Three Vietnamese house church leaders have submitted testimonies to the International Relation Committee of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C., on Monday 20th June 2005. The move has come as the Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai undertakes the first official visit to the US by a Vietnamese premier since the war in Vietnam.

The three leaders are Rev. Tran Mai, general director of the Inter-Evangelistic Movement of Vietnam, Evangelist Truong Tri Hien of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, and Rev. Pham Dinh Nhan of the United Gospel Outreach church.

Nhan and Mai are the top leaders of their church organizations in Vietnam and by submitting such a written testimony they risk imprisonment. The last Vietnamese religious leader, Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to 15 years in prison after his testimony was read on 13th February 2001 into the record of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). He was released in February 2005 as part of the amnesty for Lunar New Year, and only after he changed his opinions completely and retracted his past comments. People close to him believe he changed his mind after being given drugs.

Hien, the protégé of Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang had to flee Vietnam after the arrest of Quang and now he has U.N refugee status, waiting for asylum in the United States.

In the 14 page long testimony, Hien is describing 77 actions against the Mennonite church and headquarters that took place between 8th June 2004 and 31st May 2005.

Hien had classified the actions under five groups of methods used by communist regime against religion:

- the regime uses force to break up meetings.

- the authorities use administrative paperwork such as identity cards (ID), motorbike registrations and licenses to harass and confiscate property.

- the authorities encourage the Christians' neighbors to hate them and to take action against them.

- the authorities try to destroy the morale of the believers.

- the government employs the state monopoly of the media to launch scurrilous and sustained character attacks against religious leaders.

In the document Hien requests the release of Mennonite Church leaders. The Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang is serving a three-year sentence and Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach is serving a two-year sentence; both sentences were upheld at an Appeal Court hearing on 12th April.

Mai submitted his testimony directly from Vietnam. He testified the current religious persecution and cited the Hmong, Kor and Hre ethic minority leaders, giving facts on beatings, confiscation of property, forced labor and imprisonment.

Mai concluded: "The Ordinance on Religion and the Instructions signed by the Prime Minister [is] 'old wine in new skins.' The new legislation still retains the essence of oppressing religion. The government has officially announced that 'The government will only recognize a few religious denominations.'

"So what does this mean for those who will not be recognized? It means plainly that these organizations will be outside the law. Today they may meet for worship, tomorrow not. Today they are released, tomorrow they may not be. How is it different for these organizations than being a fish on a chopping block? How is this different than being a fish in a pond that can be caught and killed at any time?"

He warned that Western countries should not be gullible and should be very careful not to be taken in by Vietnam's "illogical and immoral religion policies."

Anna Lisa
anna@christiantoday.com

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