Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 700 | Wed 05 Jul 2023
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VIETNAM: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY SITUATION CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE
By Elizabeth Kendal
BACKGROUND: Vietnam is a one-party state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). To be legal, religious groups must be approved by, registered with, and subservient to the Marxist-Leninist CPV. The state engages in and tolerates ‘severe violations of religious freedom’ (US Dept of State 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, published 15 May 2023). The worst persecution occurs in the remote Central Highlands, home to roughly 30 ethnic minority, indigenous hills tribes collectively known as Montagnard or Dega. In particular, the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak and Gia Lai have long been a hotbed of repressive and violent persecution. The predominantly Christian Montagnards are routinely deemed ‘reactionary’ and ‘separatist’, simply because they demand religious freedom and the right to retain control of their ancestral lands and culture. Persecution includes intimidation, harassment, threats and extreme violence; along with Cultural Revolution-style kangaroo courts where believers are publicly shamed and pressured to ‘confess their crimes’ and renounce their faith. Initially, persecution comes at the hands of plain-clothed, government-sponsored ‘Red Flag’ thugs. If that fails to have the desired effect, then local officials and security personnel will step in to escalate pressure and make arrests. Information is scarce, since a raft of new laws made getting information out of Vietnam a very risky business indeed [see RLPB 650 (22 June 2022)]. Tension in the Central Highlands has been boiling for decades as the CPV works to crush dissent, control resources and colonise the region with pro-government ethnic Kinh/Vietnamese.
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VIETNAM (1): TENSIONS EXPLODE IN DAK LAK
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| Circled: Dak Lak Province Map source |
On Sunday 11 June an estimated 40 ‘reactionary subjects’ launched a rare attack against government institutions in Dak Lak Province. Wearing camouflage vests, riding motorbikes and armed with guns, knives and molotov cocktails, the ‘reactionaries’ split into two groups and conducted pre-dawn raids on police stations and the offices of the People’s Committee [Uỷ ban Nhân dân (UBND), which administers Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) policy at the local level] in Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes on the south-eastern outskirts of the provincial capital, Buon Ma Thuot. Four police officers, two commune officials, and three residents were killed in the raids. At least two other police officers were seriously wounded, and hospitalised with multiple knife wounds, gunshot wounds and burns.
The government responded by deploying overwhelming military force – including tanks and attack helicopters – to Dak Lak. The authorities have arrested and are preparing to prosecute 84 people they accuse of ‘conducting terrorist acts against the people’s government’. Some of those arrested claimed they had been offered ‘large sums of money’ to kill officials. Dak Lak has been placed in ‘lock-down’ and anyone found disseminating ‘false information’ (i.e. anything contrary to the government narrative) faces a hefty fine. The military crackdown has sent Montagnards fleeing over the border, which Cambodian PM Hun Sen has now closed. What is more, presumably to curry favour with the CPV, Hun Sen is forcibly repatriating all Montagnards who have sought refuge in Cambodia since the clashes erupted.
Fear abounds that the CPV will exploit the situation to escalate repression and persecution of the Central Highlands’ largely Christian Montagnard/Dega tribes. Morning Star News reports (25 June): ‘A 12-minute Facebook video circulating strongly implies that Montagnard Christian young people were involved in the [11 June] attacks. The clip, using helicopter or drone photography, shows several well-known church buildings and Montagnard congregations of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam South (ECVN-S) and the Christian Mission Church (CMC), both well established and legally recognised by the government… The commentary is highly suspicious of and derogatory toward Montagnard evangelicals. The video’s origins are unclear, but it appears to be thinly disguised government propaganda.’
Despite the government’s accusations of foreign interference, diaspora groups in the USA deny any involvement. Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, the U.S.-based co-founder of the Vietnam Evangelical Church of Christ, told RFA (13 June) that he didn’t think any Montagnards were involved in the attacks. ‘Montagnard people are commoners who live with their religious faith,’ he said. ‘When their religious faith or land is violated, they, of course, will have to voice up. However, I don’t think Montagnard people in Dak Lak province were capable enough to organise such an armed force of 30 to 40 people.’ When he contacted church members in the area, they expressed confusion and said they did not know what was happening.
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VIETNAM (2): PASTORS IN PRISON; DIEM DIES AS TON DETERIORATES
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| (left) Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton in better days. (right) Pastor Dinh Diem, during his trial in 2018 |
Protestant pastor and religious liberty advocate Nguyen Trung Ton (51) has been imprisoned in Gia Trung Prison, Gia Lai Province, since April 2018 when he was sentenced, under Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code, to 12-years in prison for ‘carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the People’s administration’ [see RLPB 450 (11 April 2018)]. Ton’s health continues to deteriorate as the authorities continue to deny him access to medical care. According to Radio Free Asia (27 June) Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton has for two years been suffering from a persistent cough (a long-term effect of COVID-19), along with a progressive eye disease which has caused a near total loss of vision. His leg injuries – the result of a severe beating by government-sponsored ‘Red Flag’ thugs in 2017 [see RLPB 479 (31 Oct 2018)] – have never been treated.
Ton’s wife, Mrs Nguyen Thi Lanh, told RFA that she fears her husband will die in prison, as did Lutheran Pastor Dinh Diem. Pastor Diem died in Nghe An Provincial Prison No. 6, on 5 January, aged 60, five years into a 16-year prison sentence for ‘carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the People’s administration’. Diem was a Vietnam-United States Lutheran Union Evangelical Church missionary, and a member of the Vietnamese People’s Evangelical Fellowship, a charity that ministers to ethnic minority communities in the Central Highlands. The founder of that charity, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, spent six years in prison [see RLPB 359 (1 June 2016)] before being released in 2017. He now lives in exile in the USA.
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PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL:
* intervene to end the military violence in Dak Lak and the religious repression and persecution that is currently escalating at the hands of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam which seems convinced it can persecute with impunity. Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! (Psalm 94:2 ESV)
* grant Vietnam’s Christian pastors great wisdom and discernment as they seek to lead their flocks along a difficult path lined with hardship, oppression, persecution and injustice. Lord have mercy.
* protect and sustain Vietnam’s numerous imprisoned pastors and Christian human rights advocates and activists as they serve time in prison for their faith-based ministry and advocacy. May the Lord be their advocate and their defender. May violent hands be restrained; and in mercy, may all necessary medical care be provided.
O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (Psalm 10:17-18 ESV)
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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VIETNAM: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY SITUATION CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE
On 11 June some 40 ‘reactionary subjects’ in Vietnam’s Central Highlands launched a rare attack against government institutions. They attacked with guns, knives and petrol bombs leaving a trail of destruction and nine fatalities. In response, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam has deployed massive military force into Dak Lak. The mostly Christian indigenous hills tribes are fearful the government will exploit the crisis to escalate its ethno-religious persecution across the region. Meanwhile, Vietnam continues to mistreat its many imprisoned pastors and Christian human rights / religious liberty advocates. The health of Protestant Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton (51) continues to deteriorate as authorities continue to withhold medical care. Lutheran Pastor Dinh Diem (60) died in Nghe An Provincial Prison No. 6 on 5 January, five years into a 16-year prison sentence. Please pray.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com
Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com