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Government-Incited Gang in Vietnam Attacks House Church
July 23, 2010
HO CHI MINH CITY (Compass Direct News) – A gang of youths on Sunday (July 18) attacked a house church as the congregation worshiped in Xi Thoai village in Phu Yen Province on Vietnam’s south central coast, Christian sources said.
The local youths smashed the walls of the home and wreaked havoc within as they railed against evangelist Mang Vuong for being a Christian and for building his home to be a house church, the sources said.
The sources noted that on the night of June 10 the same youths, spurred by local authorities, broke into Vuong’s home in Xuan Lanh Commune, Dong Xuan district, stole more than $3,000 and destroyed household furnishings, utensils and books.
According to a petition the evangelist sent to commune, district and provincial officials on June 12, it was village officials who assembled young people for a meeting on June 9 and plied them with liquor. Very late at night the youths, including several sons of commune officials, attacked the evangelist’s house.
The petition blames village Chief La Mo Duc, Deputy Chief Le Minh Dien and others for inciting the young people. These two officials are also the local Communist Party leaders.
Police from local to provincial levels several times came to the area to “investigate,” visits that village Christians said were attempts to identify the Christians in the village.
“There was no other reason for this – it is religious persecution, pure and simple, incited and allowed by local government officials,” said one prominent Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) leader. “The inaction of higher officials casts into doubt our country’s claim to uphold religious freedom.”
Buddhist Bhutan Proposes 'Anti-Conversion' Law
July 21, 2010
THIMPHU, Bhutan, July 21 (Compass Direct News) – Christians in this Himalayan nation who are still longing to openly practice their faith were disheartened this month when the government proposed the kind of “anti-conversion” law that other nations have used as a pretext for falsely accusing Christians of “coercion.”
The amendment bill would punish “proselytizing” that “uses coercion or other forms of inducement” – vaguely enough worded, Christians fear, that vigilantes could use it to jail them for following the commands of Christ to feed, clothe and otherwise care for the poor.
“There was always a virtual anti-conversion law in place, but now it is on paper too,” said a senior pastor from Thimphu on condition of anonymity. “Seemingly it is aimed at controlling the growth of Christianity.”
Kuenlay Tshering, a member of Bhutan’s Parliament and the chairperson of its Legislative Council, told Compass the National Council proposed that offenses under the proposal be classified as misdemeanors, punishable by one to less than three years in prison.
Tshering said that the amendment bill “may be passed during the next session of Parliament, after the National Assembly deliberates on it in the winter session.”
Authorities usually act on complaints by local residents against Christian workers, so frivolous complaints can lead to their arrest, said another pastor who requested anonymity.
The ambiguous status of Christians in Bhutan has led to another problem: In the Lamperi area, near Thimphu, a national daily recently reported that at least eight graves of Christians had been exhumed and the skulls and thigh bones extracted for a Buddhist ritual.
Although the report marked the first time the practice had made the news, Christian leaders said more than 100 graves have been dug up as the trade in human bones has been going on for more than five years.
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
June 16, 2010
Positive First Step, but More Action Needed
Obama Selects Dr. Johnson Cook for Religious Freedom Post
SANTA ANA, Calif., June 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- For the last several months Open Doors and other religious freedom organizations have been urging President Obama to nominate an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, a position which has been vacant since the start of his presidency.
On Tuesday, Obama nominated Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook to the post. She is founder and president of the Wisdom Worldwide Center and is senior pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York City.
The position was created in 1998 to monitor global religious persecution, recommend and implement policies and advise the U.S. State Department and the administration.
Carl Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors USA, commented: "Hopefully, the nomination of Dr. Johnson Cook is a positive first step that the Obama administration is serious about advancing freedom of religion for every person and denouncing violations of those rights. To date the administration has made several positive affirmations of global religious freedom, yet there has been little action demonstrating a commitment to those words.
"It is so important to protect and promote those rights as freedom of religion is endangered in countries around the world. A Pew Research Center report last year found 70 percent of the people around the world live in countries with high levels of restriction on religion.
"Only yesterday Compass Direct News reported the Muslim parents of a 17-year-old Somali girl who converted to Christianity severely beat her for leaving Islam and regularly shackled her to a tree at their home for more than a month. This is only the tip of the iceberg."
Earlier this year Open Doors USA launched a petition drive urging Obama to make the appointment of an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom a priority. The campaign resulted in 8,000 signatures in two weeks and almost 10,000 overall, demonstrating a high level of concern regarding the appointment.
In April, Open Doors USA was among 25 organizations and individuals who signed a letter to Obama urging him to immediately fill the position of U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
"The letter demonstrated the broad support from people of many faiths who all recognize d the importance of appointing a qualified Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom to promote religious freedom worldwide," said Open Doors USA Director of Advocacy Lindsay Vessey. "The letter went a step further and called on President Obama to make the necessary structural changes to the position so that the new ambassador has the necessary tools and ability to integrate religious freedom into U.S. foreign policy. We encourage President Obama to implement those changes now that Dr. Johnson Cook has been nominated."
An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.
(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org)
Christian Newswire
Widow Of Murdered Vietnam Christian “Forced” To Hand Over Children
June 12, 2010
HANOI, VIETNAM (BosNewsLife)-- There was international concern Monday, May 31, that the widow of a murdered Vietnamese Christian will be forced to give up her children to the Communist-run state, rights activists said.
"H’Nguen, was forced to take her two children, H’Danh and Y-Ly, to the Nhan Hoa Police Station" on May 3 "and told she must sign documents giving custody to the government," said International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group closely monitoring the case.
Her husband, Montagnard Christian K’pa Lot, died in March of torture while being detained for publicly expressing his Christian faith and fighting for religious rights, ICC and other activists said.
The 31-year-old Lot died in a Pleiku hospital, explained the Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI) which represents Montagnard Christians in Vietnam's Central Highlands.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ADVOCATE
"He was arrested May 20, 2007 and imprisoned in Phu Yen province for publicly supporting religious freedom," MFI said.
Vietnamese authorities have been cracking down on Montagnard Christians operating outside the state-run churches, Christians say. Vietnam's government has denied wrongdoing.
MFI spokesman Scott Johnson said in a statement that he fears Lot's widow and he children now become the next target for persecution. "At the police station the security forces placed a document in front of H’Nguen," Johnson added in published remarks. "In this case they are harassing them, they are trying to coerce her to sign the kids over to them."
He said authorities wanted to take revenge "on the wife for telling [the Montagnard Foundation] what Kpa Lot's last words were.” He referred to K’pa Lot apparently whispering to his wife, H’Nguen, that Vietnamese officials had severely tortured him in prison and that he was kept in isolation from other prisoners and international monitors.
He died hours later from internal bleeding, according to MFI investigators.
"NOT COMPETENT" MOTHER
"The police stated that she would not be allowed to see her children until they turned 18. H’Nguen refused, pleading emphatically that she was fully competent to care for her children," Scott said about this month's incident.
"For six hours the police tried to force her to sign the document until she was finally released with the children that afternoon. The document was some sort of proof they wanted to show she agreed to her children being taken."
The May 3 incident reportedly occurred in the village of Nhan Hoa in Gia Lai province and the latest in a series of attacks against Montagnard Christians in the area, ICC said.
ICC’s Regional Manager, Logan Maurer, said “K’Pa’s torture and death was a tragic example of the brutal religious persecution that still occurs today in Vietnam. It is all the more telling that his wife is now being threatened for getting word out."
Maurer described plans to "take away her children" as "desperate action by a state that is attempting to coerce her into silence."
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
MFI and ICC have urged the United States State Department to hold Vietnam accountable by investigating the actions against the widowed mother, as well as the events surrounding the death of her husband.
The incident comes amid concerns about reports that Vietnam has stepped up surveillance of mobile phones of those considered to be enemies of the state, MFI said.
"The government doesn't know who has cell phones in the country, but if they hear a conversation by a political opponent, they'll go to the village where he or she lives, take away the phone and frequently put the person in prison," said MFI President Kok Ksor.
"It's not just Christians they'll listen to. They listen in on anyone who has a cell phone. If they find anything in the conversations they don't like, especially if it's someone with family in the United States, they'll arrest the person and torture them and sometimes
put them in prison for a long time," Ksor added.
Rights groups say that while Vietnam has introduced economic reforms it has not fully extended those freedoms to the areas of religion and politics.
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