê Ngọc Thanh (phone: 0993.598.820)
- Father Phao-lô Lê Xuân Lộc (phone: 0122.596.9335)
Buddhism:
- Monk Thích Không Tánh (phone: 0165.6789.881)
- Thích Viên Hỷ (phone: 0937.777.312)
Protestant:
- Pastor Nguyễn Hoàng Hoa (phone: 0121.9460.045)
- Pastor Đinh Uỷ (phone: 0163.5847.464)
- Pastor Đinh Thanh Trường (phone: 0120.2352.348)
- Pastor Nguyễn Hồng Quang (phone: 0978.207.007)
- Pastor Phạm Ngọc Thạch (phone: 0912.000.709)
- Pastor Nguyễn Trung Tôn (phone: 0162.838.7716)
- Pastor Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng (phone: 0906.342.908)
- Pastor Lê Quang Du (phone: 0121.2002.001)
- Pastor Đinh Diêm (phone: 0169.237.4741)
Cao đài:
- Sub-dignitary Hứa Phi (phone: 0163.3273.240)
- Sub-dignitary Nguyễn Kim Lân (phone: 0988.971.117)
- Sub-dignitary Nguyễn Bạch Phụng (phone: 0988.477.719)
Phật giáo Hoà Hảo:
- Mr. Nguyễn Văn Điền (phone: 0122.870.7160)
- Mr. Lê Quang Hiển (phone: 0167.292.1234)
- Mr. Lê Văn Sóc (phone: 096.4199.039)
- Mr. Phan Tấn Hòa (phone: 0162.6301.082)
- Mr. Tống Văn Chính (phone 0163.574.5430)
- Mr. Bùi Văn Luốc (phone: 0169.612.9094)
Civil Society Organizations that support this letter
- Civil Society Forum. Representative: Dr. Nguyễn Quang A
- Vietnamese Political And Religious Prisoners Friendship Association. Representative: Mr Nguyễn Bắc Truyển.
- Association to Protect Freedom of Religion. Representative: Ms Hà Thị Vân
- Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience. Representative: Dr Nguyễn Đan Quế.
- Independent Journalists Association of Viet Nam. Representative: Dr. Phạm Chí Dũng.
- Vietnamese Women for Human Rights. Representative: Ms Huỳnh Thục Vy
- Democracy Bloc 8406. Representative: Engineer Đỗ Nam Hải.
- Nguyen Kim Dien Priests Group. Representative: Father Nguyễn Hữu Giải.
- Mr Nguyễn Minh Cần, Freelance Journalist, Moscow, Russia.