The United States is “deeply concerned” about the ongoing convictions of Vietnamese ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller noted in a statement that five such convictions have occurred since January.
Particularly troubling, said Spokesperson Miller, is the recent 13-year sentence of Y Krec Bya, “who has been a peaceful voice for freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam.” Bya, a member of the unregistered Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands, was arrested last April and charged with “sabotaging the national unity.” His recent conviction is not his first. In 2004 Bya was sentenced to eight years in prison for advocating on behalf of the religious freedom of the Montagnard people.
Nay Y Blang hosted prayer gatherings in his home for members of the same Evangelical Church of Christ and was also charged, among other crimes, with “sabotaging national unity.” After a trial without legal representation, Blang was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom notes that Blang had previously been sentenced to five years and six months for “undermining the unity policy.”
In February, a court sentenced Danh Minn Quan, a Buddhist from the Khmer-Krom community in southwest Vietnam, to three and a half years in prison on the charge of “abusing democratic freedoms.” Reportedly Quan was targeted because he distributed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and participated in various UN events to promote human rights. He also advocated for the rights of Khmer-Krom Buddhists to practice their religion in line with their ethnic and cultural background.
Two other Buddhist activists from the Khmer-Krom community, Thach Cuong and To Hoang Chuong, were also targeted because they distributed the UN Declaration and advocated for their community’s religious rights. Both were sentenced to prison for “abusing democratic freedoms”: Cuong for three and half years and Chuong for four years.
The State Department’s Human Rights report on Vietnam notes that senior U.S. diplomatic officials in Vietnam regularly urge authorities to allow all religious groups to operate freely. The United State is repeating that appeal.
“We call upon Vietnam to respect the rights of individuals to exercise freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief,” Spokesperson Miller said. “We reiterate our call on Vietnam to release all those unjustly detained.”
