Plans to undermine religion
Documents unveiled before Clinton visit

A US-based human rights group reported it had acquired secret documents of Vietnam’s government that prove the Communist regime is trying to undermine religion, contrary to its public pronouncements.

The group Freedom House said the eight documents dated between 1998 and 2000 showed “a concerted and ongoing government campaign to arrest and reverse the country’s growing Christian movements.” It said: “Although Vietnam is a signatory to international conventions on human rights that guarantee religious freedom, the documents provide irrefutable evidence that repression continues to drive day-to-day policy and practice.” These claims came as President Bill Clinton prepared for a November visit to Vietnam.

One document, issued by the Bureau of Religious and Minority Affairs in the northern province of Lao Cai bordering China, included 10 recommendations to control the spread of Christianity, including “working hard to control religious leaders” and improved propaganda efforts. It expressed concern that Christian churches had helped bring down Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. “We must carefully control the thinking and the activities of the religions, of society and religious organizations and not let down our vigilance in administering the religious and social entities of all religions,” it said.

The Vietnamese government rejected the criticism. “Vietnam’s point of view on religious freedom has been made clear many times,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Phan Thuy Thanh said. “This information that says Vietnam suppresses religion is distorted and slanderous.”

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