Thanh Hoa
In the northernmost
province of the Center, Thanh Hoa, where Evangelical Christianity is the least
prominent, obstruction to and prohibition agaisnt religious services are nevertheless most accentual. Le Thi Minh of Hamlet 6,
Thieu Vien Commune, Thieu Hoa District local authorities leveled acts of crimes
against the Christians. She and other fellow Christians had been many times
prohibited to serve their faith, arrested, and beaten. On April 23, 2006, while she and fellow Christians were
sharing in communion the Words of God in her house a group of agents of security
police stormed her house, broke away the assembly, and drove everyone onto the
yard. The officials of the People’s Council furiously beat a female Christian, gagging
her mouth and nose.
On June 18, two Christians in the same commune,
Nguyen Trung Ton and Hac Ngoc Sy, were beaten while in a “session of work” at
the local security police headquarters. On October 1, Le Gia Chien, a
Christian, was beaten out of having resisted the authorities’ obstruction to
religious services of a Christian congregation in the commune. A plainclothes
agent of security police mingled with the Christians who were praying in
communion. His act of malice was
revealed, and the man failed to control himself. He ended his trick with
violence but could not subdue the masses. Finally, he had to leave the worship
place in silence!
On April
23, 2006 the local security police came to disband an assembly for
prayers of the Christians at Thieu Vien
Commune, Thieu Hoa District, Thanh
Hoa Province.
Le Thi Minh, the head of the local executive board of the congregation reported that the security police for the past
7 years had many times interrupted and
forbidden the Church’s religious ervices and arrested and beaten the Christians.
Le Thi Duc, a Christian a of Dong Hoa Commune, Dong Son District, Thanh Hoa
Province who frequently came to Le Thi Minh’s residence to attend religious
services attested that she had many times been arrested. The security police of
Thieu Hoa District negated this flagrant act of violence. They only promised to
make an inquiry but never acted.
Instances of violence as such occurred at Thieu Vien
Commune. Le Gia Chuan recounted that at 9:00:A.M.
October 1, 2006 when he came to (Le Thi)
Minh’s house to attend the assembly for prayers he saw two security
police agents who had already been posited there. They forbade the Christians to perform their religious
service. Visitors were forced to leave. The hamlet chief told him that he was
allowed to stay at the place in 30 minutes. He told the hamlet cadre that he
was in no capacity to force him to leave. He was forcibly pushed out of the
house. Chuan and the cadre discussed the law, and the official had to give in.
On his way home, only 200 meters away from Minh’s house, he was stopped and beaten
by a security police agent.
On April
27, 2007, the police broke
into the assembly place while the
Christians were saying prayers. The commune security police chief Le Quang Ky,
this time, declared the law himself and could do whatever he wished in the house, In April 2008, the
local authorities at all levels in Thanh
Hoa Province
repeatedly caused difficulty to the Christians of Quang Yen Commune Quang Xuong
District, when they assembled to worship the Lord. Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton,
administrator of the Church in Quang Yen related that on April 29, 2008 the
commune security police chief Le Quang Ky together with many other agents came
to the worship place, blocked the assembly and brought 15 Christians and his
family members to the office of ’the People’s Council. There, they used
outraged language and scolded and cursed the Christians. By an administrative
decision, they imposed on the Christians a fine for assembling to pray, read
the Bible, and serve the Christian faith.
Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton said that he had practically
registered with the authorities for authorization for performance of religious
services in conformity with the Circular 177 issued by the State Bureau of
Religious Affairs and the directives recommended by Prime Minisrer Phan Van
Khai as well. Still, the registration was denied .The pastor, his family
members, and members of the congregation
were convoked to come to the Culture House of Quang Yen Commune where they were
interrogated and beaten. On verbal decision, the security police chef Le Quang
Ky imposed on each of the Christians a fine of 100,000 $VN “dong.”
Persecution, in a way,
could only invigorate faith in the service of the Lord. Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton
was freed on January 11, 2014, after
serving two years and a half in prison and an additional two years under
probation on a charge for peopagansa againsr the State in reference to Article
88 of Vietnam's Penal Code. He was
imprisoned among whom were the prisoners of conscience such as Vi Duc Hoi of
Lang Son Province, 14 members of the ethnic minorities of the Central
Highlands, and 8 other members of the H'mong from Muong Nhe, Dien Bien, and Lai
Chau. The pastor vowed to continue his fight for his cause because "there is no other
alternative."
Quang Nam
Christians’ activities at Dai Hong Commune, Dai Loc
District, Quang Nam Province
often met with difficulty. The local police continually caused disturbance
every time the Christians assembled for prayers. The Christians were forced to
sign in a text of consent to end their religious services until they were
granted authorization. The Christians claimed that they had sent applications
to the central authorities, but had not gotten the answer. Leaders of the
Church at Dai Hong persisted in their religious services for their faith as the
security police continued to complicate the situation.
Quang Ngai
Five of the nine households of the Hre Christians of
Son Tinh Commune,, Son Tay District, Quang
Ngai Province,
were the victims of acts of rude
oppression. In the night of March
4, 2006, a group of veteran
soldiers burned down the houses of Dinh Van Heo and Dinh Van Rop. In the
morning of March 7, they chased away all the members of these households from their native commune. The victims had to
seek shelter at a new location and stayed there until March 18.: The victims
are all Christians. They belong to the General Congregation of Christians of
South Vietnam, which is officially recognized by the State. They were nevertheless
taken for members of an illegal Christian denomination. These Hre Christians
were after a time allowed to go back and live in their home commune after a due
intervention from the Church members working beside the civil authorities.
Pastor Nguyen Ngoc Du said the incident might originate from religious
discrimination, between non-believers and believers.
Montagnard Christians of the ethnic H’re in Son Ha
District, Quang Ngai Province
suffered severe persecution. The authorities razed to the ground their abodes
simply because they resisted the authorities’ order to force them to renounce
their faith. The missionary Dinh Tan Vinh from Son Ha pronounced that the
provincial authorities theorized that the
"Good News" (Evangelical Christian Churches)
is an American religion,” and thus “is not recognized in the province.” A group
of veteran soldiers, on March
7, 2006, came and pulled down the adobes of 5 of 9 Christian
families of the H’re ethnic minority at Son Ha. During August 2005, the same
families were targeted with violent brutality. The local authorities burned
down their adobes and ordered them to leave for another place. They had neither
shelter nor food as a result of confidence in their faith.
