Properties Claims

Properties Claims 

By Van Nguyen




The Thai Ha Incident

On the Sunday evening of January 7, 2008, a group of uniformed security police in coordination with the civil guards and plain-clothes police agents, for unspecified reason, came to Thai Ha Parish in the area of Tran Quang Dieu Street, Trung Liet Ward, Dong Da Precinct in Hanoi. There, the parishioners of Thai Ha were protesting against the Chien Thang Clothes Manufacturing Company which, having taken advantage of a Saturday evening of rest, furtively constructed a wall bordering Hoan Cau Street and the parish. Upset at such a break of the law, a number of priests and followers gathered and protested against the company’s unlawful act. Immediately on arrival, the security police and paramilitary groups, without explanation, routed the protesters, lending hand to the construction workers to go ahead with their work. The protesters resisted, and the situation grew intense. The construction was temporarily stopped, and the protesters took a break.

       

Back to 1954 when the country was partitioned by the Geneva Accords, most priests of the Order of Redemptorists were evacuated to the South, and only few priests of the Order stayed. Among them were Fr. Vu Ngoc Bich, Fr. Denis Paquette, and Fr. Thomas Cote. The two priests of French nationality, Fr. Denis Paquette and Fr. Thomas Cote, were expelled from the country in 1959.  Fr. Vu Ngoc Bich was the only priest residing at the parish. The other priests sought refuge elsewhere. The parcel of land of 51,445m2 of the Order at Thai Ha was part by part confiscated by the State, and only some 2,700 m2 was left. The State built on it the Dong Da Hospital, and the remaining was gradually shared by various State enterprises for use. Over the years, the parish of Thai Ha has repeatedly requested the State to render to it that piece of land, following the Order 379/TTg, which, among other things, stipulates that worship places are to be rendered to the original owners unless the objective of the confiscation is justified.  The authorities conceived that a hospital serves the people’s welfare and the building of one for the people is legitimate. The purpose for the use of land of the Chien Thang Clothes Manufacturing Company is nevertheless unjustified, and thus illegitimate. In addition, this State enterprise commits serious mistakes in the conduct of business and caused great operating losses Unable to regulate, in 2007, it sold its whole business to Phuoc Dien Company in Saigon, and part of the remaining land was sold to a senior State official. The purpose is unclear, and the act is illegal. The State argued that the act is legal as the land of the Order had been offered to the State by Fr. Vu Ngoc Bich. The argument was categorically refuted by old-age Catholics of the parish who reiterated that if such is the case, the State should show legal documents.

       

On August 11, the Monastery of the Order of Redemptorists in Hanoi sent to its Provincial Supervision a report on the dispute. It recounts such facts as Dong Da Textile Company had voluntarily sold the land of the Order at Thai Ha to Chien Thang Clothes Manufacturing Company and it had sent a petition to the State, and it came to no result. There is hidden scheme behind the dispute. The report is essentially aimed to present the actual situation at Thai Ha Parish in response to the false propaganda improvised against the Order at Thai Ha. The State mass media, by the journal Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi), in particular, divulged untrue news about the dispute, even causing damage to the prestige of the Catholic Church of Vietnam. This State-owned journal defamed Church of Vietnam and Thai Ha Parish with fabrications and ungrounded charges. In response, the parish kept silent.  Parishioners resumed gathering within the Order’s quarters to pray in peace for justice in their hope that the property would be given back to the Order.  As usual, their aspiration was not heard.    

 

The administration tightened control on the parishioners’ activities. Regardless of threats, the lay parish executive board and parishioners of Thai Ha decidedly organized regular parties of mass prayers for justice.  In a letter of July to the Archdiocese of Hanoi, the Reverend Vu Khoi Phung, the pastor of Thai Ha Parish, expressed the faithful‘ s anxiety over  the situation and asked the Church to take more concrete and fearless action to protect the faithful facing social injustice. They are now living in a society where the power of money controls and justice is put aside. Still, the parish has met with severe difficulties. The parish needs to have orientation from the superior leader of the Church to overcome them.

On August 27, the authorities of Dong Da Precinct preceded with the arrest a number of parishioners of Thai Ha. The official journal Nhan Dan carried the news that the parishioners would be prosecuted to stand trials before court on charges of causing public disorder on Nguyen Luong Bang Street. At the news, a hundred of parishioners of Thai Ha flocked to the precinct police station and requested the release of the arrested. On August 28, 4 parishioners were arrested when they were participating in a sit-in demonstration on the sidewalk. A moment later, the security with electric rods rushed in, suppressed the crowd, and arrested seven other parishioners. Still, a number of others were shoved into police vehicles.

    

In a press conference on August 29, General Nguyen Duc Nhanh, Director of Hanoi Security Police Service, rejected the allegations that the security police had used electric rods to suppress the demonstrators. The General further elaborated that investigation on the incident would be conducted. Six witnesses among whom were two priests nevertheless objected to the General’s declaration in their interview with AFP. The authorities condemned with allegations the priests and parishioners of Thai Ha. It is a squabble over land property of Thai Ha Parish with the Clothes Manufacturing Company. Thai Ha Parish was responsible for troublesome gatherings. The People’s Council of Hanoi, to some higher extent, leveled charges against the priests and parishioners for gathering parties of prayers illegally at 176 Nguyen Luong Bang Street and attempting to destroy Chien Thang Clothes Manufacturing Company. Vu Hong Khanh, Vice-chairman of Hanoi People’s Council, contended that there was a hidden scheme conspired by someone that pulled the string behind the scene.

    

On August 31, the parishioners complained that tear gas was sprayed on them at the disputed land when they were on their way home after attending a party of prayers. The spot was near Chien Thang Clothes Manufacturing Company. It was pitched dark. Electricity was cut. A group of 7-8 agents of security police were on guard in a room. Wrapped in tear gas, the parishioners were suffocated and had to rush out of the place. A large group of women and children vomited and fainted. The Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong, who was accidentally a witness at the place, helped reestablish order and asked the security police to intervene and drew up minutes. A sea-saw discussion dragged on. It was not until midnight that a record of minutes was completed. It was signed by the representative of the parish, on one side, and the representative of the security police, on the other.

       

The suppression of the demonstrators and the spraying of tear gas on the parishioners heated up the dispute over land between the Hanoi authorities and Thai Ha Parish. The administration maintained that the action of the parishioners was unlawful, and it would prosecute the troublemakers and bring them to stand trial before the justice court. The official mass media, reflecting the Hanoi authority’s viewpoints, negated all arguments of Thai Ha Parish, saying that their presentations were all fabrications.  The Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet, in his interview with RFA on September 4, asserted that he found nothing unlawful as far as gathering parties for prayers were concerned. There were no such things as “public insecurity, and neither was there “destruction.”  He was in union with the parish of Thai Ha in prayers. He called on the parishioners to pray in peace.  In an interview with AFP on September 6, he declared that there had been no progress in the dialogue between the archdiocese and the administration. The Archbishop of Hanoi affirmed that the parties for prayers at Thai Ha Parish were entirely voluntary. They were not organized by the Hanoi Archdiocese. He also assured that Thai Ha Parish is the legal owner of the disputed land.

  

Hundreds of Thai Ha parishioners continued their usual parties for prayers, regardless of tight control. The official journal Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi), on September 7, carried a report on what it called the insecurity at Thai Ha Parish. General Nguyen Van Huong, Vice-minister of Security Police Ministry, said that the presence of priests at the disputed land where the parishioners gathered for prayers was illegal; it was an act of instigation.  The heat over the dispute grew increasingly pervasive. There was no sign of concession from both sides. The Bishop of Thai Binh Nguyen Van Sang, in his writing entitled “Those Who Use Sword Shall Be Killed by it,” advised the State not to use violence to repress the parties of prayers of Thai Ha parishioners. He call was seen as a response of the Catholic community as a whole to the news reports on the official journal Cong An (Security Police) with hints and threats. The State would not only proceed arrest and detention of parishioners but also the priests that were the participants in the parties of prayers.

 The Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet, in his interview with AFP, urged on the administration to listen to the aspirations of the parishioners and brought in a peaceful solution through dialogue instead of violence and repression. In response, the authorities charged him with issuing contention, inciting dissent among the clergy and followers. Coupled with harsh measures against the parishioners, the administration published various documents and papers with the signature of the late priest Vu Ngoc Bich attesting the transfer of the ownership of the land under dispute to the State. Notwithstanding, the Reverend Vu Khoi Phung, the Pastor of Thai Ha Parish, reiterated that the documents and papers only “contain elements that are dubious and obscure, and, the details “are inconsistent.” The priest further contended that the parish still “has legal documents.”   

      

On September 9, the parishioners of Thai Ha, again, gathered for prayers at the disputed land, regardless of police harsh measures. The Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet declared with a tone of reconciliation that the administration should reconsider a solution to the dispute. He insisted, however, that disagreement would ever remain so long as State intervention continued, and the lack of determination to settle dispute persisted.  Thai Ha Parish, for its part, contended that, in the past years, the State had first used 14,000 m2 of its land professedly for State interests but, later on, intentionally sold it to business enterprises.  It is an act of distrust.

     

On September 11, the authorities decided to prosecute 4 parishioners of Thai Ha, namely, Than Thanh Hai, Nguyen Thi Viet (female), Nguyen Dac Hung, and Nguyen Thi Nhi (female). The investigation organ issued order to track down Ngo Thi Dung (female). At Thai Ha Parish, parties for prayers were conducted as usual. Plain-clothes agents mixed in parishioners spying on the attitude and acts of the followers. The parishioners readily faced risk.  Some even said that if they were arrested, they would sacrifice themselves and be ready die as martyrs. The official mass media leveled charges against the parishioners of Thai Ha, accusing them of law-breaking. In response to these allegations, Mgrs. Pham Trung Tinh, the Provincial Superior of the Order of Redemptorists, Vietnam, said in an interview with RFA, that the parties of prayers of Thai Ha parishioners. is to him, a common practice of people who have faith in God. They are unjustly treated. They rely on Him and pray to be given back justice. This is Christian expression over social evil. The Church has all documents and evidences as far as land titles are concerned. By all accounts, that piece of land on dispute has never belonged to the state. The Order and the congregation of Thai Ha is the legitimate owner. 

  

On September 17, the People’s Council of Hanoi and the representatives of Thai Ha Parish met at the City Hall. Both parties exchanged views and charges against each other. Thai Ha Parish was blamed for violations of the laws, blocking public circulation, causing public disorder, and breaching the laws and regulations on land and construction. The authorities insisted that the parties of prayers of the parish be stopped. The parish, on the opposite side, refuted all allegations against the Church with arguments based on current State laws and regulations. The disputed land at Thai Ha is in no way subjected to the management of the State according to the State Circular 73 of July 7, 1962, for example.  Neither has it breached the policy on house reconstruction ever since 1960.

     

On September 21, the security police dissolved with violence the party of prayers for justice of Thai Ha parishioners. Bad elements stormed the parish and destroyed the statute of Lady Madonna and the Genraldo Temple close to Thai Ha Cathedral in the presence of the security police on duty. The Monastery of the Redemptorists Order was surrounded.  Circulation in the area was forbidden. Patrol police was posited in all entrances to the parish. The days that followed, the police tightened control day and night. Gangs of thugs gathered and called the Superior’s name and cried out threats to kill him. They even broke down the gate of the Geraldo Temple. The official mass media denied all charges. There were only people who came to ask the parish to untie tents and bring worship articles in the disputed land back to the cathedral. The official journal Hanoi Moi assigned this a reaction of the people. It came about as a result of non-cooperation from the parish.     

     

On September 23, the People’s Council of Dong Da Precinct informed the Parish of plans of construction and the creation of a park on the land under dispute. The parish priests maintained that the proceedings would not be in conformity with the law since the dispute was not settled, and a solution through dialogue was under way. The authorities nevertheless insisted that their task was only to inform the parish of the decision of the city People's Council. On September 25, the local administration asked the parish to remove the statute of Lady Madonna from the site. The parish, however, refused to comply with the order as this holy site belongs to the Church. Moreover, the matter was still under claim. The authorities, again, insisted that it only executed the superior’s decision. It had the statute put in another place. It then proceeded with the construction plan. On September 30, the Archdiocese quarters, Thai Ha Parish, and the Old Vatican Mission site were all put under watch. Regardless of tight control, the parishioners of Thai Ha continued to pray at the parish cathedral. The security proceeded with arrests. Three parishioners were detained, and one was subject to investigation.

   

The quarrel over the ownership of the disputed land turned sour. The administration applied pressure on the priests of the parish. The Reverend Vu Khoi Phung, the pastor of Thai Ha Parish, had foreseen difficulties lying ahead in the coming days.  He was, in fact, "invited to work with"   the authorities of Dong Da Precinct. The priest was asked to explain the reason for which he had signed on the petition to the State to claim ownership of the disputed land. On October 2, in reply to the petition of the parish, the administration sent a letter to the parish. However, the authorities gave no explanation for the unlawful confiscation of the land.  Unable to plead their cause beside the local authorities, the priests sent a petition to the State General Inspection Organ. As always, no answer was given.

     

On October 8, the administration prosecuted 8 parishioners of Thai Ha on charges of causing “public disorder and destroying public property." Four of them, Nguyen Thi Nhi (female), Ngo Thi Dung (female), Le Qung Kiet, and Nguyen Dac Hung, were put under detention. The rest, Tran Thanh Hai, Pham Tri Nang, Le Thi Hoi (female), and Nguyen Thi Viet (female) were released on further investigation. Nguyen Thi Viet, a resident at Dong Da Precinct, said in an interview with RFA that she was forbidden to leave her residence. She was prosecuted on charge of “causing public disorder,” that is, to join in the breaking of the wall built on the land of the Church. She was released, first, because she was obedient when being escorted to the security police, and, second, her family always carried out the State’s order and policy. The wall was built on the land of the Church. She and other parishioners only wanted to win it back to the Church. She was interrogated on who was the trouble maker.

On October 12, the People’s Council of Hanoi sent a letter to the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam and the Provincial Superior of the Order of Redemptorists of Vietnam, asking them to send a number of priests out of Thai Ha Parish. The Council specifically requested the two highest ecclesiastical organs to “judge, educate, and transfer” the priests at Thai Ha Cathedral and the pastor of the parish Vu Khoi Phung to other locations, thus creating favorable conditions to ameliorate the relations between the administration and the Church. Mgrs. Pharn Trung Thanh, Provincial Superior of the Order of Redemptorists of Vietnam said in an interview with RFA that the priests at Thai Ha Cathedral committed no violations whatsoever of the religious laws and rules. There was then no reason to send them out of Hanoi.     

On December 8, the Hanoi administration brought 8 parishioners of Thai Ha to stand trial before court. The trial was conducted behind closed doors. Only one member of each family was permitted to attend the trial. In attendance were mostly low-level cadres and non-believers. Like in a session of crime denunciation, the defense lawyer was barred from pleading for the accused amid shouts of State cadres and supporters. All through the trial, some two thousand people with placards to demand justice and the truth for the accused gathered in the quarters opposite the court.        

    

All the accused were sentenced to house arrest and terms of reeducation. The trial aroused deep concerns about the religious life nationwide. Pastor Le Thi Phu Dung of the Mennonite Church in Saigon expressed doubrs about justice. “As people claim the land that is theirs, the administration should reconsider what they had done. If the claimants are right, the land should be returned to them; otherwise, they will naturally be upset.”  An Tu Hien of Hoa Hao Buddhism in Dong Thap Province raised the issue of land dispossession of the State and argued that “the claim on religious land unlawfully dispossessed by the State is justifiable. The accused are innocent. They are oppressed.” The Venerable Thich Van Dinh of the Unified Buddhist Church contended that “the State has unlawfully confiscated the properties of the religions after 1975. Their claim on their properties ownership is legitimate. The laws in Vietnam are unclear. The victim's claim is choked. He is arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned.” 

    

On December 12, eight defendants that were sentenced to house arrest and reeducation by the precinct court of Dong Da, Hanoi, all appealed to the Court of Appeals of Hanoi. They asserted that they committed no acts against the laws, and the penalties imposed on them are unjust. In addition to this contention, two of the condemned, Ngo Thi Dung (female) and Nguyen Thi Viet (female), announced that they would bring a lawsuit against the official journal Hanoi Moi and the State Hanoi Television for carrying false truth. In their reports on the trial before court of December 28, the two mass media organs of the State cited as proof that “the accused bowed their heads to avow their crimes.”  The victims viewed this “an offense against honor.”   In reality, all eight defendants acknowledged at the trial that “they “broke the wall built on the land of the Church that Chien Thang Company has appropriated to itself for unlawful use for many years. Their action is appropriate. They only claim back the right to ownership of the land of the parish.”            

   

The lawsuit lagged behind time. The parishioners awaited and received no notice from the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, Le Tran Luat, the main defense lawyer of the case faced troubles at Ho Chi Minh City and home city Ninh Thuan. The local Tax Collecting Offices complicated the situation on tax matters, although he had no problem with tax evasion. He was convoked to the office and had to give explanations on his accumulated profit taxes extending back to six previous years. The interrogations delayed his journey to Hanoi to plead for his clients.

 The trial took place at the Court of Appeals at Ha Dong on March 27, 2009, a hundred of people including the justices, cadres from the police, the defendants, their close relatives, and four priests. There were also representatives of foreign diplomatic corps and reporters. Outside, thousands of parishioners of Thai Ha Parish bearing leaves of cicada or carrying placards with drawings of Madonna the Justice gathered on the open ground 100 meters from the court. They expressed discontent over the conduct of justice of the State. The police blocked all entrances to the court. Ten military trucks stood in line across the street. Barriers were raised.

       

The trial lasted 5 hours. The main defense lawyer Le Tran Luat was barred from traveling to Hanoi by the Ho Chi Minh City security police, although he was given approval to be the defense lawyer for the case by the tribunal of Hanoi.  After deliberation, the Court of Appeals proclaimed it upheld the sentences given by the court of first instance. The accused were given 12 t0 15 months of imprisonment in suspension and terms of reeducation without detention. The accused Thai Thanh Hai, apart, was given warnings. The defendants reportedly felt indignant at the verdict as it was not only unjust but also untrue. The justices showed embarrassment while on arraignment. Public opinion maintained that they did not fully grasp the developments of the incident. They barred the defense lawyers from pleading the case, stopping them every time they debated the accused’s case and the legality of the piece of land under dispute. There was no fairness in the debate. One can say the justices play at the same time the role of the player and that of the arbiter!

Until 2011, there was no solution to the land dispute between the administration of Hanoi and Thai Ha Parish. The Redemptorits Order had repeatedly demanded the civil authorities to return to it the piece of land at 178 Nguyen Luong Bang Street, Hanoi, which the State had borrowed from it but had not returned to it, and had given it to Chien Thang Company for unlawful use, instead. The dispute led to the arrest of 7 followers whom the State charged with committing crimes to destroy property and cause public disorder.

   

In October 2011, the authorities preceded another land eviction. The dispute over land, again, flared up.  The State gave the Dong Da Hospital permission to build a water station to treat waste from the hospital. This health facility was built on the land of Thai Ha Parish. Back in 1959, the district of Dong Da unlawfully occupied the main residential area of Thai Ha Parish under the pretext that this State enterprise only borrowed from it this piece of land. The Catholic priest Nguyen Van Phuong had repeatedly sent petitions to the People’s Council of Hanoi presenting the case, the State still proceeded the eviction.

    

At 12:45 p.m. of November 3, a group of about 100 people, among whom were hooligans of the underworld, broke into the front yard of the parish cathedral, insulted the priests through the loudspeakers, and fastened a fight upon the priests, religious, and parishioners. They broke with hammers the gate-doors. The parish sent the alarm, sounding the bell and beating the drum. Parishioners from everywhere in the city rushed to the parish in rescue. The group of intruders withdrew. The Archbishop of Hanoi Nguyen Van Nhon, in a letter sent to the administration in Hanoi on November 4, 2011, affirmed the rights to ownership of Thai Ha Parish on that parcel of land of 61,000 m2. He equally clarified his discontent over the hostility at Thai Ha Cathedral.

     

On November 3, some three hundred drunken thugs stormed Thai Ha, causing disorder. They destroyed with large hammers the church-gate, assaulted with threats the parishioners, and insulted the pastor and priests.  Among evil-doers were seen people with movie cameras. The Reverend Luu Ngoc Quynh was assaulted in the churchyard when he tried to make contact with them. The Hanoi press, however, viewed this act of enthusiasm of the “Revolution.”  Following the intrusion, a number of parishioners, among whom was Nguyen Huu Vinh, a parish’s representative, were convoked "to work with" the security organ at the police headquarters. The representative was interrogated on his articles on the internet relating to the recent incident at Thai Ha Parish 

      

On November 10, the authorities of Dong Da Hospital and the priests of Thai Ha met to find a solution. Nevertheless, the security police, on November 16, deployed a task force, laid siege on Thai Ha, and cared out the land eviction, expelling from home the residents at the parish’s premises. At 11:00 P.M., police of all types, civil guards, and thugs from various street wards suddenly overwhelmed the parish. Some went inside the hospital and intimidated people. Facing violence, the parish quickly alerted everyone the urgency of the situation. In a moment, about 300-400 local parishioners came out, gathered, and lay aground in the churchyard. No regrettable incident happened. The security forces withdrew. The parish sent petitions to competent authorities to protest against the unlawful action of the security police right after the incident.          

   

In mid-November, security police and workers moved in to work on a sewage reservoir and part of the parish ground while negotiations between the authorities and Thai Ha parishioners were under way. The local authorities mobilized a large group of people from nearby communes to provide protection for the construction workers at the site. Church officials were informed of the move. The parishioners were suspicious of the authorities' scheme. They congregated and held vigil prayers at the Redemptorish church in protest against the vile intention.

On November 18, the parishioners of Thai Ha and those from other parishes in Hanoi congregated in front of the Headquarters of the People’s Council of Hanoi to petition for their legal rights to property ownership. Gatherings also took place in the adjoining streets. Parishioners were barred from entering the municipal headquarters. However, as many as 150 parishioners congregated with resilience at the Ly Thai to Statue. The group firmly marched in peace around the Lake of Returned Sword with signs calling on authorities to return land belonging to the Church. Police monitored the situation but did not intervene. After the march, the protesters joined the parishioners that had arrived at the Hanoi People's Council Headquarters to hand in a petition requesting the return of the Church its land. Their request came to no solution, however.

On December 2, priests and parishioners of Thai Ha, with banners and slogans marched in protest around the Returned Sword Lake.  The protesters, again, demanded the administration to give answer to their request on their rights to ownership of property. The Hanoi administration appeared indifferent to the problem in question. It apparently decided not to return the Church the premises of the Order of Redemptorists at Thai Ha, which it had borrowed from it under the pretext that it had used them for public interests. The protest was flattened out. The pastor, priests, and parishioners of the parish were crowded into buses and taken away.

 At 8:30 P.M. of December 2, priests, and parishioners of Thai Ha, Ham Long, and other parishes around Hanoi gathered at the Sword-returned Lake to forward a petition to the Hanoi People’s Council to claim back the land of which Thai Ha Parish has the rights to ownership. Around an hour and a half an hour after that, the security police stormed in, encircled the crowd, and arrested the petitioners. Scuttle and beating ensued. The Catholic priests Nguyen Van Phuong and Luong Van Long, the religious Vu Van Bang, and 30 laymen were arrested and brought in a bus to the Loc Ha Center of Rehabilitation of Personality. The dispute over land between the administration of Hanoi and the parish of Thai Ha lagged on without a solution.     

On October 16, 2014, a large number of parishioners held a protest outside of the local People's Council Office demanding the administration of the Capital to halt the filling of the 18,200 m2 lake which they said belongs to their parish. Security guards were sent in to disperse the group, having torn their banners. Acceding to Fr. Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong of Thai Ha, the aim of the protest is practical.  Thai Ha is a large parish in which an increasing number of people sought to settle. The parish ever wishes the administration to return to it the entirety of 15-acre plot under its ownership beginning in 1928. The parish is in serious need of land for religious and educational purposes. Children had no place for Bible classes and religious activities. The refusal to render the land to the Church was in line with the "State policy."   It failed to destroy a religion from the inside; it dismantles it from the outside. This policy complicates land dispute. So long as the religious policy does not change, nothing can be resolved.