Documents acquired in October by religious and human rights
workers in this Southeast Asian country and correspondence received in recent
days confirm that by the end of September, 354 of 412 churches had been
forcibly disbanded in Dak Lak province alone. By mid-October, about 50
Christian pastors and elders in the province had been arrested or had
"disappeared."
It is expected that the remaining 58 churches in the province will soon be
closed.
Montagnard churches -- "Montagnard" means "mountain people"
and is a collective name for Vietnam's many minority tribal groups inhabiting
the Central Highlands -- were historically part of the Evangelical Church of
Vietnam (South). Last year, 26 years after the country was reunified under
communism, the ECVN(S) was granted legal recognition. However, only a handful of
the many hundreds of Montagnard churches were allowed to identify with the
ECVN(S).
On Nov. 7, meanwhile, Freedom House released news of ongoing persecution of
Hmong Christians in Vietnam's northwest provinces, including the story and
photo of a 36-year-old Hmong Christian man who died from beatings by police and
officials because he was a believer. Also, Vietnam's normally cautious Roman
Catholic Conference of Bishops recently released a letter decrying the
persecution of Catholic Montagnards.
Reports from the affected churches reveal a pattern, Compass Direct observed.
Beginning in late summer, leaders of the predominantly Ede minority churches
were summoned by local authorities, told their churches were illegal and
ordered to disband their church organizations. Many were threatened with dire
consequences if they did not comply.
In addition, church leaders were specifically prohibited from any further
religious activity outside their own homes with their own families, the Compass
Direct account continued. All communal activities of the churches -- worship,
teaching, prayer for the sick, observing holy days, administering sacraments,
performing baptisms, weddings and funerals -- were forbidden. Leaders were
forced to sign statements of compliance.
Government authorities had reluctantly tolerated the existence of Montagnard
churches for nearly 20 years, although there were frequent problems and many
restrictions. In February 2001, however, several thousand Montagnards surprised
local authorities by demonstrating against the illegal loss of their lands to
ethnic Vietnamese settlers and against the lack of religious freedom.
Waves of heavy-handed crackdowns followed, along with brutal campaigns to force
Christians to sign documents agreeing to give up their faith, Compass Direct
reported. Many fled into the forest or to Cambodia.
However, this latest move against churches in Dak Lak is the most severe
persecution since 1975, when churches were closed and church leaders put in
re-education camps for years, the news service noted.
The ECVN(S), which has usually been very cautious about speaking out against
abuses, went public this time. The ECVN(S) president, Duong Thanh, has written
a frank and detailed letter to Vietnam's prime minister and to other relevant
government agencies. According to Compass Direct, the letter describes the
persecution and points out how government actions are contrary to the
constitution and to specific promises made by Vietnam's Religious Affairs
Bureau.
The constitutional provision for religious freedom and the promises of the
bureau are quoted in the letter, along with a warning that it will be
impossible to contain this news in Vietnam. The letter concludes by asking the
prime minister and relevant government bodies for immediate redress.
Earlier complaints addressed to local authorities by the legally recognized
provincial committee of the ECVN(S) resulted in increased pressure and
persecution, Compass Direct reported. Authorities seized church leaders at will
and took them to unknown destinations. They confiscated church furniture,
Christian books, Bibles and musical instruments, and then sealed off or took
over the simple chapels where Christians met. Officials have entered chapels
while Christians were worshiping and harangued Christians to give up their
faith.
Local Dak Lak television is reported by many to have broadcast "Ceremonies
of Voluntarily Renouncing Christianity" and has shown pictures of
Christians "voluntarily" giving their Bibles and songbooks to be
burned.
"All the Christians I met greeted me with tears, asked me to pray with
them and then hurried me on my way lest something untoward happen to me,"
said a recent visitor to the area. "Even some sympathetic government
officials received me with tears, recognizing the overwhelming sadness of what
is happening."
He added, "Many of the churches in Vietnam are praying night and day for
this 'national tragedy.' Please pass this sad news to churches overseas as well
so that they may participate in earnest prayer, beseeching the Lord to deliver
us from this distress. There are many other heart-rending stories which I
cannot tell you now."
The United States Commission on International Religion Freedom in September
recommended that the U.S. State Department name Vietnam as a "country of
particular concern" -- the worst category for abusers of religious
freedom. Yet even seasoned observers of the religious liberty abuses in
communist Vietnam are surprised at the ferocity in the latest persecution of
Christians.
"Besides visiting gratuitous suffering on innocent people, Vietnam is
badly hurting itself in the eyes of the international community," said one
longtime observer.