Human Rights Campaigners Fear for Religious Freedom in Vietnam and Eritrea

Vietnamese human rights groups have expressed this week their concerns that the nations on the "countries of particular concern" (CPC) list will be able to dodge sanctions by offering "token" gestures and empty promises to improve religious freedom. In particular, Vietnam, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia – the three new countries added to the CPC last year have worried observers.

Concerns have arisen since the US State department asked the American Congress for more time to communicate with representatives over how to end religious persecution and human rights offences in the regions.

Before last September the nations on the CPC list were Burma, North Korea, China, Iran and Sudan. However, this list was added to with three more in 2004. After being added to the list Vietnam, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia were given six months to organise forward steps to address the concerns.

Earlier this week the six-month deadline passed, however sanctions were not imposed due to the request made by the US State Department, and it now seems as if at least several more weeks will be given to allow talks to develop further.

State spokesperson, Adam Ereli said, "We made some important progress. We think that with a little bit more time we can take care of some of the issues that were problematic for us ... we expect decisions to be finalised and announced in the next few weeks."

The Vietnamese government has been widely condemned by human rights groups as well as Christian organisations for its oppression of non-recognised religions. In particular ethnic minority Protestant churches have reported to have endured great persecution in the region over the past year.

In Vietnam hundreds of churches have been reportedly shut down, and many human rights campaigners have told of how government officials have tried to force ethnic minority Christians to abandon their faith. US-based Human Rights Watch reported that at least three Catholic priests have been detained in prison now for almost 20 years.

Recently some signs of hope in Vietnam have been seen. The government recently freed several prisoners of conscience, and also the Prime Minister of Vietnam outlawed attempts by officials to force Protestant to abandon their faith. In addition, it was also reported that unauthorised Protestant groups would now conditionally be allowed to make applications for official registration.

However, the head of the Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam, Helen Ngo expressed her scepticism regarding the promises. She reported that simple contact with people inside Vietnam would reveal the lingering problem of persecution and harassment remained.

With regards to the Prime Minister’s promise to allow Protestant churches to apply for registration, Ngo dismissed the statement as an empty gesture. She said, "Talk about things improving in Vietnam - I don't think that's true."

Trung Doan, the General-Secretary of Australia's 200,000-strong Vietnamese community told how recently a Christian meeting was raided by officials the police had laughed when the spiritual leaders spoke about the Prime Minister’s new promises.

Human rights campaigners and religious leaders are now calling for the world’s leading political powers to ensure that the Vietnamese government is not allowed to side-step sanctions with hollow promises.