Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great honor for me, probably the first Vietnamese priest living under a communist regime, to present my view in this House, a symbol of humankind's precious freedom.
From this podium, I would like to send the New Millennium greeting to all of you and to the people of America, wishing you and your country a new year, a new century, and a new millennium full of truth, freedom, peace, happiness, and great contribution to the Human family.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
While trying to recruit support from your country, Ho Chi Minh himself opened the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam on September 2, 1945 to start the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with a clause from the Declaration of Independence of America in 1776: "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Despite a short history of 250 years, the United States, with the 1776 Declaration of Independence, has become the pioneer providing the world with the proper and complete concepts of FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE. Today, anyone who wishes to learn the meaning of freedom and independence can just come and observe your people and your country to fully understand it.
As an eyewitness inside the Vietnamese communist regime for the last 25 years, I will straightforwardly present my views on the three topics suggested in your letter of invitation:
The state of religions in Vietnam at the start of the Third Millennium. Should the U.S. Congress ratify the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in Spring 2001 and how this agreement would affect freedom of religion in Vietnam? What can the US government do in the near term and long term to help Vietnam regain freedom of religion?
I. The state of the religions in Vietnam at the start of the Third Millennium.
Right from the start, when Ho Chi Minh set the three goals of independence, freedom, and happiness for the country but dictated socialism and communism as the way to achieve them, Vietnamese communists have contradicted themselves. The goals of independence, freedom, and happiness for the country, and for religions in particular, will not be achieved as long as the Vietnamese communists still adhere to the methodology of socialism and communism. By nature, these two doctrines include totalitarianism which can never tolerate true and full freedom. Today, many conscientious communists themselves have admitted to this fact.
At this very moment, anywhere in our beloved country, one can see the slogan "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom." Ironically, maybe because they are so precious and rare, it can be said very precisely that nobody anywhere in our entire country is living with independence or freedom. My absence from this forum is another clear evidence of that lack of independence and freedom. For years, young people in our country have walked with the banners of "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom" through countless gatherings and marches. The fact is they still thirst and long for that true freedom.
In the realm of religion, the control of the communist government has stripped all churches of their independence and freedom.
The situation is probably best described in the December 27, 2000 Joint Statement of four religious leaders -- Venerable Thich Thien Hanh, Head of the League of Buddhist Clergies in Hue; Reverend Le Quang Liem, Chairman of the Central Council of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church; Father Chan Tin of the Salvadorian Order in Saigon, and myself -- as follows:
Since April 30, 1975, after conquering South Vietnam, the Vietnamese communists have implemented a severely oppressive policy toward religions in this country:
Many legal decrees have been issued to confine, limit, or ban religious activities in the cruelest fashion never before seen in the history of religions [in Vietnam].
Many plots and traps have been used to detain and jail the leadership of those religions that oppose and demand [an end to] the oppressive and anti-religion policies carried out persistently and ruthlessly by the communist government for almost 50 years (1954-2001). Many clergies and followers suffer for years in the concentration camps for just living out their faith, such as teaching others of the faith, rehearsing religious music, joining religious orders, etc.
Many plots and ploys have been used to penetrate, undermine, divide, and politicize religions such as the Cao Dai, Catholic and various Protestant churches. [Particularly,] Buddhism was split into two churches -- the Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Most recently, in May 1999, the communist government blatantly installed the puppet Hoa Hao Buddhist Representative Council of eleven (11) communist party members to lead five million followers of the Hoa Hao Buddhism.
Many offices and properties of the churches -- Cao Dai, Catholic, Buddhist, Hoa Hao Buddhist, and Protestant - have been confiscated or expropriated by the communist government for its arbitrary uses.
As for the Vietnamese Catholic Church, the Vietnamese communist [government] has taken control of the most fundamental rights of the Church. This fact has been repeatedly listed in the petitions of the Vietnamese Bishops Council from 1980 to this day and analyzed in my Ten-point Statement issued on November 24, 1994 and again November 24, 2000. The situation can be summarized as follows:
1. The Vietnamese communist government blatantly interferes with the Vietnamese Bishops Council's annual Liturgical Meeting. Before the meeting, the Council has to apply for permission for the gathering and submit the meeting agenda for government's approval. After the meeting, the Council must submit the meeting minutes to the government. If the Council has anything to announce to the followers or people in general, it must first submit the text of the announcement to the government for pre-approval.
2. The Vietnamese communist government blatantly interferes with the process of selection and assignment of bishops, selection and ordainment of priests. When the Holy See in Rome wishes to assign a bishop to any diocese, it must discuss the matter with the Vietnamese communist government in many meetings over many years. The government usually disappoves of the Church's candidates and only allows those clergies who have appeased them. After years of having various positions unfilled, the Vatican reluctantly agrees to the government's list to end the damaging effect of letting the bishop offices empty for so long. Today, the dioceses of Hung Hoa, Hai Phong, Bui Chu, and others are still without bishops after over 8 years and the Holy See is still unsuccessful in negotiating the assignments. Both the young candidates who wish to enter seminaries and the Church which wishes to ordain priests must submit applications and the candidates' personal histories to the provincial Public Security for review and consideration. Candidates for seminaries or for the priesthood must appear docile and potentially harmless to the communist regime. Candidates who agree to work as government's moles inside the seminaries and monasteries have better chances of being approved. Those who agree to bribe the Public Security also have some hope. On the other hand, candidates whose families include associates of the former Republic of Vietnam and those who are not afraid of revealing their disagreement with the government would have no chance for admission to the seminaries or ordainemnt to priesthood regardless of their devotion, talents, or love of the Church. I can list the names of young candidates who topped the Church's recruitment exams 2, 3 years in a row and are still denied admission to the seminaries. Bishops who wish to ordain priests or to assign priests to certain tasks must first write application forms and discuss the matters with the government for a long time. In some cases, it has taken almost 20 years without a solution. The standards set by the Vietnamese communist government [for each candidate] have nothing to do with the qualities the Church requires of the candidate to become and perform the duties of a priest. Due to this process, the number of new priest being ordained every year has fallen sharply, not enough to meet the needs of the Church or even to fill positions left by attrition. In remote areas, many priests have to take care of as many as 10 parishes far apart. It is impossible for anyone to live his/her normal religious life in these areas. In addition, it is very difficult for a priest to obtain permission to move from one area to another to work.
3. Every year, Catholics in the New Economic Zones and remote areas simply wish to have a Christmas or Easter mass but those wishes can hardly ever come true. The Vietnamese atheist communists definitely want people in these areas to totally abandon religions which the communists consider poisonous and dangerous.
4. Government permission is also required for masses that are attended by members of multiple parishes and for priests who celebrates masses outside their [official] working areas.
5. The Vietnamese communist government still imprisons and detains many priests, clergies, and followers.
6. The Vietnamese communist government blatantly interferes with the Church's rights to Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Expression. The Church is not allowed to publish any periodicals at any level -- from parish to national -- and therefore, cannot fulfill its religious teaching responsibilities. Before 1975, there were dozens of Catholic periodicals in South Vietnam. Today, there are 2 weeklies - Cong Giao & Dan Toc (Catholics & Nation) and Nguoi Cong Giao Viet Nam (the Vietnamese Catholics), both of which are directed and financed by the Vietnamese Communist Party. At one time, the Vietnamese Bishops Council published its Ban Tin Hiep Thong (The Communion Newsletter) for a while. The first six issues were printed "illegally." Issues numbered 7, 8, and 9 from February 2000 to September 2000 were printed under a temporary permit. In October 2000 the Vietnamese communist government banned the Newsletter. Meanwhile, Freedom of Expression is totally absent in our country. It is even harder for churches to express anything. Statements like the one I am expressing now cannot be propagated in Vietnam simply because no copy shops dare to reprint them. Not many people dare to keep documents of this kind in their home for fear of the dear price to pay on themselves and their families. Only those who are already willing to die for their faith dare to keep the documents.
7. The Vietnamese communist government requires all high school and college students to learn and love socialism but almost noboby wants to either teach or learn this dogma. It is all right for the 3 million members of the Communist Party and the 5 million members of the Communist Youth League to study that doctrine (should they still believe in it) and use it in such a way that benefit the economy, the society and people's lives. The rest of the population, however, should have the right to question whether the building of socialism in Vietnam would actually lead to the future it promised or is it just an illusion. [To the population] Socialism is absolutely not necessary and should not be implemented at all cost. Other nations in Southeast Asia did not need socialism to become much more prosperous than Vietnam. The fleeing of 2.5 million Vietnamese for freedom despite the danger of the high seas is another clear proof that, at best, there is nothing special about socialism. To force all citizens, including members of the churches, to learn and love the dogma that has bankrupted both its birthplace and the nation of Vietnam is a flagrant oppression of thought!
8. The government has either outrightly confiscated or resorted to forced concession to take over all of the Church's facilities for educational, social, and health care works. The number of confiscated properties from 1954 in North Vietnam and from 1975 in the whole country has reached a thousand, even ten thousand. Without these facilities, the Church cannot train seminarists and clergies, help students, and serve the poor, sick, handicapped, and orphans. Even when the Church tries to do charity works through the government's agencies, it is still difficult to do so. The Pio X Papal Insitute in Dalat city, for example, was run by the Jesuits and used to produce the best priests for the Vietnamese Catholic Church. In 1976, the Insitute was confiscated by the government and turned into a training facility for communist cadres. Seminary Hoan Thien at 11 Dong Da street in Hue city used to be the school for young candidates of high school ages. In December 1979, the government took the seminary by force, expelling 3 teaching priests and 80 students from the seminary. It is impossible to list all of the similar cases.
Facing the Vietnamese communist government's vicious policy to suffocate religions in Vietnam, all churches have consistently protested and demanded RELIGIOUS FREEDOM in a peaceful, non-violent, and persistent manner until TRUE RELIGOUS FREEDOM is achieved like in the vast majority of civilized nations in the world today. We have called on the government to:
1. Respect absolutely the TRUE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM of all religions,
especially in regard to their most fundamental rights, such as the rights to
independently choose, train and appoint clergies according to the needs and
desires of each Church;
Respect fully the right to RELIGIOUS FREEDOM of each Vietnamese citizen by
abolishing sections pertaining one's faith and religion in all
administrative documents so each citizen can have complete comfort in living
his/her own faith without fear of any faith-based discrimination. Each
citizen should also be provided with favorable conditions to live according
to his/her faith instead of [living under] the government's double-faced
policies currently in effect.
2. Return to all Churches their offices and properties which have been hitherto confiscated, expropriated or forced into unfair concession. The return policy should also include cases where title documents were lost during wars but the rightful ownership of the properties is well known to the surrounding population without any doubt.
3. Cease all plots and ploys to suffocate and annihilate religions. Cease all attempts to intervene in the internal affairs of religions. Cease all the State-sponsored committees that carry the name of religions but in reality act as instruments of the communist government.
4. Return freedom unconditionally to all clergies and lay people who have received jail sentences or are being held in the prison camps.
5. Respect all the provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of December 16, 1966, which the Vietnamese communist government signed on September 24, 1982.
II. Should the U.S. Congress ratify the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in Spring 2001 and how this agreement would affect freedom of religion in Vietnam?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am a priest who is not an expert in international trade or politics. My view, therefore, is that of an ordinary Vietnamese who loves his country wholeheartedly and cares deeply for the rights of his people. My humble opinions on this subject are as follows:
1. In principle, Vietnam needs the BTA very much to develop its economy. I dearly wish that my country be considered trustworthy by all nations, including the U.S., so that Vietnam [can work] to soon become a prosperous country; my people will soon have what they need and develop in all areas.
2. However, if, thanks to the assistance from the U.S. and other countries, the Vietnamese communists are able to maintain their autocratic and totalitarian regime with no respect for people's fundamental rights as discussed in part I, then you are indeed helping the ruling minority with better means to prolong my people's suffering. The vast majority of the powerless population would benefit insignificantly from the BTA but continue to suffer under the yoke of oppression.
3. Therefore, regarding the signing and ratifying any agreements with the Vietnamese communist government, I sincerely urge the U.S. and other nations not to believe in the fake sincerity of the Vietnamese communist government. I am sure you have accumulated quite a bit of bitter experience in dealing with this government in recent years.
4. Regarding the agreements on human rights, I would like to repeat here what I have said in my fifth appeal on January 25, 2001 that the Vietnamese communist government has signed many treaties on human rights but never intended to comply with any. Its signatures were just to deceive the international community. When international institutions easily allow the Vietnamese communist government to put down its signatures on these documents, they have set off three damaging consequences: (1) A wrong image of the Vietnamese communist government who can now boast of providing a full range of human rights [to its people]; (2) Damage to the prestige of these international institutions themselves for being so easily deceived by the Vietnamese communist government; (3) Unintentional complicity to the Vietnamese communist government's continued dictatorial and oppressive rule over the Vietnamese people for the indefinite future. For example, the Vietnamese government signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on Septermber 24, 1982 but it has never conformed to Article 18 and 19 of the Covenant regarding freedom of thought, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression.
5. Therefore, if the U.S. and other nations truly sympathize with the plight of our people, are truly concerned about human rights, and religious freedom in particular, in our country, then please do not help the Vietnamese communists prolong their autocratic and totalitarian regime. Moreover, the U.S. and other nations should end right away these harmful agreements and generate pressure through all means on the Vietnamese government so that true freedom and democracy can soon come to Vietnam. III. What can the US government do in the near term and long term to help Vietnam regain freedom of religion?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My view on this topic is as follows:
1. The Vietnamese communists worship Ho Chi Minh as a god and started a harmful cult of personality around him. One of the reasons why the Vietnamese communists want to restrict and eliminate religions and religious values in Vietnam is to promote their god as the only unifying symbol for all people. It is necessary, therefore, to first recognize Ho Chi Minh for what he really was, without adding or subtracting from his true biography.
In real life, Ho Chi Minh:
- Contributed in the effort to win back independence for Vietnam from the French colonists. This effort was carried out, however, not just by the Vietnamese communists but rather by many [non-communist] Vietnamese, including members of other political parties. The Vietnamese communists have successfully eradicated all of the non-communist factions and claim all the merits for themselves;
- Made the gravest mistake of importing communism and socialism to Vietnam. These doctrines have pushed the country back a century into the past and turned it into one of the poorest nations in the world today;
- Committed the great crime of resorting to vicious ploys to kill all patriotic forces that had joined the fight to regain the contry's independence from the French colonists;
- Carried out the savage land reform program in North Vietnam during the 50's and 60's (of the 20th Century) at the cost of more than 300,000 lives;
- Carried out the war from 1960 to 1975 to invade South Vietnam and impose relentlessly communism on the entire nation at the cost of two million lives on both sides. [He and his followers], however, continue to this day the lie of an anti-American war to liberate the South. Among the most horrible war crimes that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians were the massacre in Hue during the 1968 Mau Than Tet with many victims buried alive in mass graves by communist cadres; and the mindless killing along the "Horrible Highway" from Quang Tri to Dien Sanh in 1972, where communist troops used anti-tank weapons to mow down people running away from the war zone.
- Brutally suppressed and heartlessly murdered tens of thousands of dissidents all over the country, particularly those in the hundreds of concentration camps along the entire length of the country since 1930.
- Spread the ethic that encourages deception and manipulation at the cost of the social morality built up by the religions for many generations. Today, anyone who does not lie and cheat cannot carry out a normal life. Even high-ranking members of the churches must learn to lie to carry out their religious duties. In fact, when one has to write the words "freedom and happiness" as part of the nation's name at the top of all administrative forms, he knows he is lying to himself for there is neither freedom nor happiness in this country.
- Spread the ethic that encourages mob persecution and hatred. Even members of the communist Party that fell out of favor with the Party could not stand the hateful attacks by their former comrades! Therefore, one of the most important tasks to revive the religion-inspired traditional morality and values in society and to rebuild the moral conscience of the young generations, is, with the help from the U.S. and the international community, to make clear to the public both the merits earned and the crimes committed by Ho Chi Minh. Many people of goodwill around the world are still blinded by this super cunning and wicked figure. The world community should not let diplomatic predicaments prevent it from clarifying this important misperception in the history of humankind.
2. For the near future, the U.S. and other countries could encourage religions in Vietnam to hold their religious activities as independently [from the Vietnamese government] as possible by informing them of the normal and healthy religious life in the U.S. and around the world. Such help will clearly disclose the unreasonable control of the Vietnamese communist authorities over all religions in Vietnam and encourage all churches to do their best to resist the imposition of the government on their religious activities. There will be friction at first when the churches contest the autocratic and totalitarian authorities of the Vietnamese communist government. However, the government will gradually realize it is infringing upon the rights that have never belonged to it, such as the demand that all religious assignments be subjected to government's standards and approval.
3. Vietnam will never experience true freedom of religions as long as the communist regime remains in place. Therefore, if the U.S. and other nations truly wish to return religious freedom to all religions in Vietnam, you should apply pressure to create the best condition to hasten the end of the communist regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I deeply appreciate the opportunity in this prestigious building -- the very symbol of Freedom and Independence -- to represent our people, our religions in Vietnam, and our Vietnamese Catholic Church in particular, to say what we think is very necessary [for religious freedom in Vietnam]. I sincerely thank you for your attention. I also would like to thank the American people, including the two million Vietnamese Americans, for inviting me to contribute to this effort to advance the entire human family.
May God bless you, your families, your noble works, and the vast nation of the United States of America.
Rev. Tadeus Nguyen Van Ly
February 13, 2001
(Signed and Sealed)