The Repression

The Vincent Cathedral Incident

Having failed to subdue the priest in residence at the Vincent Cathedral located on Tran Quoc Toan Street, Tenth Precinct, Saigon, under control, the local military authorities had its agents planted "counter-evolutionary" documents and arms and ammunitions in the facilities inside the cathedral, using this scheme as a pretext to arrest the pastor, intimidate the parishioners, and confiscate the cathedral, its dependent premises, and facilities. On February 13, 1976, the security police laid siege on the cathedral. After the many-hour siege, they arrested the Chaplain Nguyen Quang Minh of the old Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Ngoc Thiet, and the lawyer Nguyen Khac Chinh. The official press reported that the local authorities had unearthed a cache of arms and ammunitions and the evidences of a conspiracy to overthrow the new regime. That conspiracy was intimately linked to an operation of the American CIA. The authorities never produced any evidences or proofs whatsoever. The chaplain and the other two laymen were charged with masterminding a scheme to overthrow the newly-established government. Nguyen Huu Thiet was shot dead. The chaplain was given the death sentence without a trial. He later died out of maltreatment in the prison. Nguyen Khac Chinh was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The lawyer was released in early March 1992. after 17 years in prison.

The Dac Lo Incident

The Reverend Le Thanh Que was among the nine Jesuit priests who were arrested in late 1980 and early 1981 when the authorities of Ho Chi Minh City executed the order of the closure of the Catholic Dac Lo Center on Yen Do Street. He and the other priests were charged with the crimes of carrying out subversive activities, disseminating counterrevolutionary propaganda materials with a scheme to overthrow the regime. The arrests of the Jesuit priests were supposedly linked to the publication of the journal "Dao Nhap The" (The Religion Incarnated) and, of most importance, because of the admiration the Catholic Youths had for the priests and their frequent assemblies at the canter. The Reverend Le Thanh Que, and a group of 13 Jesuit priests and young laymen were brought to stand trial at bar .on June 30, 1983. They were all accused of "having conducted counterrevolutionary propaganda and attempted to overthrow the legitimate administration," although the Court could not produce any evidence. The Reverend Le Thanh Que was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Jesuit priest Nguyen Cong Doan was arrested in December 1980 with nine other Jesuit priests when the authorities closed the Dac Lo (Alexandre de Rhodes) Center on Hien Vuong Street, Saigon. He was charged with "plotting conspiracy to overthrow the government and carrying out counterrevolutionary propaganda" as expressed in his viewpoints on religious faith in the review "Dao Nhap The" (The Religion Reincarnated). He was brought to stand trial on June 29, 1983, after two and a half years under administrative detention. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. Also arrested was the Reverend Dominique Ngo Quang Tuyen. The priest was arrested in October 1982, but it was until June 1986 that he was brought to stand trial in court. He was convicted of "having organized illegal evasions to foreign countries" and of " having incited corruption among the party cadres." He was sentenced to 25 years in prison but the sentence was later commuted to 18 years. He was detained at Camp Z30, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province.

Trials and Imprisonment

The following is an excerpt from the official narrative about the Dac Lo (Alexandre de Rhodes) Center case from the semiofficial magazine Cong Giao va Dan Toc (Catholicism and the Nation):

"During June 29-30, the People’s Court of Justice in Ho Chi Minh City tried in a court of first instance Nguyen Van Hien and a certain number of people belonging to the Center of Dac Lo who had relationship with him. They were accused of having conducted counterrevolutionary activities with an attempt to overthrow the administration.

The Court consists of the president of the People’s Court of the city Huynh Vinh Thanh and his assistant jurors, Nguyen Van Tung, Party vice-secretary of the Union of Construction, and Huynh Thi Hien, Party secretary at the Metal Chemical Industry. The prosecutor is Tran Luan, Vice-president of the Office of the Prosecutors of Ho Chi Minh City. The defense lawyers for the accused were Tran Thoi Vuong and Phan Thanh. The clerk is Tran Thi Phung.

In the morning of June 29, after having examined the curriculum vitae of each of the accused, the Court had the secretary read the indictment.

According to the indictment, Nguyen Van Hien, 61, a native of Dong Hoi in the province of Binh Tri, has served as a spy for the American CIA from 1954. The said agent has involved in a number of counterrevolutionary incidents after the revolution. Le Thanh Que, 45, a native of Hai Hau in the province of Ha Nam Ninh, and a Jesuit priest, like Nguyen Van Hien, is accused of having conducted counterrevolutionary activities with an attempt to overthrow the administration.

Apart from being accused of having connections with counterrevolutionary elements in the country and abroad, Le Thanh Que is also accused of having published fraudulently a journal entitled the "Vietnamese Catholicism Reformed" which is then re-entitled "The Religion Reincarnated." This journal serves as a means of propaganda propagating counterrevolutionary intoxication, distortion, and calumny.

"The Religion Reincarnated" is the means of propaganda for the Companionship of Jesus, which is under the sponsorship and direction of the members of this organization such as Fr. Do Quang Chinh, Khuat Duy Linh, and specifically, Fr. Nguyen Cong Doan. The latter priest had received orders from Rome to come to Saigon several months before the liberation to become the provincial director to direct the companionship and to reform the Dac Lo Center. He nevertheless regrouped and organized counterrevolutionary elements to carry out propaganda. Apart from this, Fr. Le Thanh Que took charge of the editorship and managed the journal "The Religion Reincarnated.’ There were also conferences and sessions of exchanges of ideas. These activities were conducted under the direction of Brother Pham Huu Lai. In these conferences and meetings, the participants utsed reactionary and decadent books written by lackey writers before the liberation that are currently forbidden to circulate such as "Cong Truong Voi Tim (The School Gate with Violet Walls) by Nha Ca and "Dung Bo Em Mot Minh" (Don’t Leave Me Alone) by Nhat Giang. Moreover, to raise fund, which activity would allow them to actuate their activities, the accused salvaged money and gold from people who left the country to live overseas. They borrowed them money and gold and reimbursed them in the foreign currency through the intermediary of the Companionship of Jesus overseas.

Another group of people that had connection to the illegal activities at the Dac Lo Center were also brought to stand trial before the Court. They were Hoang Kim Khanh, Truong Van Tuyen, Mai Kim Loan, Vu Duc Ha, and Fr. Nguyen Van Hoa. The Court’s deliberation lasted all day on 29 June. In the morning of June 30, the Court listened to the pleading of the defense lawyers and the representative of the Office of Prosecutors.

At 2:00 p.m. on June 30, 1983, after the analysis of the crimes of each of the accused, the Court passed the following sentences:

1. Bguyen Van Hien, life imprisonment; Le Thanh Que, 15 years in prison; 2. Nguyen Cong Doan ,12 years in prison; 3. Do Quang Chinh, 5 years in prison; 4. Hoang Kim Khanh, 4 years in prison; 5. Pham Huu Lai, 4 years in prison; 6. Khuat Duy Linh, 4 years in prison and 3 years on probation; 7 Truong Van Tuyen, 3 years in prison; 8. Hoang Sy Quy, 2 years in prison and 4 years on probation; 9. Nguyen Van Hoa, Mai Kim Loan, Dinh Van Trung, and 10. Vu Duc Ha received warnings (Cong Giao va Dan Toc, 1983: 1-2)

The indictment on the accused of the Court was, however, was contrary to facts. The Dac Lo Center was founded in Saigon before the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. It had a Student Union Club for Catholic Youths and Students, most of whom were the students at the Saigon universities. There were at the center a theater and a television studio. There were also classrooms for foreign languages --English, French, and so on. The Jesuit priests in residence and concerned intellectuals regularly organized conferences or conducted of sessions of Bible studies.

After April 1975, at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Binh, the Jesuit priests engaged themselves in series of orientation sessions to accommodate the Church’s activities to the new situation. The Reverend Nguyen Cong Doan was nominated the counselor beside the prelate. The Roman Catholic Church nevertheless met, at that time, with ever-growing difficulties. The Church’s responsible at the Dac Lo Center were forced by the authorities to voluntarily offer the totality of this religious establishment to the State, including the chapel where holy masses were celebrated everyday. Sessions of Bible studies used to be conducted and choral hymns periodically practiced in the chapel. All these activities attracted large groups of Catholic youths. Therefore, the responsible at the center refused to comply with the authority’s decision. The center caused a thorny problem to the authorities.

On December 2, 1980, the security police broke into the center and arrested the Reverend Le Thanh Que, who, at that moment, was talking to a person named Nguyen Van Hien, the principal accused on the trial. On the same day, they arrested the Reverend Hoang Sy Quy, the Reverend Dinh Van Trung, and Brother Pham Huu Lai. All these priests were brought to the police headquarters. The Reverend Khuat Duy Linh, the guardian of the chapel, was placed under house arrest. The center was officially dispossessed.

On January 6, 1981, the Reverend Nguyen Cong Doan was arrested. He was brought to the security police headquarters where his colleague priests had been detained. He and the other priests were then put under imprisonment in separate cells. They were detained in this condition for a year. In the meantime, the reverend Khuat Duy Linh and the Reverend Do Quang Chinh, who had been placed under house arrest since January 1981, were arrested. In June 1981, the Dominican priest Nguyen Van Hoa was also arrested. Until then, there was no mention of any reason or justification for the arrests of the priests and their associates on the part of the authorities.

In February 1982, Mai Chi Tho, Chairman of the People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City, gave decision on the day of trial of the Jesuit priests. Two months later, the official daily Quan Doi Nhan Dan ran an article entitled "The Impostors" and foretold the contents of the verdict. The Jesuit priests were portrayed as the "reactionaries in disguise as priests."

As in many other trials taking place during and before the promulgation of the Penal Code (1985), there was always in a trial a mysterious personage among the accused --an officer of the old regime who masterminds the plotting. Only one of the seven Jesuit priests and four lay Catholics of the Dac Lo Center, according to the Court’s indictment, had met this mysterious person twice and within a few minutes each time, and that was fair enough for all of them to be accused of having attempted to overthrow the regime (Jran Mais, EDA. 1986: 17-18)

The Dong Cong Incident

The incident of the Order Dong Cong (Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix) marked the most serious friction between the administration and the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam during the period after the Communist takeover South Vietnam. All properties of this monastic Order in the provinces throughout South Vietnam --Binh Dinh, Da Lat, Di Linh, Lam Dong, Phuoc Long, and so on --had been one by one confiscated and came under the possession of the State. Fifteen priests of the Order were abducted to unknown whereabouts while a number of others were arrested. Among them was the seminarian Dinh Khiem Ton who was later tortured to death.

The only property left to the Order was the Dong Cong Monastery in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City. On May 15, 1987, the security police, the local authorities, and about 40 armed servicemen blockaded all entrances to the monastery, closed in, and burst into it while a religious course for new converts was in session. The Reverend Tran Dinh Thu, the Superior Priest of the Order, was arrested on grounds of carrying out counterrevolutionary activities. The local authorities put into effect the decision to seize the Order’s monastery. A number of priests in residence were also arrested. The authorities’ action met with strong opposition from the local Catholic communities. Protests and demonstrations ensued. The situation was aggravated by the descent of large security police reinforcements at the monastery. The demonstrators were disbanded after fierce clashes with the police. The security police penetrated the monastery and seized hold of the properties of the Order, particularly a reserve of 20 tons of rice.

The Confrontation

At the news of the intrusion of the security police into the monastery Catholic parishioners in the areas nearby ran up to protect the Church’ s property and defend the priests. They challenged the police with all arms of fortune. Three policemen were seriously wounded during the confrontation that lasted many days. Many parishioners who participated in the defense of the monastery were arrested along with the priests. On the morning of May 17, 1987, Catholics in the area and from other parishes came in flock to the monastery to see what was happening. Witnessing the severe damage the authorities had done to the monastery, they gathered in a crowd protesting the rude intrusion into a worship place and resisting the police with force. The police retreated a moment. On the morning of May 20, 1987, the security e police, with reinforcements from the military, came in from all directions searching through vehicles that were passing by, positing checkpoints at crossroads, and invading the monastery. The police forces arrested 40 priests and searched for those who they thought were the masterminds.

The arrest of the Reverend Tran Dinh Thu, an 83-year-old priest and the founder and Director General of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix aroused deep wrath among the population, Catholics and non-Catholics as well. Like any other religious institutions, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, the Order faced with serious difficulties, and the calamity that fell on it at Thu Duc Monastery truly ended its existence on the Vietnam soil. In October 1987, fifteen priests and eight parishioners were brought to stand trial before the People’s Court. The trial was coupled with campaigns of propaganda denigrating the congregation. Repression expanded to the neighboring parishes. Parishioners along the Dong Nai plains were in revolt. Groups of the "National Restoration Movement" retreated to the Ong Trinh Mountain near Vung Tau to join the Resistance under the command of Captain Giang Van Be.

The Reverend Tran Dinh Thu was condemned without a trial to life imprisonment. The sentence was later commuted to twenty years in prison due to the pressure of international opinion. The other defendants were condemned to diverse sentences none of which was less than four years in prison. Until September 1996, seven priests of the congregation were still in prison. Campaigns of anti-Catholic propaganda were organized to denigrate the priests at Dong Cong Monastery and Catholicism. They were accused with false charges of carrying out counterrevolutionary activities.

In March 1992, the Reverend Tran Dinh Thu turned down Hanoi's offer to release him from prison. The priest would only accept it if Hanoi agreed to release the other 22 priests and the seminarian Phan Chau Dat from prison. On May 18, 1993, the 89-year old priest was released from Camp K5, Long Khanh Province. He had been detained for six years.

Almost all priests of the Order of Mother Coredemptrix at Thu Duc were the victims of the persecution of the State. Among them were:

1. Brother Nguyen Thien Quoc, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 6 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 2. Brother John E. Mai Huu Nghi, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 18 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang City; 3. The Reverend Dinh Tri Thuc, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced 14 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang City; 4. Btother Michael Nguyen Minh Quan, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 16 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 5. The Reverend Hilary Do Tri Tam, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 15 years of prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 6. Brother Mark Tran Khac Kinh, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 7. Luke Vu Son Ha, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987. and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 8. The Reverend John Doan Phu Xuan, arrested on May 15. 1987, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 9. Brother Nguyen Thien Phung (Huan) arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 20 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 10. Brother Pius Vu Thanh Dat (Hai), arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on counterrevolutionary charges on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and detained at CamP Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 11. Brother Mai Duc Chuong (Nghi), arrested on May 15, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification unity," sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; 12. Brother Paul Nguyen Chau Dat, arrested on May 15, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; 13. Brother Nguyen Van Thin (Quan), arrested on May 15, 1987, for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 16 years in prison and followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Ham Tan; 17. The Reverend John B. Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), arrested on May 15, 1987 on counterrevolutionary charges, sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; and 18. The Reverend Dinh Viet Hieu (Thuc), arrested on June 20, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by 4 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa.

Reports by International Humanitarian Organizations

The Puebla Institute in 1991 compiled a list of persecuted Catholics comprising Sister Tran Thi Nhi, arrested with two Catholic priests in October 1987; Father Nguyen Van De, arrested at My Tho in October 1987; Sister Nguyen Thi Ni, arrested with Father Nguyen Van De (above) in October 1987; Rev. Dinh Viet Hieu (Thuc) Member of the Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on June 20, 1987; Rev. John B. Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 21, 1987; Brother Nguyen Van Thin (Quan), arrested on May 21, 1987; Brother Paul Nguyen Chau Dat, Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 20, 1987; Brother Mai Dac Chuong, Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 20, 1987; Brother Pius Vu Thanh Dat (Hai), Member of the Congregation of the Maria Co-Redemptrix, arrested with Father Tran Dinh Thu on May 15, 1987; Brother Bernard Nguyen Thien Phung (Huan), Member of the Congregation of the Maria Co-Redemptrix, arrested on May 15, 1987; Father Dominic Ngo Quang Tuyen, arrested in October 1982; Father Joseph Nguyen Cong Doan, arrested in December 1980; and Father Tran Huu Thanh, arrested on February 15, 1976;

The report submitted by Mr. Abdelfattah, Special Rapporteur, in accordance with the Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1993/25, noted other cases of arrests and detention involving the Catholic clergy and believers during that time as follows:

"Tran Ba Loc has been detained in reeducation at Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa since 1975, reportedly without having been formally tried or convicted. It is believed that he has served as a military chaplain in the South Vietnamese army. Nguyen Khac Nghieu was arrested in 1975 and is reportedly detained at the 80A, TD63/TP reeducation camp at Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa Province. He is believed not to have been formally tried or convicted. (Thadeus) Nguyen Van Ly, aged 45, is the former priest of the Doc So parish, near Hue. He is said to have been arrested in 1983 and tried at the Hue People's Court, on charges of "opposing the Revolution and attempting to destroy the people's unity." He was reportedly sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and currently detained at the Three Stars prison in Ha Nam Ninh Province. Nguyen Khac Chinh, a 69-year-old lawyer, belonged to a group of Catholic intellectuals in South Vietnam. He was reportedly arrested on December 27, 1975 and has remained imprisoned in Trai Cai Tao Xuan Phuoc, Khu E, Doi 17, in Phu Khanh Province. He is believed to have never been formally tried or convicted. Brother Nguyen Cong Doan, a Jesuit, arrested in December 1980 with nine other Jesuit priests, when the authorities closed down the Dac Lo Jesuit centre. He was sentenced on June 29-30, 1983 to 12 years' imprisonment and was reportedly held in camp Z30A, at Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province, before probably being released in January 1990. He is allegedly not permitted to celebrate mass. Brother Dominique Ngo Quang Tuyen, arrested in October 1982 and sentenced in June 1986 to two sentences of a combined total of 25 years, later commuted to 18 years. He is reportedly held in Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. Sister Tran Thi Tri, arrested with two Catholic priests (date unknown) and sentenced in 1987 to five years' imprisonment.

The following Roman Catholic priests and followers reportedly to have been imprisoned: Pham Ngoc Chi (Hiep), Paul Phan Chau Dat, Luke Vo Son Ha, Boniface Hong Thien Gian (Thinh), Mark Tran Khac Kinh, John B Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), John E Mai Huu Nghi, Bernard Nguyen Thien Phung, Michael Nguyen Minh Quan, Quoc (Ban), Hilary Do Tri Tam (Thuyen), Thadeus Dinh Tri Thuc (Hieu), Stephen Chan Tin, Dominic Tran Dinh Thu, John Doan Phu Xuan, Pius Vu Thanh Hai (Dat), Nguyen Ngoc Lan (former priest). Brother Nguyen Van De and Sister Nguyen Thi Nhi were reportedly arrested in October 1987 at My Tho, Tien Giang Province, and tried in August 1990 together with nine other Catholic leaders and charged with spreading propaganda aimed at falsely portraying Vietnam's religious policy. They were reportedly sentenced to between 2 and 10 years in prison. Brother Tran Van Hien, a member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested in October 1992 in Bien Hoa and held there since then without having been charged. Ngo Van An , a signatory of the open letter of August 15, 1989, Ngo Van An demanded the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest more independence vis-a-vis the State to clarify the role of the Committee of Union of Patriotic Catholics. Ngo Van An was subject to interrogation by the police in December 1990. He was arrested on February 25, 1991. He was sentenced without trial to three years of in a hard labor and reeducation camp, and detained at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon."

The Roman Catholic Church

 

Immediately after the Geneva Agreement (July 20, 1954), ten of twelve Vietnamese bishops, seven hundred priests, and more than six hundred thousand Catholic followers including many of those parishioners who were discouraged by the Viet Minh’ s land reform programs left their home villages to go South. Large congregations of refugees settled in the surrounding areas around Saigon and in various western provinces These new settlers later appeared to be one of the most fervent anti-Communist factions in the South. The Communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975 and the "socialist transformation" that followed after that put the Roman Catholic Church in the South, and notably the Catholics refugees from the North, at risk. Religious activities were restricted, seminaries were closed, convents were occupied, and Catholic congregations were subject control. Many priests were imprisoned or sent to t reeducation.

To reconcile, the prelacy of Saigon Archdiocese reached an accommodation with the Communist regime by which it gave the State the veto power over its activities and assignments. The Archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Binh, a bovine and diplomatic figure, strove to avoid conflict with the new regime, made concessions, and modified the former Catholic prelacy hierarchy. The muffled religious activities of the Roman Catholics were quickly stabilized, and major religious services were held at the cathedrals. Religious persecution directed at the activities of "reactionary elements" continued, nevertheless. The authorities acted with merciless violence to isolate and neutralize opposition and, at the same time, to persuade the free-floating elements to join them in a party-controlled reconciliation movement.

The Measures

A Pilot Area

To promote "pacification," the new regime began with a new approach, to "kill the tiger right in its cave." The Catholic population in the years following the Vietnam War was estimated at 7 million (out of the 72 million population), 95% of whom were devout. The growth was remarkable. In 1954, there were only some 2 million indigenous Catholics and 800,000 Catholics refugees from North Vietnam. Catholic parishes founded by the refugees from the North thrived, mostly in the areas adjacent to Saigon. After the takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, the Communist rule, fearful of an anti-Communist uprising by such large hostile Catholic settlers in the surrounding areas of Saigon, resorted to cautious measures of security. The police department of Ho Chi Minh City, for instance, selected Thu Duc District as the pilot community to administer testing measures and monitor from the local Catholic communities there possible reactions to establish a religious policy to deal with the believers of all faiths, especially the Catholics. The district is an ideal testing area. It is noted with a large number of Catholic parishes where most parishioners were the refugees from the North in 1954 and were thus "a problem" to the regime. Therefore, the regime, for all intents and purposes, had to feel out and deter in time the germ for a possible popular uprising or opposition to the Communist State.

Confiscation of Properties

After the fall of Saigon, having put under control almost all Catholic dioceses in the South, the Communist administration began the process of appropriation of private properties, dispossessing the Church’s cultural, religious, humanitarian, and educational institutions, establishments, and facilities throughout the country and thus depriving of it all physical resources. Among the most productive cultural and educational institutions were the Graduate School of Political Sciences and Minh Duc Faculty of Medicine in Saigon, Da Lat University, the Holy See Grand Seminary, Da Lat Redemptorists Monastery, Nha Trang Redemptorist Monastery, all child day care centers, hospitals, orphanages, humanitarian establishments and facilities, and thousands of schools of the secondary, primary, and elementary levels. Worse still, for political purpose, the Communists called up the animosity that existed between the Catholics and non-Catholics, especially the Buddhists. By a similar approach they had applied in the old days after the August Uprisings in 1945, the Communists promoted furtive anti-Catholic campaigns. Along with other tricks, it published and circulated such works as "Tay Duong Bi Luc" (Secret Annals of Western Christianity), denigrating the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam and distorting historical truths with an aim to defame the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, thus sowing division between Catholics and non-Catholics.

The State Strategy to De-structure the Church's Clerical Hierarchy

Immediately after the fall of Saigon, the Communist military administration sought to shake off the leadership of the Church from religious and spiritual authority, putting into effect restrict measures and execute malicious tricks to isolate the Roman Catholic Church from the free world and separate its leadership from the laity. To eliminate the Church’s supreme leadership in Saigon, they used the tactic "to boomerang a dose of your own medicine" to count it out The newly-created Committee of Patriotic Catholics led by the State-affiliated Catholic priest Huynh Cong Minh, who freshly returned to the country from France, staged a demonstration demanding the expulsion from Vietnam the Vatican Apostolic Delegate and his secretary, Msgr. Tran Ngoc Thu. The pressure created with great effect favorable conditions for the Communist administration to put the prelacy of the Saigon archdiocese under the control of the State. The name of the archdiocese itself had to be changed into a new one: the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City. The new administration even negated the Vatican’s ecclesiastic authority by disaffirming the title of Vice-archbishop of Msgr. Nguyen Van Thuan and disapproving of his functions as the second highest prelate in the Saigon archdiocese, which decision the Holy See had officially confirmed.

The Communists went so far in their efforts to uproot the Roman Catholic Church from the Vietnam soil. The Party Central Committee for Religions had its Committees of Patriotic Catholics devised a scheme to eradicate the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam by creating a self-directed Vietnamese Catholic Church, which in the long run would gradually distance itself from the Vatican as was the case of the independent Roman Catholic Church in Communist China. In 1979, the representatives chosen from the parishes and the ecclesiastic Orders in various cities and provinces throughout the South were summoned to attend a two-day conference in Saigon to vote on the creation of a novel Church. The scheme nevertheless failed to take shape. The representatives in the said conference unanimously declared that they had no authority whatsoever to vote on the issue.

Having failed to actuate the scheme to de-structure the Church's hierarchical supra-structure, the Communist rule turned to other tactics to dismantle the Church: to strike it at the head. It isolated the prelacy from the faithful. It placed under house arrest the Archbishop of Hue, the Vice-archbishop of Saigon, and the Bishop of Da Nang. Prominent priests and laymen were targeted with harassment. Many were charged with ungrounded political subversion activities and arrested. Exerting undue pressure on them, the Communist Party used the Union of Catholics as a shield to suppress the Church’s activities politically. In this way, the Central Party Committee for Religions was particularly vested with full authority to make decisions on assemblies for religious activities and exercise control over the Catholic parishes personnel as well.

Almost all clergy and the laity in the parishes throughout the country remained loyal to the Church’s, regardless State oppression. Many openly opposed to the Communist authorities’ abuse of power. In 1980, to remedy the situation, the Communist rule had Unified Conference of Bishops of Vietnam established with the aid of the "patriotic" bishops to persuade "recalcitrant" elements of the Catholic community to cooperate with the regime. Three years later, in November 1983, the State-affiliated Committee for Solidarity of Patriotic Catholics was created "to unite all Catholics and channel their energy into the building of socialism." This committee, the successor to the Liaison Committee of Patriotic and Peace-Loving Catholics, was formed in the hope that it would moderate the Church’s activities and deter the faithful from actuating opposition to the State. In March 1985, the Religious Affairs Committee was created to coordinate and supervise religious organizations. The regime’s increasing involvement in Church’s internal affairs produced new strains in its relations with the Vatican (Cima, 1989: 125-126)."

The Persecution

The Communist regime, in fact, had a negative attitude towards the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam whose prestige makes it an outstanding social institution to the service of humanity, and thus a viable competitor to the Communist authorities. Right after the takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, Hanoi showed its style of authority to inconvenience the Church. It challenged the Vatican mandate, disallowing the Holy See the ecclesiastical authority to appoint the Vietnamese Catholic Church’s new dignitaries in replacement of those who had passed away. It vacated the Vatican’s nomination of a new dignitary to the vacant apostolic position at the Hanoi Archdiocese assumed by the late Cardinal Trinh Van Can. It discharged Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan from the prelacy of Saigon Archdiocese, disallowing him to perform his religious functions. Novices and candidates to the priesthood were subject to investigation on unfounded charges. Only those who had no relations with the officials and officers of the old Republic of Vietnam and members of political parties in the South before 1975 could be accepted as the candidates.

Hanoi continued to tighten control on the Church’s clergy at all levels, placing them under State direction. The Committee of Union of Catholics, a satellite organ of the Fatherland Front, was vested with the veto authority, issued recommendations on all religious matters. It played a role in making decisions on the appointment and transfer of priests, publication of religious literature, construction and reconstruction of important religious facilities. Under a series of new laws, rules, and regulations, this Committee instituted religious committees working beside the people’s councils in the cities and provinces and "work teams" operating beside the clergy at the local parishes. This organ also played a role in regulating the Catholic faithful’ s religious life. The successor to the Committee for Union of Patriotic Catholics (since the term "patriotic" sounds too Communist, it is stripped off), this organ served as an executive agency to help the Fatherland Front to carry out the Party’s religious policy. The responsible in this organ, commonly known as the "Gang of Four," consisting of the State-affiliated priests (Huynh Cong) Minh, (Truong Ba) Can, (Phan Khac) Tu, and (Vuong Dinh) Bich. The faithful certainly do not know how close to the State they were and how intimate with the local authorities the "work teams" at the parishes were. Oftentimes, members of this union tended to apply pressure on the local priests, but their intentions fluctuated with various circumstances. noticeably during the years of 1985-1986 when failures in the economy were about to happen and popular opposition to the State began to take shape.

Detention and Arrests

Parallel to the anti-Catholic campaigns of animosity, the Communist administration launched successive propaganda operations to dismantle all organizations of what they called the "remnants of capitalism and imperialism." Local cadres executed plans of arrests of high dignitaries and prominent priests and church leaders and laymen. The Church prelacy was equally targeted with strict control and repression.

The Most Reverend Nguyen Van Thuan

The Vice-archbishop of Saigon prelacy Nguyen Van Thuan was brought to Nha Trang and placed under house arrest for unspecified reason. In 1984, he was taken into custody on charge of opposing the Committee of Patriotic Catholics. The reason is simple. This State-affiliated organ showed all its audacity over the prelate while, in reality, it was only a political instrument in the hands of the new regime. As such, it hardly challenged the Church to a game of legitimacy. The dignitary believed that, in Vietnam "there will never be a "patriotic" Church similar to the one in China, which renounces loyalty to the Vatican." Nevertheless, he was only released from the reeducation camp in late 1987 and was apparently placed under house arrest thereafter. His name was at last removed from the list of bishops whose titles were apparently defined as "officially recognized" by the State-created Committee of Patriotic Catholics. He was "no longer authorized to conduct religious services, but was able to officiate in private." (Asia Focus, 1987)

The Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan, who later lived in exile in Rome, disclosed that he had been imprisoned by Hanoi. Even though imprisoned, he had been successful in performing Masses in secret. The vice-archbishop was expelled from Vietnam after having been detained in the prison and reeducation camp and placed under house arrest for 13 years. He had not been allowed to leave Hanoi until 1990. He was authorized to leave Vietnam in August 1991 to visit his parents who then resided in Australia, but was not allowed to return. "Perestroika" had not reached Vietnam. He ascertained that "when Freedom comes back; it is always from Great Favor (Gianni Valette, Thirty Days, Rome, January 1992).

The Most Reverend Nguyen Kim Dien

To deter the Catholic faithful from engaging in direct opposition to the State, the Communist administration laid heavy hands on the Church’s leadership, striking it at the head. Subsequent to the elimination of the Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan from the Saigon prelacy, the local authorities placed under custody without a charge the Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien of Hue Archdiocese. In Da Nang, Bishop Pham Ngoc Chi was isolated from the laity. The local administration kept up tight control on the prelacy in all dioceses all through South Vietnam. The Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien tried in vain to maintain agreeable relationship with the new regime. He was targeted with enmity because of his frank remarks on the State's religious persecution, especially against Buddhism.

On April 15, 1977, the prelate of Hue Diocese gave voice to the religious situation in the country at a meeting of the Fatherland Front of Binh Tri Thien Province. He particularly stressed the importance of the rights to freedom of religion and equality of civil rights in Vietnam:

"1. On Religious Freedom: After the day of Liberation, when I heard the government proclaim the policy of religious freedom, I was very happy and encouraged. This was reflected in my remarks made at that time. But two years have elapsed since then I no longer feel happy, because freedom of religion has not really existed. Worship services are restricted and Catholic priests are prevented from movement to serve the Catholic population, such as the situation in the New Economic Zones, for example. Many cathedrals are seized. Others are prevented from holding worship services. I appreciate the wisdom of the government when it proclaims the policy of freedom of worship; this is stated clearly in the five decrees and communiqués on religion. But these are only the written proclamations. As far as the verbal orders are concerned, they often contradict the spirit of the published proclamations. May I ask the government: Should I obey the text or should I obey the verbal orders? I want to believe that the texts correctly reflect the government's policy, and not the verbal orders. Perhaps, I should not identify the government as the government agents who make mistakes while carrying out the policy of the government.

2) Equality in Civil Rights: Let me be honest. For the last two years, Catholic citizens have not felt all right. Wherever they go or whatever they do, they always have the feeling that they are suspected and oppressed. At school, the students have to listen to anti-Catholic teachings from teachers who try to smear Catholicism. Of course, there were errors at certain times in the history of Christianity, However Christianity has done so many good things for the past 2,000 years; nevertheless; they are not spoken of In comparison, the errors are only a few. Furthermore, each period has its own principles, and revise the standards of the olden times by using the criteria of our times is not a scientific approach.

As regards the Catholic workers, employees, teachers, and social workers, even if they are proven to be good workers, they cannot continue to work for their living safely, just because they are Catholic. If you are a Catholic, and you are afraid of being refused to a work, having difficulty while you work for your living and you want to know the reason, you will be told privately that if you abandon your faith or quit going to church, things will ease off for you.

During the Assembly of the Fatherland Front of Vietnam, recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front made remarks that Catholics are regarded only as second-class citizens.

The government contends that everybody is equal, that every ethnic group is equal. We are a people of fifty million. There are forty-five million Kinh [ethnic Vietnamese] and five to six million people of about 60 ethnic groups. There are at least three million Catholics, yet, in practice, they do not have the right to equality in civil rights (Quoted from Nguyen Van Canh, 1982: 175).

The prelate later faced constant harassment following "the Truong Thi Ly Incident." Mother Superior Truong Thi Ly of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Cross at Hue was arrested July 1985. She was charged with engaging in espionage. She had been found in possession of a letter of the Archbishop of Hue to the prelacy in Saigon. The archbishop of Hue was immediately placed under house surveillance. He was then arrested, interrogated, and detained for 120 days at the Binh Tri Thien Police Headquarters. Released, he was, again, placed under house arrest. Father Tran Van Quy, of the Hue Archdiocese, was also arrested and interrogated about the bishop's activities from 1980 to 1986. As soon as the Archbishop was released, he was placed under house arrest, and his religious services were strictly severed. A delegation of the Committee for Union of Catholics came to Hue to complicate the situation. The prelate categorically ruled out every argument of that delegation in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. The archbishop of Hue reportedly died after an unspecified illness. He died a doubtful death while on his sickbed at the Binh Dan Hospital, Saigon, on June 8, 1988.

Mass Arrests

Mass arrests of the Catholic clergy in the South continued subsequent to the detention of the Vice-archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Thuan. Among the arrested were the Catholic priests of high prestige such as the Reverend Hoang Quynfh of Binh An Parish, Saigon, and the Reverend Tran Huu Thanh of the Redemptorists Order on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The Reverend Hoang Quynh was arrested right after the takeover of Saigon. Little is known about his fate except the fact that he reportedly died in Chi Hoa Prison, possibly in 1976. The Reverend Tran Huu Thanh was arrested on the evening of February 15, 1976 after his visit to a friend. He was taken to the police headquarters where he was cooped up in a dark, small cell. He was detained in such condition for two months. He was later moved to Chi Hoa prison in Saigon where he was detained for a year. He was later placed under house arrest somewhere in Hai Duong Province, North Vietnam thereafter.

Waves of arrests ensued. About 200 Catholic priests among whom were the military chaplains of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam. They were detained and subject to reeducation at various prisons and camps throughout the country.

Evangelical Christianity

Evangelical Christianity in the North

After 1954, when Vietnam was partitioned, the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam was separated from its sister Southern Church. Until the 1980’s, the former Church was the only body with official legal standing. The latter Church, which had taken their roots in the Christian Evangelical Church and Missionary Alliance in the North before the Indochina War, was regarded by the regime the close allies with the American missionaries. Except for the Hanoi-based and State-sanctioned Evangelical Church, other Evangelical denominations in the North suffered as much intolerance as their fellow believers in the South before and after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975.

In the 1980’s, conversions to Evangelical Christianity in the Northwestern provinces surfaced and rapidly developed into a movement. Sources said that such unprecedented events spread in a quasi spontaneous manner in the ethnic minority communes Owing to radio emissions diffused in various local languages in Southeast Asia in the Philippines, conversions to Christianity as well as Catholicism grew remarkably. The H'mong and other ethnic minorities of the mountainous regions of Lai Chau, Lao Kay, and Dien Bien were among the first converts. Since then, mass conversions to Christianity has never ceased to grow. A report on the situation of Christianity in Vietnam that consecrates several pages to the H'mong Christians of Evangelical conversions estimates the Christian population in this mountainous region at 250,000. It even adds that, since the birth of the movement, the new converts have never ceased to face with tragic repression acted on them by the Vietnamese authorities in their attempts to stop, break, and muzzle entirely the development.

From the outset, H’mong Christians have ever suffered violent persecution. Hundreds of Christian chiefs were imprisoned without a cause. Towards the mid-1990, the Vietnamese Communist Party executed the policy of enmity against the H'mong Christians. These new converts were forced to renounce Christianity and ordered to go back with the practices of their traditional worship of "ma" --ghosts worship, which is practically superstitious. On the other hand, non-Christian H'mong were encouraged to engage in the fight for defense of traditional beliefs, deterring the development of Christianity. This religious "internal treatment" operated on a great scale along with systematic campaigns of propaganda against the H'mong Christians, particularly in the provinces of Lai Chau, Lao Kay and Dien Bien. The purpose was to stop if not reverse the growth of the Christian movement. Meetings and ceremonies during which the participants were forced to sign the document of abjuration. They drank a mixture of animal blood and rice wine in the gatherings organized for a whole region. Brochures and other materials for propaganda were prepared under the supervision of the cadres in charge. and were distributed to the public.

The emissions from a Christian radio in the H'mong language also had reports about a movement of conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the 1980's. According to the source, at least 150,000 H'mong professed themselves to be Christians. Certain H'mong believed that the figure must be, at least, the double. The government showed particular concerns over regards this religious evolution. Conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the not created social, economic, and political problem with it. Measure were first taken to prevent claims for religious freedom and independence from this strong ethnic minority. Persecution against protesters was later carried on without respite. Beginning in 1977. this action pushed some 15,000 H'mong to leave their ancestral homes and lands to seek refuge in the Central Highlands. A great number of these H'mong attested they had truly suffered the deceitful threat of violence and had abandoned their homeland to travel as far as Dak Lak in the South, more than 1,200 kilometers away. Some could only sell at a loss some possessions for their long journey. They were exploited on the route as well as at their arrival.

Evangelical Christianity in the South

After the partition of the country in 1954, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in the North was the only official Church operating under the direction of the Father Front. The Evangelical Church of the South, which had legal recognition before 1975, was outlawed soon after the Communist takeover of Saigon. The dissolution of the Church presented problems and difficulties in the religious normalization to both the administration and the Church as well. The Church’ s population was estimated at a little more than 170,000 whereas the Evangelical Church‘s faithful in the North became increasingly obsolete, with the total of some 10,000 followers and five aged pastors serving their faith in Hanoi (1975-76).

In the South, the Christian Evangelical Church operated independently as a religion from the state authorities. Religious institutions operated under the aegis of the tenets of the religion and in accordance with the constitution of the Church. There was separation of powers between the religion and the state. Religious congregations were independent from state authority. In 1975, before the fall of Saigon, there were 500 Evangelical congregations to which was added a hundred of smaller others. All these congregations belonged to the Churches created by various missionary organizations that arrived after 1960. In all, the Christian community in 1975 was estimateded at a little more than 150,000 followers .

Confiscation of Properties

As a result of the southern pastors’ refusal to come to terms with the new regime, not only churches were closed down and religious services prohibited but religious establishments and facilities were confiscated. Sev. Almost all religious institutions and social and educational establishments of the Church in Saigon were dispossessed. In the smaller cities, townships, and provinces, the administration closed down houses for prayers and transformed them into storage houses, offices, or the headquarters for the Communist Youth groups.

In Saigon, the Military Administration Council confiscated the properties belonging to an American Church. It dispossessed the Office Building of the French "Reformists" administered by the Reverend Motu at 2 Bis Thong Nhat Boulevad and the Church’s Building at 7 Tran Cao Van administered by the Reverend Ho Hieu, and the social facilities of the American Assembly of God at 3 Nguyen Van Thoai Street. In Gia Dinh Province, the local authorities dispossessed the Church’s buildings at the cemetery in Cau Hang, Go Vap District. Later, to carry out the Communist Party’s "lines of revolution," the authorities of Saigon stepped up campaigns of "uprooting anti-revolutionary elements." Chapels and houses of worships in the local precincts and districts were closed down. In 1983, they confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong was in charge of the Church’s religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Chapels and worship places in the provinces were either dispossessed or closed down. Local authorities confiscated the Institute for Theology in Nha Trang. The cathedral at Thanh My in Lam Dong Province was erased by bulldozer in December 1977. In all, during the period of 1975-1989, the Communist administration confiscated at least 100 buildings belonging to the Christian congregations. To this day, many of these properties are still held by the regime. Churches, chapels, and worship places face tight control with limitations to or restrictions on their use, repair, or extension.

 
Arrests and Imprisonment

After the takeover of Saigon, Christian chaplains, pastors, ministers, and prestigious members of the Church became the target for repression. They were arrested and sent to the reeducation camps. The new administration executed harsh measures against the clergy. Many pastors and ministers were arrested and imprisoned without a charge. Terrorism intensified. It harbored prejudices against the Christians whom they condemned as the American henchmen. The faith itself was projected as the American religion, and, thus the Evangelical Christians were liable to "do something for the CIA."

Persecution against the Churches of Evangelical Christianity persisted in the South after the failures of the first five-year economic development plan. The local authorities executed harsh measures to put various Evangelical denominations under the control of the State. Pastors especially those who were trained by American missionaries were targeted with distrust. Evangelicals were identified with "the American imperialists." During the first years after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, Church leaders in the provinces of Thuan Hai, Phan Rang, Song Be, and Saigon were subject to strict control and arrest. They were commonly labeled as the "lackeys of imperialism" on unfounded charges of "illegal religions or subversive activities." The Reverend Dang Van Sung, who served as a missionary with the Stieng tribal minority, has reportedly been detained since 1975 in the Phuoc Long District. No news of him has been received since that time. The Reverend Vo Xuan, the Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong, the Reverend Le Thuong Dong, the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha, the Reverend Tran The Thien Phuoc, and Nguyen Van Tuoi were arrested on unfounded charges. The Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh., the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities."

The House Church Movement

Regardless of harsh repression, groups of Christians assembled for prayers in private residences. House Church assembly operated in hiding and grew fast. To stop its growth, the security police launched raids to repress assemblies and rallies for prayers. In the mid- and late eighties of the twentieth century, the house church movement gained momentum in the plains of the South. It spread so rapidly that it constituted a serious threat to the Communist regime. To hold it down, the regime sought to oust the founders of the movement from the State-affiliated Evangelical Church. Arrests and proceedings for detention of the leaders of the movement began to take place.

In the Central Highlands. re-known personalities were arrested and imprisoned. The pastors Tran Xuan Tu, Nguyen Chu, Vo Minh Hong, Tran The Thien Phuoc, Ya Tiem, Ha Wan, Ha Hak, R’Man Boi, and Vo Xuan were arrested on charges of "illegal" preaching, conducting "illegal" religious activities, or using religion as a cover to oppose the government’s religious policy. House church movement leaders in the various areas in the provinces and Saigon were also arrested. Among them were the pastors Tran Mai, Dinh Thien Tu, Tran Dinh Ai, R’Ma Luan, Phan Quang Thieu, Le Quang Trung, Vu Minh Xuan, Hong Van Phung, Bui Tuan Se, Vo Van Lac, and Phan Vu Anh.

Discontent was felt in all congregations. To prevent popular opposition after and appease dissent of members of all faiths as a consequence of the economic failures of the second five-year economic development plan, Hanoi promised that it would gradually carry out a new religions policy. No sooner had the promise been pronounced than it was broken. Hanoi stepped up harsh measures to stop the house church movement. House church leaders, on the other side of the fence, did not anticipate this a good omen. Rather, it would be a problem. A suffocating atmosphere fanned throughout the South and Central Vietnam. The authorities’ decisions still fluctuated between periods of police harassment and raids here and there. Gatherings and assemblies for Bible readings and assemblies and rallies for prayers were plagued with instances of terror and repression. In Saigon, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend the Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities" in 1983. The authorities confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong performed religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Popular dissidence was on the rise as a consequence of the failures of the second five-year economic development plan. The Communist administration, again, sought to impose stricter control on all religions. The Evangelicals were of a primary target as conversions to Christianity grew steadily at a remarkably speed. It carried out, this time, the political strategy of "divide to govern," granting legal recognition to some Evangelical Churches while dissolving those Churches that would not submit themselves to the arbitrary supervision of atheism. The. latter congregations, which had long operated on their original Constitution, resiliently preserved their legitimacy and resisted union with in the Northern Evangelical Church. The non-cooperation of these independent Churches presented a potential threat to the regime. In addition, the house church movement spread rapidly in various regions in the South.

Unable to disband the various Evangelical denominations in the South, the new regime sought to integrate them into one organization under the leadership of the Communist Party. Due to distinct schisms, the Christians in the South resisted State repression and united all Christians under a single organization, partly. Taking advantage of the services of Bui Hoanh Thu, a longtime "protege" the Vietnamese Communist Party, the Hanoi rule eased pressure on independent denominations, nominating docile leaders to an executive board, facilitating access to some church facilities for religious services, and wooing them into working in union with the State-sanctioned Evangelical Church. Hanoi nevertheless failed to reconcile the Northern and Southern Churches. Most denominations remained loyal to their religious principles and operated independently regardless of oppression and repression.

The Christian clergy and laity became the target of successive instances of suppression. Recognized among the victims persecuted for their faith during this period were:

1. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were held at Chi Hoa prison, Ho Chi Minh City; 2. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were to be held at Chi Hoa prison in Ho Chi Minh City; 3. Pastor Phan Tu of Binh Tuy was arrested in January 1987, for allegedly holding assembly in his home, and detained in Binh Tuy; 4. Pastor R’mah Boi, house church leader, accused of serving his faith with the Jerai tribe, in the districts of Chu Pa, Gia Lai, and Kontum, Central Highlands. Arrested in August 1989, for allegedly holding an assembly of 200 tribesmen, detained without trial at Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province, and released on December 8, 1992; 5. Pastor Tran The Thien Phuoc, house church leader in Saigon, arrested in December 1989 on his way to an assembly, detained without trial at Tong Le Chan Camp, Song Be Province, and released on December 1,1991; 6. Nguyen Van Tuoi, arrested in 1983 on charge of propaganda against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; 7. Le Thien Dung, arrested in 1983, brought to stand trial on August 27, 1987 on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; .8. H’ Lap, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to five years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 9. Em, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of having contacts with "illegal" religious groups, sentenced to three years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 10. Nguye Ngoc Anh, a resident in Dak Lak, Quang Duc Province, arrested in December 1989 and released in 1990. 11. The Reverend Vo Minh Hung is a minister from Pleiku. He had been arrested for the third time in December 1989 during a church assembly in his home. He had never been tried. He was detained in Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province. He was released on January 16, 1993, 12. Pastor Ha Wan, a house church pastor, Koho tribe. was arrested some time during 1989-1990. He was possibly tried along with Pastors Ya Tiem and Ha Hak. He was sentenced to three years in prison on charge of illegal preaching and pursuing religious practices without permission, and detained in Da Kat, Lam Dong Province. He was released on July 2, 1993, upon completion of his sentence; 13. Two members of the Jorai tribe, Y De and Y Thang, who had been arrested and maltreated, were re-arrested in December 1980, was put under detention; 14. The Reverend R'mah Boi and two Christians of the Jorai Christendom of Chu Pa were imprisoned in October 1989. Two lay Christians were sentenced without a trial to forced labor --to reap an immense rice-field-- for having sheltered the Christians for prayers in their homes at the suggestion of the Reverend Boi. The arrest was termed as an "administrative measure," which is, in fact, an unlawful sentence and is apparently contrary to the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

 

Overview

Under the new political regime, except for Catholicism, all religions legally recognized by the Republic of South Vietnam were outlawed. As a consequence, the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam faced with severe disintegration then dissolution following the creation of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church in 1981. The clergy of the Church have ever since resisted persecution of the Vietnamese Communist Party and administration. Until 2014, after 39 years of struggle for survival, the Church still have braved hostilities --harassment, violence, isolation, arrest, imprisonment, and administrative surveillance-- to preserve its legitimacy. The Church’s leadership, Shanga, and faithful have ever persisted to preach the Buddhist faith, religious freedom, and national cause.

The Persecution

The Struggle for Religious Freedom

Beginning in August 1975, the Vietnamese Communist Party had forced by all means to incorporate all Buddhist denominations in a single organization to operate and serve it under the Party-affiliated Committee of Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists' patronage. The Communists nevertheless met with strong opposition, notably, from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. To count it out, the Party and its administration dissolved the conflict with resort to violence, dismantling the Church’s infrastructure a the base and eradicating the Church’s leadership at the highest level of its supra-structure. During the campaign of "dislodging the bourgeoisie" after the takeover of Saigon, the Communist administration appropriated outright all physical properties of the Church, including the Buddhist Van Hanh University and hundreds of institutions at all levels, and secondary and primary schools of the Bo De cultural and educational systems throughout the country. It absolved all Institutes for Studies of Buddhism and forced student priests and nuns to return to their families.

The Church’s supra-structure crumbled. The clergy at all levels of hierarchy throughout the country were targeted with harassment, repression, or elimination. Right from the first months following the takeover of Saigon, the local authorities used the stratagem to "use your own stick to beat you"-- to use the monks of the Church to eliminate its own clergy. At the Holy Site An Quang Pagoda, the Committee for Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists led by Monk Minh Nguyet applied harsh pressure on the monks and nuns in residence to renounce adherence to the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, forcing them to integrate themselves in this State Committee. The scheme came to no success, however. The authorities’ vile acts were unveiled. Monks and nuns alike protested against and refused to cooperate with the committee. The Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, reacted with resilience.

In a sent to the then Vietnamese Communist Party's Secretary General Do Muoi, the Venerble Thich Quang Do denounced the evil intention of the Ho Chi Minh City authorities. To prove the legitimacy of the Unified Buddhist Church, the dignitary specified among other arguments that "if there are Patriotic Buddhists, there are naturally non-patriotic Buddhists or 'reactionary Buddhists'-- as one should interpret it according to the Communist's ideological rhetoric. In this case, the it is without doubt a reference to the reactionary Buddhists --the members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. It is then, according to the laws of class struggle, the Party’s patriotic Buddhists’ had to fight to exterminate the 'reactionary Buddhists’."

The protest came to no result. Repression persisted. At each pagoda, only a monk or a guardian was allowed to stay. Young monks had to do the military service or return home for socialist production.

The Vietnamese Communist Party and State never hesitated to execute harsh measures to put the Church under the control of its administration. To resist the regime’s oppression, the Church’s leadership, Sangha, and faithful chose to face misfortunes. The struggle for existence is enduring, nevertheless. To root up the Church from the Vietnamese soil, the administration have relentlessly executed the strictest oppressive and repressive measures against it. To protect their faith and perpetuate its presence, the Church’s priests and followers have never hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the protection of their faith." (Thuy Giao and Ngoc Phuong, 1995: 10)

Self-sacrifice for Religious Faith

In November 1975, not long after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, twelve Buddhist dignitaries and believers immolated themselves by fire at Duoc Su Pagoda in Can Tho. The incident was the first series of protest against the Communist regime’s policy of religious intolerance in the South. The local authorities had prohibited the pagoda's superior monk to fly the banner of Buddhism, to hold sessions of retreat, and to allow to receive the Buddhist members in the community to come to pay respect to Buddha.

The incident was first disclosed in December 1976 in a report to the central office of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Saigon. The Institute for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith, in the name of the Church, sent a letter of protest to the central administration requesting it to investigate the case. Mai Chi Tho [whose real name is Phan Dinh Dong], the then-Director of Saigon Security Police Department, came to An Quang Pagoda to consult with the Church’s leadership about the incident and promised to send his agents to Can Tho to investigate. As always, the investigation came to no conclusion.

The report by Huynh Chau So of the central administration, in contrast, gave all its counter arguments against the Buddhist dignitaries’ statements concerning the incident at Duoc Su Zen Pagoda, saying that Monk Hue Hien, the priest in residence at the pagoda "had worked as an informer for the American C. I. A. and the puppet government. After the liberation of the South, fearful of being punished by the Revolution, he killed himself and at the same time forced 11 people to kill themselves. Hue Hien and the accomplices had been fully supplied with food by the Americans and the puppet government. Now, having no other sources of supply to subsist, they had to kill themselves collectively. Hue Hien and the accomplices had committed licentious acts with those nuns who killed themselves together with him. Hue Hien was fearful that his acts would be revealed, he thus had to kill himself and burned the Thanh Minh Thien Vien."

The report by Huynh Chau So was contradictory and contrary to facts. The reality is, in his letter on November 2, 1975 before his self-immolation, the Venerable Hue Hien had informed the Sangha and Buddhist faithful of the reasons for his self-sacrifice. Among other things, he had made an oath "to protect the tenets of Buddhism and the Just Laws of Buddha and the dignity and virtues of a devoted Buddhist priest. He earnestly called on the provisional revolutionary government of South Vietnam and the National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam to genuinely respect the right to religious freedom of the people."

The State’s acts of overt oppression against Buddhism intensified, regardless of rising discontent among Buddhist congregations. Since April 30, 1975, the Institute for the Propagation for the Buddhist Faith had sent 62 letters of protest against the arrests of Buddhist priests and laymen and acts and words of blasphemy of the cadres and incidents of destruction of Buddha's idols and articles of worship. No direct explication was given from the authorities The report on the Thanh Minh Thien Vien incident by the State cadre Chau Quoc Tuan was the only information provided. The Communist Party and its administration showed indifference to the entreaties of the Buddhist clergy, thus raising deep dissent among the Buddhist Shanga and faithful. On the morning of January 22, 1977, 300 Buddhist delegates from the provinces in South Vietnam assembled at An Quang Pagoda in Saigon, regardless of threat and signs of repression from the city authorities.

On March 17, 1977, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang sent a letter to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. While presenting the case with evidences. The dignitary attested fact that he Communist authorities had committed acts of repression against Buddhism. He cited instances of violence such cases of destruction and confiscation of Buddhist facilities, disaffection of pagodas and statues, arrests of priests, and the dissolution of Buddhist organizations. The dignitary also requested the State to authorize the Church to perform all forms of religious practices and activities. To profess the Church’s will of resistance, 3,000 monks and Buddhists marched and chanted slogans through the streets of Saigon. The security police were ordered to disband the demonstration.

As the conflict between Communist China and Communist Vietnam became increasingly tense, the Vietnamese Communist administration, in face of the opposition of the Unified Buddhist Church, made a step backwards. To diverted public opinion from the administration unwilling concession, the propaganda machinery distorted the situation, divulging false news and putting blame on the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church, and accusing the demonstrators of conspiring with the American imperialists and the Beijing hegemony to create social disturbance and destroy the State's religious policy. Using this distortion as a pretext, on April 6, 1977, the police blocked all entrances the streets surrounding the An Quang Pagoda, They broke into the worship place and arrested without charge the monks in residence. Among the arrested were four high-ranking dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, and the Venerable Thich Thien Minh. They were all imprisoned without a trial.On December 8, 1978, under the pressure of international human rights foundations and agencies, the imprisoned Buddhist leaders were brought to stand trial before a court of justice. The Venerable Thich Quang Do was acquitted. The other dignitaries were sentenced to 2-7 years in prison.

On June 9, 1977, the Venerable Thich Man Giac, the Vice-chancellor of Van Hanh University, denounced, in his Appeal for the Defense of Human Rights the systematic destruction of the Unified Buddhist Church organizations and its institutions of the political regime. He accused the Communist administration of its audacious violations of religious freedom, unlawfully confiscated the Church’s thousands of schools, clinics, and orphanages. It destroyed statues of Buddha. It executed with strict measures to close Van Hanh University, the School for Social Services, and the Church's Publishing House. In addition to the destruction of the Church’s physical infrastructure, the Vietnamese Communist Party and State decidedly dismantled the Church’s religious supra-structure, creating the State-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam to operate as a unique Buddhist organization in its place.

The Communist Party and its administration practically laid heavy hands on the Vietnam Unified Church of Vietnam. Hostilities towards Buddhist monks of the Unified Buddhist Church were evident. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh (Phan Tan Dat) of Lien Tri Pagoda, Thu Duc District, Saigon. was targeted with suspicion due to his support for the Church’s religious cause. On August 20, 1977, he went on a hunger strike to protest against the arrest of the Buddhist clergy at An Quang Pagoda on Su Van Hanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City. In October 1977, he was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned. He had never received a trial. It was not until 1987 that he was released from prison.

Later, to eradicate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the central administration executed a minute plan to dismantle the Church.’ s highest body of leadership and its base organization in Saigon. On February 12, 1980, Radio Hanoi announced the creation of a national Buddhist Committee. This organ, according to the source, was destined to unify various sects of Buddhism in the country. The committee would operate under the sponsorship of the State. This State-affiliated religious organ was later re-entitled as the Committee for the Unification of Buddhist Organizations. Several dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were invited to join it. During the process, the Venerable Thich Tri Thu of Hue was appointed the president of the committee and the Venerable Thich Minh Chau, the former Chancellor of Van Hanh University, the secretary. The Venerable Thich The Long, the Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet, the Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, and the Venerable Thich Mat Hien were nominated the Vice-presidents. The Venerable Thich Don Hau and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan (of North Vietnam) were nominated the advisors.

A Hidden Scheme

Repression intensified as the Communist leadership progressed towards establishing the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. In February 1981, the Paris-based Vietnamese Human Rights League and the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners in Vietnam provided a list of 77 priests and 36 monks imprisoned for unfounded reasons. At the same time, the Committee for the Union of Buddhist Organizations in Vietnam held its formal sessions in Hanoi. Quite surprisingly, the leaders of the Committee met with Hoang Quoc Viet, the president of the Fatherland Front, brought to the attention of this member of politburo the absence of the leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam all though the time the Committee was in session for the project for unification of all Buddhist Churches. The Committee protested against the State intervention in the Church’s internal affairs. Because of this intervention, the committee had met with strong opposition from the leadership of the newly-created Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Sessions of meeting between the members of the committee and the Front had proceeded without the participation of the members of the leadership of the Unified of Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

On September 9, 1981, when attempts were made to integrate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the State-created Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church at An Quang Pagoda, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the spokesman of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, out of prudence, categorically rejected the State-created Church’s initiatives to unify various Buddhist Churches under its direction because the latter Church’s initiatives were only the arbitrary pre-dispositions by the Communist administration.

Subsequent to the unbending will of the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, on October 11, 1981, the question of dissolution of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was raised again in a meeting at An Quang Pagoda. In a moment, while the meeting was in session, the police broke in and arrested the Venerable Thich Quang Do and a great number of dignitaries of the Church. who were in attendance at the meeting. Among those arrested were the Church’s highest dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, and the Venerable Thich Thong Hue. The dignitaries were all detained thereafter. This measure was to prevent the dignitaries from expressing their disagreement and stop opposition from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

　

The Eradication of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church

Not long after that, the state-sponsored Congress for the Unification of Vietnamese Buddhism took place. In Hanoi, on November 4, 1981, 160 delegates representing 9 Buddhist organizations and denominations took part in it. The Buddhist Church of Vietnam was founded. Hanoi Radio announced that the role of the Church was defined as "... the only Buddhist Church of Vietnam" and "the only Buddhist organization representative of Vietnamese Buddhism in all its relations inside the country or overseas." The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was outlawed. On February 25, 1982, the two prominent dignitaries of the Church, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary-general, and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang-- the vice-president, were arrested. The security police broke into their pagodas and confiscated all the Church’s documents, letters, photographs, manuscripts, and the typed texts of religious matters.

To protest against the State’s violence inflicted on their spiritual leaders, on February 28, 1982, thousands of Buddhists assembled at An Quang Pagoda, the Holy Seat of the Unified Church of Vietnam and Thanh Minh Zen Monastery where the Venerable Thich Quang Do was in residence, to pray for the safety of the dignitaries. In the following days, representatives of the laity were convoked to the headquarters of the Fatherland Front. They were informed that the Venerable Thich Quang Do and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang had requested to return to their native villages. Nevertheless, such an untrue motive could not blind public opinion. The fact is, in the Resolution No. 71 QD--UB, the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City, revealed that the two dignitaries were "a danger to the order and security in a region of great political, economic, and strategic importance."

On July 18, 1984, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the new president of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, sent a letter to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. In it, the dignitary put into question many provisions of the decree that regulate religious activities. He underlined, in particular, the bias of the provisions defined by Article 1 of the decree according to which freedom of faith is guaranteed while, at the same time, it accumulates violations on the principle of religious freedom by dissolving the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The fact is equally evidenced by the creation of a State-sponsored Buddhist Church while at the same time imprisoning independent Buddhist monks and even forcing to abandon their priesthood, and renouncing their religious faith. He further stated that, by exercising its control of the State over the religions, the government "has exceeded its monopoly of power overly. It violates the independence of the Church. blatantly and unlawfully, applying arbitrarily Article 15 of Chapter II on it unlawfully and on false charge of "diffusion and possession of the cultural works whose contents oppose socialism."

The Most Venerable Huyen Quang also expressed deep concerns about other provisions of the law as they are vague and paradoxical. For instance, any religious practice or activity could be interpreted as an act of opposition. The clergy of the Unified Buddhist Church would certainly face serious difficulties as it always vows to preserve its legal status as an independent religion, to allow itself to possess the rights to religious education and the priesthood, a tradition that dates back thousands of years ago. These and other right were recognized by all royal dynasties and political regimes. The Communist regime could not in the name of anything whatsoever to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church, to meddle with the formation and ordination of monks. Likewise, the nomination of monks does not need the approval or refusal of the government authorities. The conduct of religious affairs, which is not in any way the interference of this worldly power; it does not in any way an office of the civil administration. The Most Venerable also pointed out the incoherence of the law reflected in the government conduct of affairs in Article 16 of Chapter II. In this provision, the government allows the religious organizations to contribute to humanitarian services, although it had confiscated all charitable establishments of all Churches in 1975 and 1976.

The Unified Buddhist Church was outlawed without a notice. The State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church had all favorable conditions to intensify its influence and control over the pagodas and temples throughout South Vietnam. It laid its siege at An Quang Pagoda and assumed the leadership, beginning on July 7, 1982. A week later, the Venerable Thich Don Hau, in the name of the Executive Council of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, wrote to the Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Advisor to the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Church, expressing his astonishment over the unjustified attack of the security police at An Quang Pagoda and the unspecified occupation of this main siege of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The question came to no answer.

During its second annual congress held in Ho Chi Minh City, January 23-24, 1983, the Vietnam Buddhist Church announced in a notice that the clergy of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam had already been supplanted in 20 cities and provinces in Vietnam. In a detailed report on the progress accomplished by the Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Tong Ho Cam, a cadre-member in the Central Committee of Religious Affairs of the Church, presented, among other things, the changes that had taken place in the pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City since the creation of the Vietnam Buddhist Church: "The offices of this committee have been established and have operated in conformity with the directives of the Vietnam Buddhist Church. They have become an integrated part of the organization of the masses under the direction enlightened by the Party and the determination of the representatives nominated by the Buddhist organizations of the city."

Tong Ho Cam particularly mentioned that the establishment of a mausoleum at Quang Huong Gia Lam Pagoda was a remarkable achievement of the State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church. To many participants in attendance at the congress, the statement nevertheless impressed nobody. It only unveiled an untrue verity. The Buddhist laity knew very well that the mausoleum was built in memory of and dedicated to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, who unfortunately suffered a doubtful death after an interrogation by the security police.

Arrests and Trials

Fervent lay Buddhists were equally targeted with repression. They were arrested, tried, and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Recognized among the laity were:

1. Vo Dang Phuong, arrested in April 30, 1975 and sentenced to 10 years in prison; 2. Le Cam Son, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 3. Nguyen Van Sinh, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 4. Pham Ba Duc, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 5. Hoang Quoc Viet, arrested in 1976, sentenced to 20 years in prison, and detained in Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 6. Thai Phi Kich, arrested on May 9, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 7. Tran Du, arrested on December 24, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 8. Nguyen Van Nho, arrested in 1977, and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 9. Ho Duy Loc, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 10. Tran Huu Ngan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 11. Nguyen Van Doan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 12. Le Van Nho, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 13. Nguyen Van Minh, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 14. Le Quy Hoa, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 15. Tran Quang Kim, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 in prison; 16. Do Ngoc Chuan, arrested on January 27, 1977, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp Z30D, Ham Tan; 17. Nguyen Thanh, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 18. Huynh Huu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 19. Huynh Van Tam, arrested in 1978 and and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 20. Le Quang Quang, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 21. Nguyen Trung Cu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 22. Vo Hoa, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 23. Tran Van Anh, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 24. Chau Van Toi, arrested on February 3, 1878 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 25. Ngo Van Liem, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 18 years in prison; 26. Nguyen Huu Nghia, arrested on Mat 31, 1978, and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 27. Tran Thien Can, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 28. Tran Dinh Mau, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 29. Nguyen Van Tai, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 30. Le Van Chuong, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 31. Trinh Thanh Son, arrested on February 12, 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 32. Chu Van Tan, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 33. Tran Nam Phuong, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 34. Pham Van Loi, arrested on July 16, 1980 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 35. Bui Thanh Liem, arrested on September 14, 1980 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 36. Le Van Son, arrested on April 27, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 37. Y Phin Nier, arrested on August 1, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 38. Ho Ngoc An, arrested on December 11, 1981 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 39. Nguyen Long, arrested in 1962 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 40. Ngo Van So, arrested on February 5, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 41 Pham Hong Nhat, arrested on March 15, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 42. Nguyen Van Huy, arrested on December 23, 1983 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 43. Nguyen Thi Nghia, arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu on April 2, 1984 on charge of carrying out activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government, tried in September 1988, sentenced to 7 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 44. Le Van Be (Hoang), arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 45. Do Bach Tho, arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 46. Nguyen Van De, arrested on September 15, 1986 and sentenced to life imprisonment; and 47. Nguyen Van Minh, tried on charge of playing a role in the Hue incidents, sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Recognized among the members of the clergy arrested and sentenced to prison terms were:

1. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh (Huynh Van Ba), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 2. The Venerable Thich Tam Can (Nguyen Huu Tin), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 3. The Venerable Thich Tri Giac, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 4. The Venerable Thich Minh Su, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 5. The Venerable Thich Thien Tan (Thai Thanh Hung) superior monk at Thuyen Ton Temple, Hue, arrested in August 1978 on charge of political participation in rebellious activities, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; and 6. The Venerable Thich Quang Do (Dang Phuc Tue); being a leader of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, was first arrested on April 6, 1977 in a police raid at the An Quang Pagoda in Saigon. He was detained without trial for a year and a half. In December 1978, he was brought to stand trial on charge of counter-propaganda and exploitation of religion to undermine security and order but was acquitted. In February 1982 he was re-arrested for protesting against the political regime’ s suppression against Buddhism. He was exiled to Vu Thu Village, Thai Binh Province.

The Gia Lam Incident

The repression became increasingly tense as the regime decided to proceed with harsh measures to outlaw the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and instituted a State-sponsored Buddhist Church in its place Troubles and incidents of repression marked the period of the mid- 1980’s. On March 22, 1984, the security police burst into Gia Lam Pagoda and Van Hanh University and arrested 12 Buddhists who were affiliated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu. Among those arrested were the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, a scholar of high reputation and close associate of the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu; Nun Thich Nu Tri Hai, a translator of numerous books of philosophy and religion; the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, former professor at Van Hanh University; and the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac, professor at the Higher School for Buddhism at Gia Lam Pagoda. On the same day, the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu was brought before the security police for interrogation. He was forced to sign a prepared confession attesting that he might have covered subversive activities by reactionary Buddhists. His refusal to admit such a false denunciation a victim of intimidation. He was brought back to his pagoda and was asked to reconsider himself. The doors of the pagoda were sealed for 10 days. On April 2, 1984, the police convoked him again to its office to confirm his confession. At 8:00 p.m. on the same day, the Most Venerable was brought back to his pagoda. He was unable to talk and his skin was pale. At 9:30 p.m., the dignitary expired his last breath.

The monks in residence at Gia Lam Pagoda were arrested on March 22, 1984 together with 19 Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers, known to have had connections to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, the well-known Buddhist dignitary who died some days later in a suspicious manner. after an interrogation of the police. Lay Buddhists and the monks associated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu were brought to stand trials. Tran Van Luong was given 20 years in prison. The monks were sentenced to 4-15 years in prison. The Venerable Thich Tue Sy, whose secular name is Pham Van Thuong and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, whose secular name is Le Manh That, were arrested on April 2, 1984, along with 10 other Buddhist monks in residence at Gia Lam and Van Hanh pagodas in Saigon in a police raid. The Venerable Tue Sy and the Venerable Tri Sieu were both given the death sentence. Their sentences were commuted later to to 20 years in prison by the Supreme Court in November 1988 due to pressure from international public opinion

The two dignitaries were charged with carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. They were detained four years without trial at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon, They were brought to stand trial in September 1988 together with 20 other lay Buddhists and monks for having carried out crimes against national security In 1989, they were moved from a prison in Saigon to Reeducation Camp Z 30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. They were the transferred to Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province. The Venerable Tue Sy was later transferred to Ba Sao Camp in Nam Ha They were both released from the prison on September 1, 1988.

Two other prominent dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan. were subject to arrest and imprisonment. The Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac was arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu and eight other monks and nuns during March-April 1984. also on charge of carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. He was incarcerated without trial until September 1988. He was then brought to stand trial, sentenced to 14 years in prison, and imprisoned in a reeducation camp at Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province

On August 6, 1985, the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, the secretary-general of the Executive Board of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City. The death of the Venerable Thich Tri Thu and the arrest of the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan raised deep discontent in the Buddhist faithful in the city and played a part in wakening the opposition of Buddhism against the Communist regime, and paradoxically creating favorable conditions for the authorities to execute their plan of disbanding the organization of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. Subsequent to these tragic incidents, in September 1988, several prominent figures of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were brought to trial before the People's Supreme Court of Ho Chi Minh City. All were formally accused of crimes of participation in subversive resistance against the State.

At a time in recess, the Communist State apparently remounted persistent repression. The aim was to execute a much more secretive plan to outlaw all organizations instituted by the most loyal adherents to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam who resolutely survived hardship and who adamantly refused to submit themselves to the state-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam. As a result, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu was arrested for ungrounded reasons (1986). He was one of the most resilient disciples of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc who, in 1963, volunteered to immolate himself by fire to protest against the Ngo Dinh Diem government's repressive measures against Buddhism. The Venerable Thich Thong Buu was then exiled to Dong Xuan in the province of Phu Khanh, Central Vietnam. He was accused of having incited "illegal religious assembly. "

Nguyen Quoc Pham, a politics instructor, reported in 1987 in a conference of dignitaries of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church of Vietnam that: "We [the Vietnamese Communist Party] have reformed and unified all Buddhist organizations throughout the whole country. Reactionary organizations such as the An Quang [Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam] Sect were dissolved. We have integrated Buddhism in the bosom of the nation and have oriented it towards the right religious road. At the time of the American-installed government, Buddhism was radically divided into separate sects. It disposed of hundreds of establishments for the formation of Buddhist priests, an Institute of Buddhism, and Van Hanh University. However, after the liberation, the Buddhists of the An Quang Sect planned to create an allied movement with reactionary forces projected for opposition to the Revolution."