Government Restrictions Choke Religious Freedom in Vietnam

Wilberforce Initiative Alert

09 March 2015

Image: Monks praying in the Cao DaiHoly See n Tay Ninh,Vietnam by Steve Taylor, London, UK.

In many parts of the world, nations have laws to protect religious freedom. But often, these protections are not enforced, or government officials find loopholes to assert their power. This is the case in Vietnam. A United States Commission on International Religious Freedom delegation recently found rampant restrictions, noting:

“Unless the government pulls back from its intrusive and thuggish treatment of independent, registered and unregistered religious organizations, no one can say that Vietnam has reached the level of religious freedom required of a state under international law.”

The Vietnamese constitution establishes the “right to follow any religion or no religion” and that “the State must protect the freedom of belief and religion.” However, a third provision creates a loophole that says no one may “take advantage of belief or religion in order to violate the law.”

That loophole is exercised by requiring religious groups to register themselves by submitting lists of leaders and members to the government. According to the CIA, this impacts approximately 20 percent of Vietnam’s population, or 18 million people, who are religious. Most religious people are Buddhist (9.3 percent), followed by Catholic (6.7 percent) Hoa Hao (1.5 percent), Cao Dai (1.1 percent), Protestant (0.5 percent), and Muslim (0.1 percent).

The government controls these minority religious groups through requiring approvals to set up a congregation, select clergy or religious leaders, or move the leaders from one congregation to another. One group reported that half of its proposed leaders were not approved.

USCRIF’s 2015 annual report notes that a 2013 decree makes it more difficult for religious groups to simply register. Local leaders use tools such as this decree to curb perceived threats to their power. In 2014, police harassed followers of the traditional Cao Dai religion during peaceful memorial services.

Those who speak out against this religious discrimination are silenced. Many have been imprisoned.According to Freedom House, in August, police arrested three bloggers who advocated for religious freedom. At the trial, dozens of people were “detained.” Amnesty International reports that now one of those bloggers, Bùi Thị Minh Hằng, is being denied basic medical services. These are intimidation tactics to scare off other potential religious freedom advocates.

The USCRIF delegation noted there is some hope because the Vietnamese government cares about perceptions:

“A number of the people we met told us that they had been visited by government officials prior to our visit. It was clear that the government wanted them ‘on message’ … ”

These prisoner visits were yet another intimidation tactic, but the Vietnamese government’s concern about Western perspectives on their human rights record demonstrates a possibility for change.

These are intimidation tactics to scare off other potential religious freedom advocates.

Additionally, a new religion law is in its fifth draft. While it codifies practices of religious restriction, many activities that did require approval may only require the government to be notified. It could be a first step to limiting the power of local authorities, who can be more hardline than the central government. While this proposed law still allows the government too much latitude, it would be an important step in the right direction for Vietnam.

Nathan Wineinger
Director of Policy Relations