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."