On the eve of US State Secretary Madeline Albright's visit to Vietnam in September 1999, the four major religions in Vietnam issued a joint appeal for freedom of religion in this country.
The document was signed by Venerable Thich Quang Do for the Buddhist church, Father. Chan Tin for the Catholic church, Reverend Le Quang Liem for the Hoa Hao Buddhist church, and Reverend Tran Quang Chau for the Cao Dai church.
After the Appeal was distributed openly overseas and secretly inside Vietnam, the Hanoi government applied heavy pressure on the four signatories, particularly on Reverend Tran Quang Chau who has almost no means to contact the outside world. After repeated interrogation sessions with the Public Securities cadres, Reverend Tran Quang Chau announced his withdrawal from the Appeal and claimed the other religious leaders had forced him to do so.
Following is the translation of the letter by Father Chan Tin, dated January 6, 2000, to overseas Vietnamese, providing details to the incidents following the appearance of the Appeal for Religious Freedom in Vietnam. His letter was sent abroad along with a copy of the Public Security's second summon.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This second summon is, like the first one, for the purpose of "resolving the charge brought forth by Mr. Tran Quang Chau", the leader of the Cao Dai Church in Central Vietnam.
According to my information, after Rev. Tran Quang Chau, 84, knowingly signed the Appeal for Religious Freedom in Vietnam along with Ven. Thich Quang Do (Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam), Rev. Le Quang Liem (Hoa Hao Buddhist Church), and Rev. Chan Tin (representing the Catholics), the City Public Securities came to Rev. Tran Quang Chau's residence and forced him to renounce his own signature on the document. He responded bravely: "That Appeal is very appropriate. Why should I renounce my signature. If you want to arrest me, go ahead. Here are my wrists for your handcuffs".
After that [unsuccessful] attempt, the Public Securities later tried to induce division among the leaders. They specifically told him "not to join activities with Le Quang Liem". That attempt also failed. On the third wave, Rev. Chau said: "Day after day, Public Securities cadres, three or four at a time, came from dawn to dusk to force me make accusation that Rev. Le Quang Liem and Rev. Chan Tin had coerced me into signing the Appeal. I was so worn out, given my old age and ill health, that I gave in and signed the paper to end the misery. [I signed because I believe] everyone knows I did so against my free will."
With this "accusation", which the Public Securities considered their precious weapon, in hand, they summoned Rev. Le Quang Liem and Rev. Ta Thanh Nhan to their office.
Rev. Le Quang Liem refused to comply. Public Securities cadres then came to "work" with him at home. Afterward, they disconnected his phone line. Then, they turned toward me. A few weeks ago, the Public Securities cadre in charge of my neighborhood delivered the first summon. I responded: "I won't go"; and added: "The Public Security can only handcuff and drag me [to your station]."
Then, Mr. Ba Phuong, a Public Securities cadre probably assigned to specifically "take care" of Catholics, met with Father Pham Huy Lam, the Deputy Superior of the Savior Order and Abbot of my Ky Dong Monastery, to complain that Rev. Chan Tin did not comply with the summon. He asked Father Pham Huy Lam to deliver another summon to me the following day. A few days later, Mr. Ba Phuong met with Rev. Pham Huy Lam again but did not give him any summon order.
On January 4, 2000, the Security Investigation Office of Public Securities of Ho Chi Minh City delivered to Rev. Pham Huy Lam, "Family Head, Superior of the Savior Order at 38 Ky Dong Street", a "suggestion letter" along with the "Second Summon", a copy of which is sent with this letter for your information. On the same day, Rev. Pham Huy Lam wrote on the incoming letter, at the preprinted line "Signature of deliverer of the summon" that "I hand-delivered the summon to Father Chan Tin" and signed his name. And next to it, on the preprinted line "Signature of the receiver of the summon", I wrote succinctly: "I got the summon but will not comply" and signed my name.
[Secretary General of the Vietnamese Communist Party] Le Kha Phieu, [Prime Minister] Phan Van Khai, and [Chairman of the National Assembly] Nong Duc Manh have received the Appeal I sent via registered mail. Their corresponding offices replied that they received my registered letters but they have remained silent.
You [,the government,] can no longer disregard the religions' fundamental rights which you have violated and robbed [from the people]. It is hard for you to accept this Appeal because it called for the abolition of Article 4 of the Constitution. That article should apply to members of the communist party only, and not on the remaining 99% of the population. [Accepting that Appeal would be] equivalent to accepting multi-party politics and democracy.
The Party and the Government could not swallow the Appeal so they tried to divide the religions and forced them to make false accusation against one another as a way to nullify the demand for religious freedom. Such solution is as outdated and foolish as the "socialist direction" that the current jungle market economy has to follow.
Who [among the signatories] could coerce Rev. Tran Quang Chau ? Could two old men in their 80s coerce another 80-plus years old man ? Or [is it more likely that] the Public Securities forced one old man to falsely accuse the other two of coercion ? The answers are already so clear that there is no need to summon one old man after another [to your office]! Not to mention the trick of using a superior priest to pressure another priest without any bases on the Church's canons or the Order's rules. The Government continue to use their weight to smother people and their own conscience !
We ask the Party and the Government to just respond to the issue of religious freedom and other fundamental freedoms instead of continuing their use of the Public Securities machine to exterminate citizens' aspirations.
Saigon, January 6, 2000
Father Chan Tin