Religion Repression in Vietnam
(The speech of the Catholic Priest Nguyen Thanh during the Conference of Vietnamese Nationalists Overseas on 14th October, 2006)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Through the private and public media, we know that the religion repression in Vietnam is very harsh and blatant. The urgent news report #4 of Hoa Hao Buddhists told us, on October 10th, that Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, president of Hoa Hao Buddhist Organization in Dong Thap City and his wife, have been put to jail by the police, and hundreds of policemen have smashed the things in his house, brutally beaten his family members, until some of them have lost consciousness. Even a handbag with 40 million Vietnamese dongs - the money gotten by selling their rice - has been taken away.

On October 3rd, hundreds of policemen encircled the houses of Mr. Bui Van Luoc, president, and Mr. Le Van Soc, vice president of Hoa Hao Buddhist Organization in Vinh Long City, and forbad everyone to get out of the house to buy food, to the point that both families declared that they would self-immolate if the police got into their houses.

Facing the brutal repression, Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, president of Hoa Hao Buddhist Organization in Can Tho City, wrote a letter to declare her intention of self-immolation to protest.

We also heard that Ms. Duong Thi Tron, who was not strong enough to stand the brutal beating of the police, died because of that, and the police is still concealing this news.

The police still keeps hundreds of christians (Protestants), including city-dwellers and highland minorities, in many prisons in all over the country, and many of them had to flee to Cambodia. They continually beat up the ministers, priests and christians, such as Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, Pastor Ngo Hoai No, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, and the police destroyed houses, churches, and stole their belonging, vehicles, and forbad them to practice their religion's ceremonies.

In particular, the policemen under the order of the police woman officer Vo Thi Hien, have taken Paster Nguyen Cong Chinh's clothing off, then laughed at him like the gangsters.

The most recent news, on October 12th, when Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Cong Chinh visited his mother in Hue city, the policemen in civil clothings, pretended to be gangsters, beat them brutally, although Mrs. Chinh is pregnant of 8 month old. Now, they put the pastor in jail in Hoa Lu.

About the repression of Buddhist religion, the bi-monthly magazine Freedom of Expression wrote: in Luc Nam district, Bac Giang city, at the end of last June, 4 monks and 5 Buddhists have been ripped off clothings, beaten, made electric clubs touching their private parts, hung upside down to the ceiling, made swallow the foods they had vomited, they are all wounded for life, some became mentally ill. That's also the way the communists used to kill hundreds of Catholic priests such as the priests Nguyen Van Chuong, Nguyen Van Huyen, Mai Ba Nhac, of Thanh Hoa diocese, or the priests Nguyen Van Vinh, of Ha Noi diocese.

The communists also incarcerated many clergy and confiscated many buildings and lands of the Catholic monasteries, and then used them as their private properties. They continually put many Buddhist monks under house arrest, threw into jails, killed them, such as the monks Tue Quang and Tue Chieu years ago, and recently mistreated the monks Huyen Quang, Quang Do, Tue Si, Thien Minh, and blocked them in their activities for the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Organization.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The above description is only part of the problem. The main point is the consistant policy of communism, and that is the  vicious policy of annihilation of all religions in a refined manner, and that is the nature of the regime. The government ripped off the religion rights of its citizens in several ways.

First of all, people cannot form a religion, they can't participate in various religious activities, such as education, charitable and social activities, as in democratic countries. All depend on the beg-and-give mechanism, and the permission are given only to the people who cooperate with them, or depend on the whim of the local government, who often disobey the central government.

Secondly, religious organization do not have the right to recruit, educate, train, or appoint their personels. The local police interfere deeply and brutally into these processes, and they even managed to put communists into monasteries to become leaders of religions.

Thirdly, the religions in Vietnam cannot practice freedom of information, especially the freedom of press, of editing and printing, of using the radio and the television. Only with 3 million communist party's members, the Vietnamese communist party already has 600 newspapers and magazines of all kinds, though only for carrying the same information  ordered by the Party. The rest of 80 millions people of all religions, among them many tens of millions of Buddhists, 8 millions of Christians, 8 millions of Hoa Hao Buddhists, and millions of Cao Dai believers and Protestants, do not have any newspaper or magazine, and they do not have a voice to broadcast goodness, to protect fairness and the truth.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When the controlled economy has failed, the falls of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe communist regimes were natural results. Now there are only 4 communist regimes left, and they are in China, North Korea, Cuba, and unfortunate Vietnam. To survive, these regimes have to change their forms, from backward and controlled economy, to free market economy. However, by their deceitful nature, they still try to protect their socialist terminology: free market economy with socialist direction! Based on that, all social structures such as politic, religion, laws, education, culture, need to include that bad and backward terminology "with socialist direction". Therefore, practically, the religions and all other social structures are still in the same vicious circle of the autocratic regime. The people who say that there is religion freedom in Vietnam are the people who are happy with the beg-and-give mechanism of the "socialist direction" structure, which gives very few to many beggings. Then, where should be the direction for religions?

The religions must live within the society, and there is nothing that comes from the society and does not affect the believers. Religion is the upward way for life, and if a religion does not save people, it is not a religion anymore. The bishops must point out the immorality and the corruption of our society, and must wake up the consciousness of the leaders who are indifferent with people's suffering. I hear the voice of the Bible to condemn the shepherds who only keep silent to avoid troubles and let the venom to propagate.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Now it's time for the countrymen and the believers to unite. Freedom cannot come through begging. Freedom must be earned by fighting. Freedom of religion, of information, of press, are only basic human rights, are not to be begged from the Vietnamese communists to give us, but they are the rights of each human. We cannot beg anymore. Even when we beg, they would not give. For instance, recently, after the conference of the Vietnamese bishops, when the bishops came to the "Court" of President Nguyen Minh Triet, they talked to him about a number of problems, but Nguyen Minh Triet, either he was sleeping or did not care to listen, did not answer to them. So why begging to bring shame on us? We need to take our lawful humanrights and use them for ourselves, our religions, our organizations, our country. There are brilliant children-of-nation who are bravely fighting for human rights for Vietnam. The religions inside the society, have the duty to walk together with everyone, to take back freedom and democracy, fairness and love, like in other countries of the world. We cannot accept a nasty regime that corrupts the people and impoverishes the nation. We cannot be silent and let the brutal regime turn our nation into a backward and slaving country. We Vietnamese overseas decided to support the movements inside the country, fighting for religion freedom and humanrights. Repressed religions should unite!

Thank you,
Catholic Priest Nguyen Thanh

(Translator: Do Thi Thuan)