VRNs | Aug 14th, 2014
In a country under the totalitarian Communist regime with the police fully in the hands of the party, which only recognises the party not the people, then the sad events above were not due to “misunderstanding” from the police as the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had defended itself in its statement.
Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
Saigon – “After talking of the registry matter, you had expressed concern whether a religious community which cannot be registered is considered as a legal entity. We can tell you that: although some religious communities have registered and the state allows them to operate, but in reality, neither a religion nor a religious organisation in Vietnam has legal personality at all! This, it’s Mr Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, on 3rd December 2013 stated: “At present, the issue of “human” and “legal” of the religious organisations is unclear. The religious organisations are recognised, registered for activities, but have no legal rights, such as associations, non-governmental organisations …”
(http://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/Home/Nghiencuu-Traodoi/2013/24790/ Tiep-tuc-doi-moi-bent-tac-ton-delivery-dap-cancer-remix-cau.aspx).
This is a deliberate attempt to delay made by the government to make it difficult for the church, especially the independent religious communities, in order to keep them in the fully bound begging-giving mechanism and live in a survival state, unable to thrive”
—.
VIETNAM’S INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL
LETTER OF APPRECIATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
To Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
To Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Cc : – Vietnamese compatriots at home and abroad.
– Dignitaries and religious believers in Vietnam.
Vietnam, 9th August 2014.
Dear Dr Bielefeldt,
Since your predecessor, Mr Abdelfattah Amor, visited Vietnam in 1998 with few echoes, now this country again has welcomed you – with all of the public interest – as the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
Hanoi’s authorities have asked you to come because Vietnam is a member of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council and is having to answer the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights. But the people of Vietnam, especially religious believers, expect you to see eye to eye on this question, to visit and meet directly the authentic witnesses of religious freedom, so that you will become a witness before the UN’s Human Rights Council.
1. Communion empathy
First of all, we, the undersigned dignitaries, would like to express our communion and empathy for the difficult obstacles that you have encountered on the trip to VN- right from the first day in Hanoi – although the government have committed to keeping the rules on visiting and working in the field of the UN Rapporteur. Your discreet visits without being observed with witnesses and private sources had repeatedly not been respected. Many people you had wanted to meet were violently encountered and blocked, some people who had had contact with you officially or discreetly were questioned and followed and intimidated thereafter. Some of your meetings with the religious leaders were held in tension because the police had heavily surrounded outside. Unfortunately, and the most outrageous was the last three days, the plan to visit An Giang, Gia Lai and Kontum of yours and your entourage were interrupted, causing you to exclaim: “This is a clear violation of significant authority to investigate to the UN special envoy in a visit to any countries.”
In a country under the totalitarian Communist regime with the police fully in the hands of the party, which only recognises the party not the people, then the sad events above were not due to “misunderstanding” from the police as the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had defended itself in its statement.
2. Sincere thanks
We sincerely thank you for having flown halfway around the world to visit our country, and then also had to travel to the remote areas, despite all the harassments and threats (such as the dangers of Fulro … which actually was the secret police) in order to see to the religious communities which had been reported to be struggling due to their faith. Thank you for visiting the H’mong people, who were Duong Van Minh believers, of whom recently five members have been serving unjust prison sentences; thanks all the same for your wanting to visit pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh’s wife but failed. The pastor has been serving a heavy prison sentence though innocent; thanks for your wanting to visit but failed, one of the most severely persecuted Vietnam’s religious community – the Pure Hoa Hao Buddhist Church in An Giang; thank you for visiting the Cao Dai community in Vinh Long (one of the rare encounters with lots of people), where you had heard numerous traumatic events and saw many courageous believers; thanks for visiting us the Council for Inter-religion at the Redemption Church in Saigon, with regret that we were not fully present because of the police interference.
We especially thank you for giving a long statement (and then there will be even longer reports) on the status of religious freedom in Vietnam, with the overall evaluations – in which we are very interested – regarding measures, rules and behavioural attitude of the authorities toward religions: (1) general attitude is negative and arbitrary for the rights of minority groups and individual religious practices outside the official channels established; (2) The frequently cited lack of specific “interests of the majority” or the interests of “public order”; (3) The provisions are too broad restrictions on human rights in general and freedom of religion or belief in particular; (4) The presentation is not clear in the Criminal Code, specifically Article 258 concerning the “abuse” of freedom and democracy; (5) The judicial system has no mechanism to overcome legal recourse which is efficient enough so that people can easily access, etc;
Thank you to have outlined and identified the measures that persecuted the religion first and most basic is the registration (i.e. authorisation, Article 16 of the Ordinance on Religion and beliefs), according to which religious organisations need to meet certain criteria in order to be legally recognised and allowed to practise. This is the sort of including churches in the strict control of the authorities to easily make them their tools. But you have determined: “The implementation of human rights to freedom of religion or belief by individuals and/or in a community with other people cannot take place depending on any action recognised or administrative approval in particular. As a universal right, freedom of religion or belief is inherent in all human beings and therefore has higher normative status of any act or any administrative procedures … Thus, the right of an individual or a group for freedom of religion or belief can never be “created” by any administrative procedures at all”.
Thank you for having proved understanding of the situation of the independent religious communities. You were even reasonable to assume that “the operating conditions of the independent religious community are tests to evaluate the development of freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam” and remarked that: “According to the current situation, the probability to let them operate as independent communities is very unsafe and very limited; this is clearly a violation of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Vietnam is a member”. They operate in an unsafe situation and often limited because they want to preserve the tradition, protect the nature and preserve their religious mission in a society dominated by an atheistic regime, a totalitarian state. This state and regime only wants every entity and real strength in Vietnam to be their tools to maintain their power for long. That’s why they formed the Fatherland Front to put in it the communities or religious organisations obliged to obey them to secure a safe place for their activities (rather than the “religious values and state’s interests coincide”). So, as minorities – they are always harassed, restricted and harmed – the independent religious communities were the real evidence of the presence or absence of religious freedom in Vietnam. Given that a number of individuals (dignitaries or devotees of these independent communities) who have their “own opinion” are so selfishly ambitious, having ethical issues, going against the “majority’s interest”, then it is not worthy of attention. That argument is the vulgar slander that inflicted upon those who are suffering because of their religious conviction and commitment for justice.
3. Earnest recommendations
However, because you have said: “For a comprehensive analysis of the specific cases, there should be a lot more information to get a complete picture of the relevant facts and the view from the angle of all the stakeholders”, we have a few suggestions and clarifications:
A – After talking of the registry matter, you had expressed concern whether a religious community which cannot be registered is considered as a legal entity. We can tell you that: although some religious communities have registered and the state allows them to operate, but in reality, neither a religion nor a religious organisation in Vietnam has legal personality at all! This, it’s Mr Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, on 3rd December 2013 stated: “At present, the issue of “human” and “legal” of the religious organisations is unclear. The religious organisations are recognised, registered for activities, but have no legal rights, such as associations, non-governmental organisations …”
(http://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/Home/Nghiencuu-Traodoi/2013/24790/ Tiep-tuc-doi-moi-bent-tac-ton-delivery-dap-cancer-remix-cau.aspx).
This is a deliberate attempt to delay made by the government to make it difficult for the church, especially the independent religious communities, in order to keep them in the fully bound begging-giving mechanism and live in a survival state, unable to thrive.
B – You said that “There have been so many conflicts over land reported to me. Some seem related to religious freedom, for example, when the land was previously used for religious cemeteries or churches that was taken away to serve economic development”.
In response, the representative of the government recognises that the conflicts over land in Vietnam are like many other countries.
We can tell you that that is true in many other countries, in Vietnam there are land conflicts related to religion. But in other countries, land conflicts that happen between a community or a religious organisation with a community, an organisation or any individual, or even with a state agency. And it is a civil dispute. But in Vietnam, land is not owned by individuals or collectives (which only has the right to use), but is owned by the state, such as Article 51 of the 2013 Constitution has clarified: “Land, water resources, mineral resources, resources from the sea, air, and other natural resources and the assets invested and managed by the State are the public properties wholly owned by the people, which the State represents the ownership and has a unified control.” This monstrous and unjustified regulation helps to reinforce long-term power of the ruling party and the Communist regime. Consequently, the land dispute that the religious communities in Vietnam have encountered since 1954 – when the communists held power – because the central or local government deprived people of their real estates and their land and farms, the contradictable disputes have also had political nature. That’s why religious freedom is associated with the church and church organisations which must have the right to ownership of the land.
C – In addition, besides the construction of worship and operation facilities, the festival and training organisations, dignitaries and followers to go abroad for religious reasons (these three favours are actually only offered to communities and individuals who do not have problem with the regime), we think that religious freedom in Vietnam still involves many factors profound and more fundamental, based on Articles 18 and 19 of the Convention on Civil and Political rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, freedom of belief and religion. This right includes freedom to have or follow a religion or belief of his or her choice and freedom of expression or religious beliefs alone or in a community with others, publicly or discreetly, in the forms such as worship, prayer, practise and preach. “We therefore require such the rights deprived of by the authorities as the following:
– All religions must be involved in school education and public education, to bring the human spirit and moral values in the human conscience, social atmosphere, especially in the context of Vietnam being corrupt because of the Marxist atheist ideology, which has immersed the society in dishonesty and violence, selfishness and oppression.
– The religions have the right to open schools of all levels, from kindergarten to university (as already had in the South before 1975, in the Republic of Vietnam regime). The religions have the right to have ownership of private publishers, private newspapers, private radio and television stations (as already had before 1975 and as all religions having in civilised, democratic countries).
– The religious institutes must be independent and free in organisations and activities, discretionary teaching staff and teaching content. Put an end to the training program which includes courses on the history and laws of Vietnam as well as Marxism-Leninism, with textbooks and teachers provided by the government. This is the sort of mixing poison in food and especially a form of monitoring and control of future religious leaders.
These are intelligent clarifications and recommendations we have submitted to you, so that you will have more information to make a full report to the UN’s Human Rights Council, a powerful statement to create a true religious freedom in our country.
We sincerely thank you and wish you fulfil your noble mission.
Vietnam’s Inter-religious Council:
– Mr Le Quang Liem, Chairman of Hoa Hao (tel: 0199.243.2593).
– Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, Buddhism (tel: 0165.6789.881)
– Venerable Thich Vien Hy, Buddhism (tel: 0937.777.312)
– Father Peter Phan Van Loi, Catholic (tel: 0984.236.371)
– Father Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, Catholic (tel: 0935.569.205)
– Father Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh, Catholic (tel: 0993.598.820)
– Hua Phi, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0163.3273.240)
– Nguyen Kim Lan, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0988.971.117)
– Nguyen Bach Phung, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0988.477.719)
– Pastor Nguyen Hoang Hoa, Protestant (tel: 0949.275.827)
– Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung, Protestant (tel: 0906.342.908)
– Pastor Le Quang Du, Protestant (tel: 0121.2002.001)
– Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Protestant (tel: 0162.838.7716)
– Mr Phan Tan Hoa, Hoa Hao (tel: 0162.630.1082)
– Mr Tong Van Chinh, Hoa Hao (tel: 0163.574.5430)
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August 14, 2014
Vietnam’s Inter-Religious Council: Appreciation and Recommendations
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
VRNs | Aug 14th, 2014
Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
Saigon – “After talking of the registry matter, you had expressed concern whether a religious community which cannot be registered is considered as a legal entity. We can tell you that: although some religious communities have registered and the state allows them to operate, but in reality, neither a religion nor a religious organisation in Vietnam has legal personality at all! This, it’s Mr Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, on 3rd December 2013 stated: “At present, the issue of “human” and “legal” of the religious organisations is unclear. The religious organisations are recognised, registered for activities, but have no legal rights, such as associations, non-governmental organisations …”
(http://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/Home/Nghiencuu-Traodoi/2013/24790/ Tiep-tuc-doi-moi-bent-tac-ton-delivery-dap-cancer-remix-cau.aspx).
This is a deliberate attempt to delay made by the government to make it difficult for the church, especially the independent religious communities, in order to keep them in the fully bound begging-giving mechanism and live in a survival state, unable to thrive”
—.
VIETNAM’S INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL
LETTER OF APPRECIATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
To Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
To Dr Heiner Bielefeldt
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Cc : – Vietnamese compatriots at home and abroad.
– Dignitaries and religious believers in Vietnam.
Vietnam, 9th August 2014.
Dear Dr Bielefeldt,
Since your predecessor, Mr Abdelfattah Amor, visited Vietnam in 1998 with few echoes, now this country again has welcomed you – with all of the public interest – as the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
Hanoi’s authorities have asked you to come because Vietnam is a member of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council and is having to answer the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights. But the people of Vietnam, especially religious believers, expect you to see eye to eye on this question, to visit and meet directly the authentic witnesses of religious freedom, so that you will become a witness before the UN’s Human Rights Council.
1. Communion empathy
First of all, we, the undersigned dignitaries, would like to express our communion and empathy for the difficult obstacles that you have encountered on the trip to VN- right from the first day in Hanoi – although the government have committed to keeping the rules on visiting and working in the field of the UN Rapporteur. Your discreet visits without being observed with witnesses and private sources had repeatedly not been respected. Many people you had wanted to meet were violently encountered and blocked, some people who had had contact with you officially or discreetly were questioned and followed and intimidated thereafter. Some of your meetings with the religious leaders were held in tension because the police had heavily surrounded outside. Unfortunately, and the most outrageous was the last three days, the plan to visit An Giang, Gia Lai and Kontum of yours and your entourage were interrupted, causing you to exclaim: “This is a clear violation of significant authority to investigate to the UN special envoy in a visit to any countries.”
In a country under the totalitarian Communist regime with the police fully in the hands of the party, which only recognises the party not the people, then the sad events above were not due to “misunderstanding” from the police as the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had defended itself in its statement.
2. Sincere thanks
We sincerely thank you for having flown halfway around the world to visit our country, and then also had to travel to the remote areas, despite all the harassments and threats (such as the dangers of Fulro … which actually was the secret police) in order to see to the religious communities which had been reported to be struggling due to their faith. Thank you for visiting the H’mong people, who were Duong Van Minh believers, of whom recently five members have been serving unjust prison sentences; thanks all the same for your wanting to visit pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh’s wife but failed. The pastor has been serving a heavy prison sentence though innocent; thanks for your wanting to visit but failed, one of the most severely persecuted Vietnam’s religious community – the Pure Hoa Hao Buddhist Church in An Giang; thank you for visiting the Cao Dai community in Vinh Long (one of the rare encounters with lots of people), where you had heard numerous traumatic events and saw many courageous believers; thanks for visiting us the Council for Inter-religion at the Redemption Church in Saigon, with regret that we were not fully present because of the police interference.
We especially thank you for giving a long statement (and then there will be even longer reports) on the status of religious freedom in Vietnam, with the overall evaluations – in which we are very interested – regarding measures, rules and behavioural attitude of the authorities toward religions: (1) general attitude is negative and arbitrary for the rights of minority groups and individual religious practices outside the official channels established; (2) The frequently cited lack of specific “interests of the majority” or the interests of “public order”; (3) The provisions are too broad restrictions on human rights in general and freedom of religion or belief in particular; (4) The presentation is not clear in the Criminal Code, specifically Article 258 concerning the “abuse” of freedom and democracy; (5) The judicial system has no mechanism to overcome legal recourse which is efficient enough so that people can easily access, etc;
Thank you to have outlined and identified the measures that persecuted the religion first and most basic is the registration (i.e. authorisation, Article 16 of the Ordinance on Religion and beliefs), according to which religious organisations need to meet certain criteria in order to be legally recognised and allowed to practise. This is the sort of including churches in the strict control of the authorities to easily make them their tools. But you have determined: “The implementation of human rights to freedom of religion or belief by individuals and/or in a community with other people cannot take place depending on any action recognised or administrative approval in particular. As a universal right, freedom of religion or belief is inherent in all human beings and therefore has higher normative status of any act or any administrative procedures … Thus, the right of an individual or a group for freedom of religion or belief can never be “created” by any administrative procedures at all”.
Thank you for having proved understanding of the situation of the independent religious communities. You were even reasonable to assume that “the operating conditions of the independent religious community are tests to evaluate the development of freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam” and remarked that: “According to the current situation, the probability to let them operate as independent communities is very unsafe and very limited; this is clearly a violation of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Vietnam is a member”. They operate in an unsafe situation and often limited because they want to preserve the tradition, protect the nature and preserve their religious mission in a society dominated by an atheistic regime, a totalitarian state. This state and regime only wants every entity and real strength in Vietnam to be their tools to maintain their power for long. That’s why they formed the Fatherland Front to put in it the communities or religious organisations obliged to obey them to secure a safe place for their activities (rather than the “religious values and state’s interests coincide”). So, as minorities – they are always harassed, restricted and harmed – the independent religious communities were the real evidence of the presence or absence of religious freedom in Vietnam. Given that a number of individuals (dignitaries or devotees of these independent communities) who have their “own opinion” are so selfishly ambitious, having ethical issues, going against the “majority’s interest”, then it is not worthy of attention. That argument is the vulgar slander that inflicted upon those who are suffering because of their religious conviction and commitment for justice.
3. Earnest recommendations
However, because you have said: “For a comprehensive analysis of the specific cases, there should be a lot more information to get a complete picture of the relevant facts and the view from the angle of all the stakeholders”, we have a few suggestions and clarifications:
A – After talking of the registry matter, you had expressed concern whether a religious community which cannot be registered is considered as a legal entity. We can tell you that: although some religious communities have registered and the state allows them to operate, but in reality, neither a religion nor a religious organisation in Vietnam has legal personality at all! This, it’s Mr Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, on 3rd December 2013 stated: “At present, the issue of “human” and “legal” of the religious organisations is unclear. The religious organisations are recognised, registered for activities, but have no legal rights, such as associations, non-governmental organisations …”
(http://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/Home/Nghiencuu-Traodoi/2013/24790/ Tiep-tuc-doi-moi-bent-tac-ton-delivery-dap-cancer-remix-cau.aspx).
This is a deliberate attempt to delay made by the government to make it difficult for the church, especially the independent religious communities, in order to keep them in the fully bound begging-giving mechanism and live in a survival state, unable to thrive.
B – You said that “There have been so many conflicts over land reported to me. Some seem related to religious freedom, for example, when the land was previously used for religious cemeteries or churches that was taken away to serve economic development”.
In response, the representative of the government recognises that the conflicts over land in Vietnam are like many other countries.
We can tell you that that is true in many other countries, in Vietnam there are land conflicts related to religion. But in other countries, land conflicts that happen between a community or a religious organisation with a community, an organisation or any individual, or even with a state agency. And it is a civil dispute. But in Vietnam, land is not owned by individuals or collectives (which only has the right to use), but is owned by the state, such as Article 51 of the 2013 Constitution has clarified: “Land, water resources, mineral resources, resources from the sea, air, and other natural resources and the assets invested and managed by the State are the public properties wholly owned by the people, which the State represents the ownership and has a unified control.” This monstrous and unjustified regulation helps to reinforce long-term power of the ruling party and the Communist regime. Consequently, the land dispute that the religious communities in Vietnam have encountered since 1954 – when the communists held power – because the central or local government deprived people of their real estates and their land and farms, the contradictable disputes have also had political nature. That’s why religious freedom is associated with the church and church organisations which must have the right to ownership of the land.
C – In addition, besides the construction of worship and operation facilities, the festival and training organisations, dignitaries and followers to go abroad for religious reasons (these three favours are actually only offered to communities and individuals who do not have problem with the regime), we think that religious freedom in Vietnam still involves many factors profound and more fundamental, based on Articles 18 and 19 of the Convention on Civil and Political rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, freedom of belief and religion. This right includes freedom to have or follow a religion or belief of his or her choice and freedom of expression or religious beliefs alone or in a community with others, publicly or discreetly, in the forms such as worship, prayer, practise and preach. “We therefore require such the rights deprived of by the authorities as the following:
– All religions must be involved in school education and public education, to bring the human spirit and moral values in the human conscience, social atmosphere, especially in the context of Vietnam being corrupt because of the Marxist atheist ideology, which has immersed the society in dishonesty and violence, selfishness and oppression.
– The religions have the right to open schools of all levels, from kindergarten to university (as already had in the South before 1975, in the Republic of Vietnam regime). The religions have the right to have ownership of private publishers, private newspapers, private radio and television stations (as already had before 1975 and as all religions having in civilised, democratic countries).
– The religious institutes must be independent and free in organisations and activities, discretionary teaching staff and teaching content. Put an end to the training program which includes courses on the history and laws of Vietnam as well as Marxism-Leninism, with textbooks and teachers provided by the government. This is the sort of mixing poison in food and especially a form of monitoring and control of future religious leaders.
These are intelligent clarifications and recommendations we have submitted to you, so that you will have more information to make a full report to the UN’s Human Rights Council, a powerful statement to create a true religious freedom in our country.
We sincerely thank you and wish you fulfil your noble mission.
Vietnam’s Inter-religious Council:
– Mr Le Quang Liem, Chairman of Hoa Hao (tel: 0199.243.2593).
– Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, Buddhism (tel: 0165.6789.881)
– Venerable Thich Vien Hy, Buddhism (tel: 0937.777.312)
– Father Peter Phan Van Loi, Catholic (tel: 0984.236.371)
– Father Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, Catholic (tel: 0935.569.205)
– Father Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh, Catholic (tel: 0993.598.820)
– Hua Phi, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0163.3273.240)
– Nguyen Kim Lan, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0988.971.117)
– Nguyen Bach Phung, Political Affairs of Cao Dai (tel: 0988.477.719)
– Pastor Nguyen Hoang Hoa, Protestant (tel: 0949.275.827)
– Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung, Protestant (tel: 0906.342.908)
– Pastor Le Quang Du, Protestant (tel: 0121.2002.001)
– Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Protestant (tel: 0162.838.7716)
– Mr Phan Tan Hoa, Hoa Hao (tel: 0162.630.1082)
– Mr Tong Van Chinh, Hoa Hao (tel: 0163.574.5430)