Vietnam House Church Leaders Submit Testimony on
Christian Persecution
Christiantoday.com
Posted:
Thursday, June 23 , 2005, 11:08 (UK)
Three Vietnamese
house church leaders have submitted testimonies to the International Relation
Committee of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C., on Monday 20th
June 2005. The move has come as the Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
undertakes the first official visit to the US by a Vietnamese premier since the
war in Vietnam.
The three leaders are Rev. Tran Mai, general director of
the Inter-Evangelistic Movement of Vietnam, Evangelist Truong Tri Hien of the
Vietnam Mennonite Church, and Rev. Pham Dinh Nhan of the United Gospel Outreach
church.
Nhan and Mai are the top leaders of their church
organisations in Vietnam and by submitting such a written testimony they risk
imprisonment. The last Vietnamese religious leader, Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced
to 15 years in prison after his testimony was read on 13th February 2001 into
the record of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
He was released in February 2005 as part of the amnesty for Lunar New Year, and
only after he changed his opinions completely and retracted his past comments.
People close to him believe he changed his mind after being given drugs.
Hien, the protégé of Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang had to flee
Vietnam after the arrest of Quang and now he has U.N refugee status, waiting for
asylum in the United States.
In the 14 page long testimony, Hien is describing 77
actions against the Mennonite church and headquarters that took place between
8th June 2004 and 31st May 2005.
Hien had classified the actions under five groups of
methods used by communist regime against religion:
- the regime uses force to break up meetings.
- the authorities use administrative paperwork such as
identity cards (ID), motorbike registrations and licenses to harass and
confiscate property.
- the authorities encourage the Christians' neighbours
to hate them and to take action against them.
- the authorities try to destroy the morale of the
believers.
- the government employs the state monopoly of the media
to launch scurrilous and sustained character attacks against religious leaders.
In the document Hien requests the release of Mennonite
Church leaders. The Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang is serving a three-year sentence and
Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach is serving a two-year sentence; both sentences were
upheld at an Appeal Court hearing on 12th April.
Mai submitted his testimony directly from Vietnam. He
testified the current religious persecution and cited the Hmong, Kor and Hre
ethic minority leaders, giving facts on beatings, confiscation of property,
forced labour and imprisonment.
Mai concluded: "The Ordinance on Religion and the
Instructions signed by the Prime Minister [is] 'old wine in new skins.' The new
legislation still retains the essence of oppressing religion. The government has
officially announced that 'The government will only recognise a few religious
denominations.'
"So what does this mean for those who will not be
recognised? It means plainly that these organisations will be outside the law.
Today they may meet for worship, tomorrow not. Today they are released, tomorrow
they may not be. How is it different for these organisations than being a fish
on a chopping block? How is this different than being a fish in a pond that can
be caught and killed at any time?"
He warned that Western countries should not be gullible
and should be very careful not to be taken in by Vietnam's "illogical and
immoral religion policies."
Anna Lisa
anna@christiantoday.com