Vietnam:
government proposes further legal restrictions on religion
By: An Dang
ICN - May 22, 2011
The
Vietnamese government is proposing to introduce amendments to existing laws
which will further restrict freedom of worship and all other church-related
activities in the country.
Cardinal Jean Baptise Pham Minh Man, of the Archdiocese of Saigon said in a
letter to the Vietnamese prime minister: “Overall, the fifth draft amendments
for the Government Decree 22/2005 is a huge retrograde step compared to the
original one, the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions, and the Constitution."
The letter, published on VietCatholic News on May 20, was issued after the
prelate had held a conference with representatives from all dioceses in the
Ecclesiastical Province of Saigon on the draft bill.
Cardinal Man said: “Essentially, the proposed amendments of the decree reflect
the desire of the government to re-establish the mechanism of Asking and
Granting in religious activities. The Asking and Granting process turns the
legitimate rights of citizens into privileges in the hands of government
officials who would grant or withheld them to people through bureaucratic
procedures.”
“The mechanism of Asking and Granting, hence, does not only eliminate the
freedom rights of people, but also turns a ‘government of people by people and
for people’ in to a ‘Master of the country’ who holds in his hands all the
rights, and grants or withholds them to people at his random mood swings,” he
warned.
Bishops in Vietnam have repeatedly voiced their concerns that religious freedom
in Vietnam is still very far from reality due to a ‘jungle of law’ - full of
ambiguities and contradictions - which are there to regulate, circumscribe, and
hence control religious communities.
Article 70 of the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
provides that “the citizen shall enjoy freedom of belief and religion; he can
follow any religion or follow none. All religions are equal before the law. The
places of worship of all faiths and religions are protected by the law. No one
can violate freedom of belief and of religion, nor can anyone misuse beliefs and
religions to contravene the law, and State policies.”
The phrase ‘misuse of beliefs and religions’ is indeterminate and susceptible of
many interpretations. In fact, ordinary religious functions, such as the
Catholic engagement in social justice and advocacy for human rights, have had
every chance to be regarded as a ‘misuse of beliefs and religions’ under the
Article.
Fr Peter Hansen, lecturer on history of the Church in Asia at the Australian
Catholic Theological College in Melbourne, said: “Certainly, the Article
provides no criteria as to what is considered a ‘misuse’, nor does it state who
is to be the arbiter of whether a particular activity falls within the
definition. Arguably, it was the constitutional drafters’ intent that the
determinative power rest with the Vietnamese state, with the Church itself
having no role to play. This potentially grants to the state the effective
capacity to circumscribe what constitutes legitimate religious activity, and
axiomatically, to place outside the bounds of legitimacy whatever it finds
displeasing."
Moreover, quasi-legislative provisions found in a series of ordinances, and
decrees on Beliefs and Religions, typically the Government Decree 22/2005
promulgated on March 1, 2005, Government Decree 26/1999, issued on 19 April 1999
which is based on a directive of the Communist Party (No.37 CT/TW), circulated
on 2 July 1998, have further ramifications for the practice of religion and
citizens’ religious rights. Many of these provisions have drawn criticism as
constituting a de facto impediment to true religious freedom.
Fundamentally, these quasi-legislative provisions state that all religions and
religious denominations must seek the recognition of the central government in
order to operate legally.
But, “the state only recognises the existence of religions not their legal
status and their clergy’s legal rights. Religious clergy, therefore, are neither
entitled to citizen’s rights as others nor able to legally represent their
religion. Religious organisations are not entitled to a legal status as other
social groups according to the Constitution and the law... Instead of being able
to enjoy their legitimate rights, they have to beg for permission to held
religious ceremonies, to preach their beliefs, to carry out formation and
ordination,” lamented the Cardinal.
Indeed, the attached minute of the conference, signed by Fr. Joseph Maria Le
Quoc Thanh, the president of the newly born Archdiocesan Justice and Peace
Commission, showed the forum participants’ frustration that religious activities
including liturgies, prayers services, sermons, catechetical teachings must be
licensed annually or given specific permission per event whilst admission into
monastic life must conform to the stipulations of the State Religious Affairs
Committee. Retreats and ‘similar religious activities’ must be in accordance
with government regulations; religious conferences must have state approval. The
printing, publication, and the importation of publications, especially
‘religious cultural articles’, are regulated by the state.
Given its particular connection to the Vatican and the universal Catholic Church
in general, the provisions regulating foreign religious involvement are of
particular importance to the Vietnamese Catholic Church. Vietnam government
requires that the bestowal of religious titles (bishop, cardinal, in particular)
must have its approval, thus providing a de facto government veto over episcopal
appointments. It has on many occasions in the past exercised that veto in
rejecting candidates proposed by the Vatican.
The draft bill maintains that religious organisations’ international activities
must comply with state policies and precepts, and such organisations must advise
the Religious Affairs Committee of any instructions received from ‘foreign
religious organisations’, and then comply with any instructions issued by the
committee. Invitations to ‘foreign religious organisations and individuals’ must
be approved by the Committee for Religious Affairs. Foreigners wishing to
undertake religious activities in Vietnam must register with local People’s
Committees, and any aid received from foreign religious organisations must be
approved by the State Religious Affairs Committee.
The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions promulgated on June 18, 2004 states that
“legitimate properties of all faiths and religions are protected by the law”.
However, “in reality, there has been no single legal document stipulating
clearly how they are protected and how the ownership rights of religious
communities are protected,” the prelate challenged. “That’s why a series of
premises and land has been unjustly seized,” he added. Echoing the viewpoints of
Vietnamese bishops in their statement on Sep. 25, 2008, the Cardinal stated that
the land and property laws are out-dated and inconsistent, they ought to be
revised. Vietnamese government needs to take the right to own private property
into consideration as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with
others.” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
In brief, the fifth draft amendments for the Government Decree 22/2005, as
criticised by Cardinal Jean Baptise Pham, whilst maintaining all harsh previous
restrictions on religious freedom, requires more administrative procedures of
‘request for permission’.
The Cardinal concluded his letter by asserting that the Vietnamese Catholic
community "earnestly want to see the construction of a legal system that is
progressing for the advancement of the people, by the people in order for the
country to develop with stability" He cautiously reminded Vietnam government
that "By the same token, for the law to be respected, it requires one's courage
to change their mind-set, to respect the objective truth, and change from the
fundamentals of the rule of law, rather than just the regulations or the
decrees".