Vietnam Revisited: Subtle Deception

“People trust their eyes above all else - but most people see what they wish to see, or what they believe they should see; not what is really there.” ― Zoë Marriott


Are we willing to face the truth? Many people are not.  Many bury their heads in the sand and deny what is occurring, whether in their own life or in the lives of others.  They are not strong enough to bear the burden of that truth.  But perhaps just as important as facing the truth, is being willing to search for the truth.  Life is complicated, and not painted in simple black and white terms.  Is it true that Vietnam has made improvements in human rights?  Yes.  Is it also true that the level of violence against Christians in 2014 has increased? Yes.  Is it true that Vietnam has released many prisoners of conscious? Yes.  Is it also true that many more prisoners of conscious remain in custody, some for 20 years or more? Yes.  Is it true that Vietnam has allowed many more congregations to 'register'?  Yes.  Is it also true that many thousands of congregations are still denied registration or do not attempt to register at all, which means they are operating 'illegally'? Yes. Is it true that the State Department has achieved different successes in their bilateral agreement with Vietnam?  Yes.  Is it also true that those successes are inconsistent and that persecution has worsened in some areas? Yes.  Is it true that Vietnam serves on the UN Human Rights Council? Yes.  Is it also true that Vietnam has a special religious police that is responsible for monitoring, manipulating, harassing, terrorizing, persecuting, abusing, and even killing religious followers? Yes. 

In order to know the truth, we can not be deceived by what is seen on the surface or by certain select statistics.  Vietnam is still listed as a country of particular concern by the USCIRF, and the World Watch List puts Vietnam as 16 out of 50 of the top countries for religious persecution.  Christians in Vietnam need our prayers.  We serve a God who sees us and hears us; who not only takes an interest in our lives, but truly cares for us as Sons and Daughters.  Now, as Brothers and Sisters to the Christians in Vietnam, we must lift up their concerns and needs, as if they were our own.  May we not be silent. 

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Vietnam

Overview: Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party. Its overall human rights record remains poor. Over the past few years, the government has moved decisively to repress any perceived challenges to its authority.

Religion: Accurate numbers of religious adherents in the country are difficult to ascertain, but the majority of Vietnam’s 90 million citizens are Buddhist. More than six million are Catholic, Vietnam’s second largest religious group, and roughly one million or more are Protestant. Other minority religious groups include the Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Khmer Krom Buddhists, ethnic Cham Muslims, Baha’is, Hindus and followers of other folk religions and beliefs.

Religious Persecution: The Vietnamese government continues to control all religious activities through law and administrative oversight, severely restrict independent religious practice, and repress individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its authority, including independent Buddhists, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Catholics, and Protestants. This occurs despite some improvements in the area of religious freedom, such as generally wider space for some religious communities to practice their faiths. Notably, the government requires religious organizations and congregations to register with a state-sanctioned entity in order to be considered legal. Individuals remain imprisoned for religious activity or religious freedom advocacy. Based on these severe violations, USCIRF again recommends in 2015 that Vietnam be designated as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). USCIRF has recommended that Vietnam be named a CPC every year since 2001.

The Communist government has moved decisively in recent years to repress perceived challenges to its regime, tightening controls on freedom of expression, association, religion, and assembly. Although the 2013 Constitution goes much further than its predecessor in protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief, other provisions create exceptions to those rights. In addition, other laws, decrees, and ordinances collectively restrict religious practices and create latitude for local officials to interpret and implement their own policies without federal influence. This inconsistency leads individuals to fear that the open practice of their faiths will result in harassment, attacks, or arrest. In 2013, the government implemented a new decree on religion (Decree 92) that provides clearer timetables for registration, but expands oversight of religious affairs and makes it more difficult for new religious groups to ever achieve legal status. Moreover, broadly-worded Penal Code provisions, such as Articles 88 and 258, ensnare countless human rights defenders, bloggers, journalists, religious leaders, and other activists whom the government accuses of acting against the state. At least 100-200 prisoners of conscience are detained in Vietnam, some for their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy. In 2015, Vietnam is expected to produce a new law on religion that, as rumored, will supersede the 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions and Decree 92.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Heiner Bielefeldt visited Vietnam in July 2014, but had to curtail his visit due to state interference that violated the terms of reference agreed upon in advance with the Vietnamese government. His findings, released in January 2015, noted that the “. . . autonomy and activities of independent religious or belief communities, that is, unrecognized communities, remain restricted and unsafe, with the rights to freedom of religion or belief of such communities grossly violated in the face of constant surveillance, intimidation, harassment and persecution.”

Catholics: Father Phan Van Loi testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on March 26, 2014, via video conference because government surveillance and restrictions on his movement prevented him from traveling to give testimony in person. He described the difficulties, obstacles, harassment, and sometimes imprisonment priests and laypeople face when they speak out about their beliefs. He also referenced the limitations and outright prohibitions on the Catholic Church imposed by current laws and government decrees on religion. Local governments refuse to recognize Catholicism as a religion in the three northern provinces of Dien Bien, Son La, and Lai Chau, making it especially challenging for priests and their parishioners to practice their faith in these areas. Catholics continue to experience land confiscations, including parishioners from the Thai Ha Redemp-torist Church in Dong Da District, who protested in Hanoi to object to the government filling in an existing lake on church property. Similarly, Con Dau parishioners near Da Nang City were forced to move their parish cemetery and in some cases have been evicted from their homes, disrupting the entire parish community. While some land rights disputes may be, in part, the result of local-level corruption or development projects, the religious identity of the targeted community and its status as a minority are also often factors. On a positive note, in September, representatives of the Joint Vatican-Vietnam Working Group held another meeting in Hanoi as part of the group’s efforts to restore diplomatic relations.

Hmong Protestants: During 2014, countless Hmong Protestant house churches continued to be denied registration, effectively consigning them to illegal status. In an ongoing effort to limit the freedom of Hmong Christians to practice their faith, local authorities continued to interfere with the way in which Hmong villagers honor and grieve their dead. In addition to destroying storage facilities which house supplies for Hmong funerals, authorities harassed and attacked villagers attempting to carry out funerals in accordance with their beliefs. In March 2014, Hoang Van Sang received an 18-month jail sentence for constructing a new funeral storage facility. Hmong villagers who marched in protest of Sang’s sentence were stopped by police.

Montagnards (Degar): Ethnic minority Montagnards, primarily from Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, continued to face severe ethnic- and religious-based discrimination and violence, prompting some to flee Vietnam. During the year, Montagnards reported the police carrying out beatings, arrests, and forced renunciations of faith. In November, 13 Christian Montagnards fled persecution in Vietnam to seek refugee status in Cambodia, only to suffer harsh conditions while hiding in the Cambodian jungles. A UN team was able to meet with the group weeks later after first being blocked by local officials. Since then, dozens more have fled to Cambodia, and some forcibly returned to Vietnam by Cambodian officials, including small children. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights both have urged the Cambodian government to abide by their international obligations and allow the Vietnamese Montagnards to pursue refugee claims.

Mennonites: A Mennonite Christian center in Binh Duong Province was the site of repeated attacks throughout the year. In June 2014, 76 Mennonite Christians were attacked by more than 300 (some estimate closer to 500) police and security forces; the church itself was vandalized. In November, nine Mennonites, including two pastors, were arrested and the church vandalized once again. Three church employees were arrested, interrogated and beaten in early December. One of those arrested, a pastor, was ordered to end his role as pastor or face criminal charges. The three were eventually released but suffered additional harassment just outside the police station, and attacks on the church continued.

Prisoners: The ill-treatment and imprisonment of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam remains a key human rights concern, despite several releases during the year. Among them are countless individuals who have been harassed, beaten, detained, arrested, and imprisoned for their religious beliefs. Those still imprisoned include: Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, Mennonite Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, and Catholic Intellectual and activist Francis Jang Xuan Dieu, for example. Several prisoners of conscience were released in 2014, including prominent dissident Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay. He was released in October 2014, coinciding with the visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski to Vietnam. Upon his release, Hai, like Cu Huy Ha Vu in April, was forced to leave the country and was immediately escorted onto a plane bound for the United States before he could inform his family of his release. Three others, Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Van Minh and Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, all well-known human rights defenders, received multi-year prison sentences in August.

U.S. Policy: The year 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the normalization of ties between the United States and Vietnam. In 2013, the two countries entered into the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, a framework for bilateral cooperation on a number of strategic issues, including trade and the economy, science and technology, defense and security, and human rights, among others. As part of their regular engagement on human rights, the two countries will conduct a session of the U.S.-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue in Hanoi in May 2015. On January 1, 2014, Vietnam began its three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council. The United States and Vietnam have a strong bilateral trade relationship, with Vietnam serving as a major source of clothing, footwear, furniture, and electrical machinery for the United States. The two are also part of the 12-nation negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional free trade agreement. While the TPP talks are ongoing, the Obama Administration and some in Congress are concurrently pursuing the renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that could grant the president greater flexibility when negotiating and approving trade agreements such as the TPP. Some members of Congress have raised concerns with a number of key components in the TPP, including agriculture, automotive markets, worker rights, environmental protections, and human rights, among others, that are likely to be heavily debated during consideration of TPA. In October 2014, the United States announced the partial easing of the arms ban with Vietnam with respect to maritime security. The State Department cited specific human rights improvements in Vietnam, including the release of prisoners of conscience and the registration of new church congregations. However, critics noted that Vietnam is still detaining numerous prisoners of conscience, including individuals imprisoned for their religious beliefs, and that registration figures pale in comparison to the thousands of congregations that either choose to remain independent or are denied registration, leaving them no choice but to operate illegally. Notably, Assistant Secretary Malinowski visited Vietnam shortly after the announcement and stressed the importance of Vietnam continuing to make progress on human rights. The State Department designated Vietnam as a CPC in 2004 and 2005, but removed the designation in 2006 because of progress toward fulfilling a bilateral agreement to release prisoners, ban forced renunciations of faith, and expand legal protections for religious groups. USCIRF, however, has found that, the progress achieved through the bilateral agreement has been inconsistent and not fully realized, and that religious freedom violations in Vietnam have continued, and in some cases worsened. These ongoing violations in Vietnam serve as a cautionary tale of the potential for backsliding in religious freedoms when vigilance in monitoring such abuses ceases. Accordingly, USCIRF has continued to recommend CPC designation for the country.

Information compiled from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 2015 Report 
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Vietnam: Hmong Christians 2012 


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