Nghe An
Lap Thach Parish
The conflict over land between the local
administration and the parishioners of Vinh Diocese, Nghe Am, the home province
of the late President Ho Chi Minh became increasingly tense. In March 2009, the
parishioners of Lap Thach, District of Nghi Loc, angrily protested against the
communal authorities’ inconsistent conduct of public affairs, particularly on
land management. To proceed with the construction of a parish cemetery, the
parish, first, presented all documents necessary to the communal authorities
its application for authorization. The plan was approved. Upon completion of
the clearance of the land, the authorities intervened in the construction process,
arguing that the parish had transgressed the commune land, part of which is the
State’s. The parishioners were not convinced, categorically refuting the
authorities’ unfounded charge. Both sides came up with no solution, and the
conflict ever persisted.
Cau
Ram Parish
On July 7, 2011, Bui Nguyen Lan, Director of the War
Invalids and Social Works Department, Nghe An Province, announced in an article
on the Journal Nghe An that the authorities would build a war martyrs
statuary at one of five locations in Cau Ram Parish. A poll would be conducted
to assess public opinion on the project, and the masses were called on to
contribute to the work. The parishioners of Cau Ram were nevertheless confused
when, later, they learned that the location was to be transformed into an
ecological area, instead. The administration’s initiative raised doubts about
its transparency in the conduct of public affairs. Cau Ram is the ancestral
land where for generations the local parishioners have settled from the
beginning of the 19th century. Incidents of conflict have happened as a result
of the administrative arbitrary decisions. For decades, the parishioners
repeatedly requested in vain the authorities to authorize them to reconstruct
their cathedral, which had been ruined by the war, but received no reply from
the administration. This time, there seemed a hidden scheme behind the
construction of war hero statuary --to transform it into a new ecological area,
apparently for the benefits of some corrupt officials.
On September 10, 2011, about 1,500 parishioners of
Cau Ram gathered in front of the Office of Reception awaiting the decision from
the municipal authorities concerning the right to use of land. The parish claimed
the land belongs to the parish, and it has never been transferred to the State.
The parish has many times requested the administration to use the land of rhea
Church properly for public interests. It has been used for other illicit
purposes, instead. It was even given to a private company for use. Worse still,
to deceive public opinion, the Department for War Invalids, Veterans, and
Social Works of Nghe An camouflaged its hidden scheme with holding a poll for the
erection on the land a war hero statuary.
Having met strong opposition from the parishioners,
the Department Chief Bui Nguyen Lam withheld the initiative. The parishioners
aspired that the State and the People’s Council of Vinh to return the land to
the parish. The total area of 35,000 m2 of land, part of which has been cut off
and sold to private companies by the administration. The remaining area, which measures
10,800m 2, is still under dispute. Parish representatives met with the
authorities. As always, there were only empty promises.
Ngoc Long Parish
In 2007, parishioners at Ngoc Long Parish offered
the parish a lot of 7,000 m2 to construct a soccer field on it. The parish
applied for permission from the communal authorities, but received no answer. The
parish proceeded with the construction. On May 26, 2011, when the construction
was completed, the parish received an order n to "work with" the
communal administration. The pastor of the parish Tran Van Phuc was informed
that the land on which the soccer field was constructed is the property of the
commune and that the parish had illegally occupied the land. At the same time,
the chairman of the People’s Council of Yen Thanh District also had a circular
sent to the authorities at all levels in the district, the Parish Council of Ngoc
Long, the Bishop of Vinh Diocese announcing that, until June 30, 2011, should
the parish not voluntarily remove the construction built on that public land,
the authorities would remove it. The pastor of Ngoc Long sent to the district
authorities a letter with counter arguments. He proposed a solution. There
should be a meeting between the authorities and the parishioners of Ngoc Long
Parish, and both parties would then settle the matter. The communal authorities
of Ngoc Long rejected the proposal, however. Land belongs to the people, and
the State is the manager. The authorities took it back, and there were no other
arguments whatsoever.
Quy Chau District
Chau Binh in Quy Chau District is a small congregation
with some 120 followers. The local authorities never considered it a legal
religious unit. The People’s Council of Quy Chau District, by its notice of
03/UBND/NV of June 1, 2012 to the congregation, stated that it “does not
authorize the followers to organize religious services in the area of Quy Chau
District.” The interdiction met with strong opposition from the local priest
and followers. The decision was in contradiction with the Article 17 of the
Order on Religion of the Permanent Committee of National Assembly and the
Decree 22/ND/-CP of 2005 of the government according to which the citizen “has
the rights to proceed with activities of worship and prayers in the family and
participate in religious activities at worship places.”
On June 13, 2012, Catholics at Chau Binh were
hindered from practicing their religious services, although prior to the
celebration, the authorities and the local priest had reached an agreement
according to which small group religious performance was allowed. Nevertheless,
the authorities complicated all religious services after that. Scuttle
happened. Three followers, Tran Van Luong, Tran Thi Ru (female), and Kim Van
Anh, were brutally beaten. Following the incident, the Diocese of Vinh sent a
letter to the administration of Nghe An Province denouncing the authorities' acts
of atrocity at Chau Binh Commune, Quy Chau District, Nghe An Province. The
protest came to no result.
Quang Lang
Parish
Violence intensified. At 10:26 A.M. of November 30, 2011, the chapel
at Quang Lang Commune, Bot Da District, Vinh Diocese, was vandalized with
explosive. The explosion was sharp. Debris scattered over the three step floor of
the chapel. Even though, there was no serious damage to the worship place. The
security came, investigated the incident, and affirmed there were no marks and
cracks caused by the explosive. They only found several steel caps and debris.
According to the Reverend Pham Ngoc Quang, the pastor of Quang Lang Parish,
deducing from a series of incidents of religious intolerance, there was a
question of who pulled the string behind the scene. If the authorities were
behind the sabotage, they were held responsible for it. The rights to religion
worship are the rights of every citizen that is recognized by the laws and the
Constitution of Vietnam. In the recent past, attacks on and violence against
the followers by hooligans happened regularly. These bad elements gathered in
front of the church, yelling, and swearing while the priests and followers were
celebrating Masses. They damaged religious facilities to the indifference of
the authorities. The small congregation resigned themselves to serve faith in
humiliation.
Con
Cuong Parish
On November 13, 2011, hundreds of followers in Con
Cuong District were assaulted with bricks, rocks, and filth by thugs while they
were celebrating Mass in their chapel. Through the loudspeakers, these bad elements
incited the masses to lend them a hand to attack on the priest and followers.
On July 1, 2012, plain-clothes security police openly assaulted the priest and
followers while they were celebrating Mass. The followers resisted with fervor
the attack to protect their priest and the worship place. Many were beaten and
seriously injured.
On July 1, 2012, the
parishioners were, again, violently attacked during Mass celebration by local
authorities including the military personnel, plainclothes police, and
non-Catholics. Some parishioners were beaten. One was severely injured. A
statue of the Virgin Mary was smashed. Church members said that they were
repressed out of religious intolerance. Catholic priests from Vinh Diocese maintained
that the attack on the priest and followers in Con Cuong District was maneuvered
by the administration. They also sent a letter to State President Truong Tan
Sang protesting against the violence.
On July 12, in a show of intimidation, the
administration deployed military forces at the diocesan quarters. Convoys of
military trucks were first seen passing by the premises of Vinh Diocese at Xa
Doai. Armored vehicles stopped in front of the diocese buildings for 30
minutes. The clergy and followers nevertheless contained themselves, performing
religious services with calmness. The prelacy tried to work beside the
administration for a solution, Bishop Nguyen Thai Hop of the Vinh Diocese
called for discussion with the authorities at high levels. The situation “is
like the last drop in an overflowing cup of water.”
Elsewhere, Catholic priests sent petitions to the
Head of State Truong Tan Sang to protest against violent attacks on the clergy
and followers at Con Cuong. The clergy at Vinh Diocese specifically charged the
authorities with acts of repression against the followers during Mass
celebrations as “illegal and immoral.” On
July 15, Catholics from 20 parishes from Quang Binh to Nghe An gathered at the Main
Cathedral of Vinh Diocese. Thousands of protesters showed resilience in
defiance of intimidation from the administration. Bishop Nguyen Thai Hop of
Vinh Diocese declared that violence with threats called for discussion with the
authorities at high levels.
A Movement for Justice and Peace
Incidents of repression against the Catholics
following the Con Cuong incident multiplied. Beginning in January 2012, fervent
youths in Vinh Diocese became the target of repression. The family of J. B.
Hoang Phong of the parish Thuan Nghia affirmed that their son was abducted on
December 29, 2011. Hoang Phong left his house at 10:00 A.M. and had not returned
home since then. Around 4:00 P.M., a man, who identified himself as security
policeman, told the family that Hoang Phuong was under temporary detention in
Nghe An. A notice would be forwarded to the local authorities and the family Nonetheless;
the family had received no official information from the authorities thereafter.
Hoang Phong is a graduate from the Technical College
3, Vinh City. A fervent Catholic of Thuan Nghia Parish, he is also a member of
the Center for the Protection of Life John Paul II. He had joined in the
protest against the repression of the authorities of Nghe An Province against
fervent Catholic students who actively participated in religious activities. A
movement for faith and justice surfaced. An increasing number of Catholic youth
and students in Vinh Diocese were targeted with repression. Another member of
the Center, Nguyen Dinh Cuong was arrested on December 24. Nguyen is a
parishioner of Yen Dai Parish, Cau Ram District, and Vinh Diocese. Still, more
than a dozen Catholic youths in Vinh Diocese were arrested on ungrounded
charges and detained in various prisons in the city. Seven others were arrested
elsewhere. Paulus Le Van Son was arrested by a group of plain-clothes police on
Bui Xuong Trach Street, Hanoi, on August 3, 2011. Phero Ho Duc Hoa, Phanxico
Xavie Dang Xuan Dieu, and Gioan Baotixita Nguyen Van Oai of the Vinh diocese,
were arrested in Saigon. Phero Tran Huu Duc, Anton Dau Van Duong, and Phanxico
Dang Xuan Tuong were arrested in Vinh.
The arrested are all Catholic youths. They are all college graduates and businessmen.
Sources said that they are targeted with repression simply because they are all
advocates for justice and the truth and active members of the Catholic Justice
and Peace Commission of which Bishop Nguyen Thai Hop is the Chairman. They are
also the signatories of the petition against the bauxite exploitation in the
Central Western Highland and the petition demanding the release from prison of
the lawyer Cu Huy Ha Vu. This mass arrest to the political observer might be a
police measure of the authorities against the young Catholics in reprisal for
their idealistic fervor.
On March 6, 2012, the People’s Court of Nghe An
Province sentenced two Catholic of Vinh
Diocese Vo Thi Thu Thuy (female), aged 50 and Nguyen Van Thanh, aged 28, to 5
and 3 years in prison, respectively, for “propaganda to oppose and destroy the
State.” Vo Thi Thu Thuy, being prosecuted for having participated in a protest
at Tam Toa, Dong Hoi Township, Quang Binh Province. Vo was an active
participant, raising a tent on the ground floor of the cathedral in ruins at
Tam Toa. She then trailed by the police and fled to Xa Doai Commune, Nghe An. She
and Nguyen Van Thanh then initiated contacts with the Reverend Nguyen Van Ly
who then lived under waiver of imprisonment for medical treatment at the Hue
Mission. They received from him documents which they printed and distributed to
fellow Catholics. In reality, Vo Thi Thu Thuy, in the views of the Catholic
priest Le Thnh Hong, the pastor of Tam Toa Parish, is only a compassionate
Catholic, and an active participant in religious services and activities. Her
devotion was interpreted by the authorities as a crime --fomenting propaganda
to oppose and destroy the State, which charge, to a rights observer, is a vague
interpretation of the law.
In May 2012, four Catholics youths were convicted of
conducting propaganda against the State. They were Dau Van Duong, Tran Huu Duc,
Chu Manh Son, and Hoang Phong. All four
convicts are members of the Catolic community in Vinh. They had participated in
volunteer activities such as blood donations, anti-abortion program, and humanitarian
works. They were punished udder Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code --a
controversial provision arbitrarily imposed on bloggers, legal dissidents, and
rights critics of the State. Dau Van Duong was arrested following his distribution
of pro-democracy leaflets. He was sentenced to three years and a half in prison
and an additional 18 months of probation. He was freed in October 2014. His fellow inmates Pham Huu Duc and Chu Manh
Son were given a prison terms of three years and three months, and three years,
respectively. The fourth defendant Hoang Phuong was given 18 months' probation.
Dau Van Duong suffered beatings and constant humiliation while in prison. He was placed in a cell together with police
prisoners and criminals. The young activist said after his release that he had
not been reeducated and that he vowed to continue join in humanitarian
activities with other Catholic youths, fight against injustice, and protest
against any government wrongdoings.
My Yen District
On July 1, 2013, police
injured at least 7 people in a crackdown when hundreds of protesters demanded
the release of Ngo Van Khoi and Nguyen Van Ha held in detention without
trial. Local authorities promised but
did not free Ngo Van Khoi and Nguyen Van Hai.
On September 4, hundreds of parishioners, again, held in protest against
the arrests of Ngo Van Khoi and Nguyen Van Hai and demanded their release.
Bishop Nguyen Thai Hop of Vinh Diocese appealed to the international opinion
for support, saying the situation in the parish was dangerous and worrying. On
September 16, 180 priests and followers from the three adjoining provinces,
Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, and Thanh Hoa , congregated at Trai Gao Church issued a
statement denouncing police brutal action and rejecting the authorities' and
State media's accusations that blamed the protesters' provocations. The crackdown
was directed by the Nghe An police. It was inhuman and illegal. On October 23,
the People's Court of Nghe An sentence dNgo Vn Khoi to 7 months in prison and
Nguyen Van Hai to six months term
for"disturbing public order."
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