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An international Christian group has criticized Vietnam’s arrest of a prominent pastor, saying it makes a mockery of the country’s membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Police in Lam Dong province arrested Nguyen Manh Hung, 71, on Monday on charges of “propaganda against the state.” The charges fall under Article 117 of the Criminal Code, which rights groups say is vaguely worded so it can be used as a catch-all charge against perceived dissent.
Hung belongs to the Chuong Bo Protestant Church and serves on the Interfaith Council of Vietnam. Neither organization is officially registered with the government.
He is a member of the mainly Christian Kinh ethnic minority, and is the first person to be arrested under Article 117 this year. If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 20 years.
“The arrest of Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung is yet another sign that the Vietnamese Communist Party is insouciant towards its obligations under international law to respect the rights of all Vietnamese citizens,” said Mervyn Thomas, president of the group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, or CSW.
Most of the Christians charged under Article 117, are from minorities living in the Central Highlands, according to CSW, which said this was evidence that Vietnam’s top leader, General Secretary To Lam, has been targeting ethnic and religious minorities.
“This makes a mockery of Vietnam’s membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the government must be held to account accordingly,” said CSW’s Thomas.
Radio Free Asia emailed Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask for a comment on the CSW assertion but had not received a reply by time of publication.
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Solitary confinement
On Thursday, Hung’s son, Nguyen Tran Hien – who was also briefly detained – said his father was being held in solitary confinement. He told RFA that police hadn’t given his family a warrant for his father’s arrest or one for searching their home.
The arrest comes just ahead of the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington on Feb. 4-5. Several Protestant groups in the Central Highlands have told RFA they have been under police surveillance ahead of the conference.
On Jan. 22 police in Dak Lak province, which is also in the Central Highlands, summoned pastor Y Wen Nie to question him in connection with “undermining the solidarity policy.”
Christians are not the only religion to be targeted ahead of the summit.
On Jan. 26, Venerable Thich Nhat Phuoc of the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, was prevented from flying to the U.S. to attend the summit. His group is not officially registered with the government and he was told he couldn’t leave the country on national security grounds.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn