By Susan Krause
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Imprisonment of individuals, church closures, forced renunciations of faith, and other infringements led the State Department to add Vietnam to a list of "countries of particular concern" in its 6th Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, according to John Hanford, the department's ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

Hanford briefed journalists September 15 on the release of the annual report to Congress, which is mandated by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

This year's report marks the first time that Vietnam has been included among the serious violators referred to as countries of particular concern (CPC). Three other countries in the Asia-Pacific region -- China, Burma, and North Korea -- were among countries that had been designated CPCs before and were redesignated this year.

"Before designating a government a CPC, we undertake an intensive consideration of the status of religious freedom violations in that country," Hanford said. "When possible, we also engage in vigorous and high level diplomacy with authorities in that country, describing to them the religious freedom violations that place them at the threshold of designation and suggesting specific steps they can take to improve religious freedom and avoid designation."

Hanford said he and his staff had engaged in "intense discussions" with Vietnamese officials over a lengthy period, and had tried to avoid making the designation. But he cited the imprisonment of over 45 religious believers, including members of the Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai faiths, as well as the closure of hundreds of places of worship in the Central and Northwest Highlands as justification for the country's downgraded status.

The ambassador also expressed concern about attempts by local and central government officials in Vietnam to force individuals to renounce their faith, often under physical duress.

"We have asked the government, who tells us that this is not the policy of the government, to simply make...a public policy clear to everyone in the country that this will not be tolerated," Hanford said. "And they have not been willing to do this."

Emphasizing the generally cooperative relationship between the United States and Vietnam, Hanford praised the Vietnamese government for taking some "positive steps" to improve religious freedom. He noted that Vietnamese officials had twice reduced the sentence of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Roman Catholic priest and human rights activist, and reopened a small number of churches in the Central Highlands.

But Hanford said these actions were insufficient to avoid CPC designation. He urged further action and called for the release of Father Ly, who was sentenced to 15 years in solitary confinement in 2001 and now is in poor health.

China, Burma, and North Korea have been designated for severe violations in previous years. According to the religious freedom report, the Chinese government continues to repress Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong, with believers facing imprisonment, beatings, torture, and destruction of places of worship.

"Many observers believe that in recent months, China has engaged in a crackdown against some independent religious groups," Hanford said.

The report cites the Burmese military regime for imprisoning Buddhist monks, threatening Christian clergy with arrest, and destroying churches and mosques, Hanford said. Muslims in Burma have faced "state-orchestrated or -tolerated violence," he added.

North Korea, according to the report, imprisons, tortures, and even executes religious believers for their faith. "In North Korea, religious freedom simply does not exist," Hanford said.

The International Religious Freedom Act requires the Bush administration to come up with a plan of action for countries of particular concern within 90 to 180 days of their designation as CPCs. These actions, according to the legislation, might include a private or public demarche, public condemnation, cancellation or restriction of scientific or cultural exchanges, delay or cancellation of official or state visits, or limitations or suspension of development assistance.

Hanford said the process for determining what action to take is "complicated."

"There's a lot of flexibility given to the secretary of state in this process," he said, "but no consideration at this point has been given to this."

Analyses of the religious conditions in countries in the East Asia and Pacific region can be found at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/c12779.htm