Update for reporting period from May 2014 to May 2015
(Prepared by VETO! Human Rights Defenders’ Network on May 30, 2015)

SSFO-Shed in Lè Hamlet, Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam before and after the destruction on May 26, 2015

The Duong Van Minh belief is a new variant of Christian religion for Hmong ethnics in the four Northeastern provinces of Vietnam: Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen since 1989. The most known characteristic of this belief is the simplified funeral ceremony. The believers use symbolic items made of wood such as a crucifix, a swallow, a toad and a cicada during the funeral ceremony. The villagers share the use of those items and stored them in a small shed of wood or bricks not bigger than 7 square meters (Shed for storing funeral objects, SSFO).

Since 1989 the Vietnamese government has outlawed the religion. The powerful “Steering Committee for Northwestern Region” of the ruling Communist Party has ordered the “eradication of the illegal Duong Van Minh organization”. In June 2013 the Government Committee for Religious Affairs declared the Duong Van Minh belief to be banned because it is neither a religion nor a belief according to the definitions adopted in the Ordinance on Belief and Religion. But in practice the Vietnamese authorities cannot justify their actions with a conclusive line of argument based on domestic law. The persecution against the religion can therefore be seen as highly political motivated.

By the end of 2013 the Vietnamese government has destroyed in total 24 SSFO of the Duong Van Minh belief. The religious community recovered slowly from this shock started in April 2015 a new wave of rebuilding their SSFO. For the time being the believers have constructed 36 SSFO. Among them, 22 SSFO were completely destroyed just a few days after their building. At least 11 persons were injured during the raids.

It was a systematic violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief of the Duong Van Minh adherents. Aside from the SSFO destruction many Hmong ethnics involving in the building of the SSFO were arrested and sentenced up to 2 years in prison. Taking advantage of the vulnerability of ethnic minorities, the ongoing persecution of the Duong Van Minh believers is both subtle and comprehensive: forcing to sign renouncements, propaganda to slander the believers and the religious founder, discrimination in public service such as providing no health insurance because of one’s religion, dismissing employment, harassment through police summons and interrogations, house searches and confiscation of properties. Fearing retaliation a dozen of Hmong believers went underground, some of them since 15 years, without a perspective to be reunified with their families.

As a member of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council since January 2014, Vietnam should abide by the council’s pledge to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights. As a signatory Vietnam should respect and fully enable the human rights mentioned in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), especially Art. 18.

Therefore VETO! urges the Vietnamese government to:

• Withdraw all directives aiming to suppress the Duong Van Minh belief and authorize this religious group to operate freely;
• Respect the right to have and adopt religious belief as an inalienable, internationally recognized human right; forbid all measures used to force believers to renounce their faith or religion;
• Cancel all harassment measures against the Duong Van Minh believers;
• Immediately and unconditionally release the believers;
• Forbid the destruction of the sheds for storing funeral objects of Hmong people;
• Withdraw the arrest warrants or search warrants against the Duong Van Minh believers and guarantee the safe return of the related persons to their families.

Full Report (Update DuongVanMinh Belief and List of 36 SSFO 2014-2015, 15 pages)
Persecution against adherents of Duong Van Minh Belief in Vietnam
Update for reporting period from May 2014 to May 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Brief summary and Recommendations  
2. New wave of building SSFO between May 2014 and May 2015
   2.1. Incidents in Tuyen Quang Province
   2.1.1.        Two destructions in a day and injury in Ngoi Sen Hamlet, Tuyen Quang Province
   2.1.2.        Injury during the destruction in Tan An Hamlet, Tuyen Quang Province2.2.  Injuries during four destruction actions in Khuoi Vinh Hamlet, Cao Bang Province since 2014

3. Persons imprisoned because of their belief
4. PICTURES

• Pictures of Sheds for Storing Funeral Objects (SSFO) in four Northern provinces
• Violence during the destruction act

 APPENDIX 1:

• List of Sheds for Storing Funeral Objects of the Duong Van Minh believers
  in Northern Vietnam built/destroyed since May 2014

 APPENDIX 2:

• List of imprisoned Hmong believers of Duong Van Minh belief
  (Update on May 29, 2015)
• List of released Hmong believers of Duong Van Minh belief
  (Update on May 29, 2015)