We at Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization appeal to public opinion and civil societies inside and outside Vietnam to please pay attention to the case of Pastor Chính. We earnestly hope that they will help his family and continue in his place the unfinished work he has initiated to protect the rights of the Highland minorities.
Defend The Defenders | Oct 9, 2014
Translation by [rollinglinks]Huynh Thuc Vy [/rollinglinks]
Tell the World
The wife and children of still imprisoned Pastor Nguyễn Công Chính met with three US government officials on the morning of October 7, 2014. These officials were Ms. Katherine Lawson, religious affairs officer at the US Department of State in Washington D.C., Mr. Charles Sellers, chief of the political section at the US General Consulate in Saigon and Ms. Jenifer Neidhart De Ortiz, Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Hanoi. Ms. Huỳnh Thục Vy, a representative of the Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization, escorted the wife and children of Pastor Chính to the meeting location. This location and other arrangements for the meeting were decided by Ms. Jenifer Neidhart De Ortiz and two young Vietnamese human rights activists, Ms. Huỳnh Thục Vy and her younger brother Mr. Huỳnh Trọng Hiếu when they met about two weeks ago.
The location where the meeting took place was the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hotel in Pleiku City, Gia Lai province. This hotel was selected to minimize harassment by state security agents. They were monitoring the activities of the family of Pastor Chính almost continuously.
The meeting went off as planned. Overall, it was very cordial and friendly. Mrs. Trần Thị Hồng, the wife of Pastor Chính, described to all present his activities and the very poor state of his health in An Phước Prison Camp, Phu Giao District, Bình Duong province.
The three US diplomats were interested in hearing about the case of Pastor Chính. He is a clergyman in the Lutheran Church of Vietnam-USA. From 1988 until his arrest in 2011, Pastor Chính worked tirelessly as a missionary to the minority tribes in Highlands of Vietnam. As he tended his flock and voluntarily provided all manner of services to these tribes, government agents and Public Security Forces from the provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai continuously harassed him. On countless occasions, they beat him up, confiscated his worldly possessions, and demolished the places where worship he conducted and performed religious rites.
Pastor Chính’s efforts to propagate his Lutheran faith and to defend human rights and religious freedom, especially those of the minority tribes in remote Highland regions such as Gia Lai and Kon Tum led the government to arrest and prosecute him in 2011. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
In prison, Pastor Chính was repeatedly beaten, publicly denounced and forbidden to pray. As the government persecuted Pastor Chính, it also stepped up efforts to suppress religious freedom all over the country. Targeted religious organizations included the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Cao Đài Buddhist Faith, the Hòa Hảo Buddhist Faith and the Mennonite Protestant Church. Also targeted were Protestants who merely assembled to worship inside their own homes for lack of a proper church. Despite the pervasiveness of religious suppression in Vietnam, the persecution of Pastor Chính and the Lutheran Church was particularly egregious. Their situation greatly inflamed Vietnamese public opinion.
The purpose of Ms. Katherine Lawson’s trip to Vietnam this time was twofold. She wanted to observe first-hand the sharp increase in the repression of religious freedom. She also wanted to learn more about the flagrant and shameless obstructions that Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt, a UN special envoy, faced last July when he attempted to approach and meet with representatives of religious faiths that were repressed. Ms. Tran Thi Hong stated that this was the first time got to meet with a Western diplomatic delegation to share what she knows about the status of her husband. She also said it was the first time that someone from a civil society visited and listened to her talking about the oppression she and her husband endured before the government finally arrested and jailed him.
I was able to infer from the meeting that international human rights organizations and US officials responsible for matters related to religious freedom are very well informed about the case of Pastor Chính. I think this is due to his prominent status as a veteran human rights activists for so many years.
We at Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization appeal to public opinion and civil societies inside and outside Vietnam to please pay attention to the case of Pastor Chính. We earnestly hope that they will help his family and continue in his place the unfinished work he has initiated to protect the rights of the Highland minorities.
Also at the same meeting, Huynh Thuc Vy provided Ms. Katherine Lawson a short and concise 3-page report on a religious group named “Hội đồng Công Luật Công Án Bia Sơn” (“The Public Committee on the Koan at the Bia Mountain”). The calamities that befell this religious group vividly illustrates how Government of Vietnam blatantly violated religious freedom in Vietnam and severely persecuted people of faith. (Translator’s note: the “Hội đồng Công Luật Công Án Bia Sơn” is an organization established by a religious sect named “Ân Đàn Đại Đạo” (“Gratitude for the Great Way”). In February 2013, the leader of this organization, Mr. Phan Văn Thu, was sentenced to life in prison while 21 other members of the sect received sentences ranging from 14 years 17 years for “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government.”)
*** Contact Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh via the following: Ms. Trần Thị Hồng, hẻm 186, Cách mạng tháng 8 Street, tổ 10, Hoa Lư District, Pleiku, Gia Lai Province. Phone: 0121.368.6961
Huynh Thuc Vy
On Behalf of the Management Committee
Vietnamese Women for Human Rights
Buon Ho, October 8, 2010
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October 9, 2014
Officials from the US Department of State Met with the Family of Pastor Nguyễn Công Chính
by Nhan Quyen • Nguyen Cong Chinh (Nguyen Thanh Long)
We at Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization appeal to public opinion and civil societies inside and outside Vietnam to please pay attention to the case of Pastor Chính. We earnestly hope that they will help his family and continue in his place the unfinished work he has initiated to protect the rights of the Highland minorities.
Defend The Defenders | Oct 9, 2014
Translation by [rollinglinks]Huynh Thuc Vy [/rollinglinks]
Tell the World
The wife and children of still imprisoned Pastor Nguyễn Công Chính met with three US government officials on the morning of October 7, 2014. These officials were Ms. Katherine Lawson, religious affairs officer at the US Department of State in Washington D.C., Mr. Charles Sellers, chief of the political section at the US General Consulate in Saigon and Ms. Jenifer Neidhart De Ortiz, Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Hanoi. Ms. Huỳnh Thục Vy, a representative of the Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization, escorted the wife and children of Pastor Chính to the meeting location. This location and other arrangements for the meeting were decided by Ms. Jenifer Neidhart De Ortiz and two young Vietnamese human rights activists, Ms. Huỳnh Thục Vy and her younger brother Mr. Huỳnh Trọng Hiếu when they met about two weeks ago.
The location where the meeting took place was the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hotel in Pleiku City, Gia Lai province. This hotel was selected to minimize harassment by state security agents. They were monitoring the activities of the family of Pastor Chính almost continuously.
The meeting went off as planned. Overall, it was very cordial and friendly. Mrs. Trần Thị Hồng, the wife of Pastor Chính, described to all present his activities and the very poor state of his health in An Phước Prison Camp, Phu Giao District, Bình Duong province.
The three US diplomats were interested in hearing about the case of Pastor Chính. He is a clergyman in the Lutheran Church of Vietnam-USA. From 1988 until his arrest in 2011, Pastor Chính worked tirelessly as a missionary to the minority tribes in Highlands of Vietnam. As he tended his flock and voluntarily provided all manner of services to these tribes, government agents and Public Security Forces from the provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai continuously harassed him. On countless occasions, they beat him up, confiscated his worldly possessions, and demolished the places where worship he conducted and performed religious rites.
Pastor Chính’s efforts to propagate his Lutheran faith and to defend human rights and religious freedom, especially those of the minority tribes in remote Highland regions such as Gia Lai and Kon Tum led the government to arrest and prosecute him in 2011. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
In prison, Pastor Chính was repeatedly beaten, publicly denounced and forbidden to pray. As the government persecuted Pastor Chính, it also stepped up efforts to suppress religious freedom all over the country. Targeted religious organizations included the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Cao Đài Buddhist Faith, the Hòa Hảo Buddhist Faith and the Mennonite Protestant Church. Also targeted were Protestants who merely assembled to worship inside their own homes for lack of a proper church. Despite the pervasiveness of religious suppression in Vietnam, the persecution of Pastor Chính and the Lutheran Church was particularly egregious. Their situation greatly inflamed Vietnamese public opinion.
The purpose of Ms. Katherine Lawson’s trip to Vietnam this time was twofold. She wanted to observe first-hand the sharp increase in the repression of religious freedom. She also wanted to learn more about the flagrant and shameless obstructions that Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt, a UN special envoy, faced last July when he attempted to approach and meet with representatives of religious faiths that were repressed. Ms. Tran Thi Hong stated that this was the first time got to meet with a Western diplomatic delegation to share what she knows about the status of her husband. She also said it was the first time that someone from a civil society visited and listened to her talking about the oppression she and her husband endured before the government finally arrested and jailed him.
I was able to infer from the meeting that international human rights organizations and US officials responsible for matters related to religious freedom are very well informed about the case of Pastor Chính. I think this is due to his prominent status as a veteran human rights activists for so many years.
We at Vietnamese Women for Human Rights organization appeal to public opinion and civil societies inside and outside Vietnam to please pay attention to the case of Pastor Chính. We earnestly hope that they will help his family and continue in his place the unfinished work he has initiated to protect the rights of the Highland minorities.
Also at the same meeting, Huynh Thuc Vy provided Ms. Katherine Lawson a short and concise 3-page report on a religious group named “Hội đồng Công Luật Công Án Bia Sơn” (“The Public Committee on the Koan at the Bia Mountain”). The calamities that befell this religious group vividly illustrates how Government of Vietnam blatantly violated religious freedom in Vietnam and severely persecuted people of faith. (Translator’s note: the “Hội đồng Công Luật Công Án Bia Sơn” is an organization established by a religious sect named “Ân Đàn Đại Đạo” (“Gratitude for the Great Way”). In February 2013, the leader of this organization, Mr. Phan Văn Thu, was sentenced to life in prison while 21 other members of the sect received sentences ranging from 14 years 17 years for “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government.”)
*** Contact Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh via the following: Ms. Trần Thị Hồng, hẻm 186, Cách mạng tháng 8 Street, tổ 10, Hoa Lư District, Pleiku, Gia Lai Province. Phone: 0121.368.6961
Huynh Thuc Vy
On Behalf of the Management Committee
Vietnamese Women for Human Rights
Buon Ho, October 8, 2010