Vietnam police bust Hanoi bible meet, detain 20
HANOI -
Vietnamese security police have
raided an evangelical bible meeting in
Hanoi and detained 20 people for
participating in an ``illegal religious
event,'' sources close to those
arrested said on Friday.
The 14 women and six men, who
belonged to the unofficial Vietnam
Assemblies of God Church (eds:
correct), had met for a three day
spiritual retreat and bible study
session in a Hanoi hotel when police
burst in last Friday evening, added
one source, who declined to be
identified.
Eighteen people were released two
days later after being charged with
breach of the peace while one man,
Lo Van Hen, was taken under police
escort to his home in remote Dien
Bien Phu, 500 km (310 miles) west
of Hanoi, the source said.
One of the group's leaders,
Reverend Tran Dinh (Paul) Ai, was
still being detained in Hanoi on
Friday, although it was unclear what
charges, if any, he would face.
Another source confirmed the details
surrounding the detention of the 20
people.
The Foreign Ministry, in response to
questions from Reuters, said it was in
``contact with the various agencies
concerned.''
The whereabouts of Hen, an
evangelist pastor from the Black Thai
ethnic minority, were currently
unknown. Hen was freed from jail on
January 28 after serving three years
for ``illegal religious activities,'' the
first source said.
He added he had been in contact
with Ai, who anticipated a long
detention and appealed for help to
leave the country.
Ai, who operates a private
house-church in Ho Chi Minh City,
has been a thorn in the side of
Hanoi's leaders. Most recently he
was jailed for more than two years in
the early 1990s on charges related to
proselytising, the source added.
Ai was also one of few religious
figures not linked to the government
who was able to meet U.N. Special
Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance,
Abdelfattah Amor, who visited
Vietnam last October.
In an appeal seen by Reuters on
Friday, the bible group said they had
met peacefully and were no threat to
anyone.
``We were raided, harassed and
interrogated. Our religious books
were confiscated, one of our women
evangelists was slapped around by
the police and our preacher is still
detained,'' the written appeal said.
``We appeal to our government to
help us realise our simple aspiration
to have freedom to live and practise
our faith.''
While communist-ruled Vietnam's
constitution enshrines freedom of
religion, the state retains tight control
and religious groups and individuals
have reported harassment by local
authorities and internal security
forces.
The U.N.'s Amor, in a recent report
on the religious situation in Vietnam,
slammed Hanoi for a failure to
respect fundamental rights of
religious freedom.
In the case of Protestants, Amor said
they faced the banning of religious
services, fines, confiscations of
literature, as well as harassment and
arrest. No Protestant training schools
were permitted in the country, Amor
added.
Hanoi rejected Amor's assessment
and said he had showed bad will to
the country.
Some foreign governments and
international human rights groups say
Vietnam imprisons people for
peaceful expression of political or
religious views -- a charge Hanoi
also rejects.
A national three-day conference on
religion, which was due to end on
Friday, heard that progress had been
made on religious affairs but that
problems remained.
Reuters - May 14, 1999.
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Vietnam religion report says problems remain
HANOI - A new
Vietnam government report on
religion said progress had been made
on religious affairs in the
communist-ruled country, but stated
that problems remained, official
media said on Wednesday.
Le Quang Vinh, head of the
Government Committee on Religion,
presented the report at a national
conference held to review religious
affairs in 1998 and discuss
implementation of a new decree on
religion, Vietnam News Agency
(VNA) said.
There were an increasing number of
incidents of illegal construction or
repair of religious sites, disputes over
the possession of religious buildings
and illegal religious promotion
activities over the last year, VNA
added.
While the climate for worship in
Vietnam has eased in the last
decade, the state retains strict control
over the organisation of religions and
associated activities.
Official documents seen by Reuters
have indicated growing official
disquiet over rapid growth in
Protestant Evangelism, particularly
among the Hmong ethnic minority in
the mountainous northwest and other
groups in the central highlands.
At least one provincial authority has
attempted to force some people to
sign pledges that they will not adopt
Protestantism, those documents
show.
Vinh reported that ``Progress has
been made in the operation of
religious organisations in accordance
with the law and the common interest
of the nation,'' VNA said.
Some 300 delegates at the
conference, which is expected to
finish on Friday, heard that visits
from Communist Party and
government officials to believers on
occasions of Buddha's birthday and
Christmas had created a mood of
goodwill, VNA said.
The printing of religious literature and
the operation of religious schools had
been favourable, while religious
dignitaries, monks and nuns had been
granted exit visas to travel overseas,
the agency added.
Religious literature in Vietnam can
only be printed by the state, which
also insists on limiting and approving
all religious appointments.
In a recent report, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance,
Adelfattah Amor, who visited
Vietnam last October, said the
country continued to limit religious
freedoms -- a charge Hanoi rejected.
Reuters - May 12, 1999.
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