April 1, 2002 - Pastor Dinh Van Truc was beaten by a gang of youths as he traveled to Dak La Commune, Dak Ha District in Kontum Province. Pastor Truc was attempting to visit some Christians in the Dak La village when armed youths threw stones at him, beat him mercilessly, and smashed his motorbike. The Christian family was also beaten and warned to quit following the Protestant faith. Pastor Truc was later informed that the youths were acting under the instruction of the village cadre. In meetings on March 20 and March 31, 2002 the commune leaders decided to destroy the faith of the Christian family in Dak La village and attack Pastor Truc whenever he came to visit the family. (ICR)
 
 March 2, 2002 - Cambodian authorities forcibly repatriated 63 Montagnards (Vietnamese minorities) who were seeking asylum in Cambodia after fleeing Vietnam during 2001. The mainly Christian Montagnards were persecuted by the Vietnamese government because they protested human rights and religious freedom violations. Approximately 1,000 more Montagnards are in danger of forcible repatriation as the Vietnamese authorities have given them a deadline of April 30 to "voluntarily" return to Vietnam. (Compass)
 
 January 11, 2002 - Authorities raided the home of Mr. Vang Seo Su, who had submitted a petition on behalf of Hmong Christians in Tran Xoan hamlet (see December 12 and December 25, 2001 below). Several Christian books and videos were confiscated and Mr. Su was ordered to appear before the Commune officials.
 
 January 2002 - Seven Christian families in Sinh Chai, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province, were forced to relocate after local authorities took all their belongings. Those who were unable to run were beaten in the face.
 
 December 25, 2001 - Hmong Christians in Tran Xoan hamlet in Lao Cai province were prevented from celebrating Christmas when authorities representing the four levels of government broke into their meetings and confiscated items being used for the worship service. The authorities intervened at both a morning and an evening service. At the evening service authorities prevented Christians from entering the home where the service was being held. Others were dragged out of the house and roughed up. Four women were injured as a result.
 
 December 12, 2001 - Local officials interrupted a worship service of Hmong Christians in Tran Xoan hamlet, Lao Cai province. Three men were arrested and interrogated. Vang Seo Vang, Vand Seo Su, and Vang Seo Pao were ordered to sign an agreement to abandon the Christian faith but refused to do so. Two of the men were also beaten on the side of the head.
 
 October 19, 2001 – Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 5 years of house arrest by the Vietnamese authorities.  (See May 17, 2001) (FVA)
 
 August 24, 2001 – Binh Thanh 26th Ward security police took Pastor Quang’s (see below) Family Register, making it impossible for his child to receive public education.   (CSW)
 
 August 17, 2001 – Rev. and Mrs. Ngyuen Honh and Truong Tri Hien were arrested in Ward 26 in the Bihn Thanh district of Ho Chi Minh City.  Rev. Ngyuen, a Mennonite pastor trained as a lawyer, has been constantly harassed by the Public Security Police (PSP) for “exposing religious liberty abuses in Vietnam,” as reported by Compass Direct.  An unidentified source claimed “the Rev. Quang was struck in the face until it was all swollen.”  On August 13 and June 5 (See June 5, 2001), Quang reported two services when the PSP “burst into our house while we were worshipping God.”
 
 July 18, 2001 – Four official documents, titled Official Plan 184, have been released by Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom.  The documents are official Communist Party objectives on crushing and destroying Protestant Christianity among the tribal minorties of Vietnam’s northern Bao Thang District of Lao Cai Province.   The documents are dated January 2001, and bear official seals and signatures, with a timetable beginning on October 15, 2000, ending through 2001.  The documents are at Freedom House’s web site: www.freedomhouse.org/religion/
 
 June 2001 – A Catholic priest in Quang Nam, Da Nang province was ordered to surrender his church and the adjacent land for a government project by June 25, 2001.
 
 June 5, 2001 – Public Security Police in Ho Chi Minh City broke up a meeting of 70 young children, which was arranged by a local church, and threatened the children’s teachers. Charges were written up but the police would not provide copies of the charges to those involved.
 
 May 17, 2001 – Father Nguyen Van Ly was arrested in his private chamber at the An Truyen Parish. Public security agents ransacked Father Ly’s home, confiscating some of his personal property. Parishoners who had gathered to block the arrest were shocked with electric prods. Father Ly had submitted testimonies for the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which was occurring at the time of his arrest. He was eventually charged with "spreading propaganda against the government" and could face 10-12 years in prison.
 
 April 13, 2001 – Public Security Police in Ho Chi Minh City interrupted a Good Friday service being held in a private home. Charges were written up and the one hundred believers meeting there were threatened not to participate in any further services.
 
 April 3, 2001 – In a special ceremony held at a church in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) was officially recognized by the government. Government officials had approved the denomination’s constitution and recognized its election of church leaders. However, it remain to be seen what kind of freedom the church will have "within the framework of the laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."
 
 
 March 10, 2001 – Authorities in Vietnam’s central highlands tore down a Protestant church in Plei Lao, Gia Lai province, leading to a clash with villagers who were protesting against government repression of Christians. Three men were arrested. Ethnic unrest has been prevalent in the central highlands and authorities have begun to crack down on Christians, accusing them of being part of a separatist group. Some believers have reportedly been abducted and tortured.
 
 
 February 7- 9, 2001 – The ECVN general assembly was held as scheduled (see below). 482 pastors and 278 guests attended the event, including members of the government Bureau of Religious Affairs (BRA). A President, Vice Presidents, and an executive board were elected. All represent an evangelical worldview and were not chosen based on political reliability. In fact, many had faced persecution at some point since the Communists came to power in 1975. There are still concerns about the extent of government control over the church and whether this will compromise the church’s goals. However, church leaders considered the assembly an overall success and an answer to prayer.
 
 
 January 2001 – The Vietnamese government is attempting to "regularize" the southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN). However, legal recognition of the church would not come without a price. Many church members see the government’s actions as an attempt to control the church and impose regulations that conflict with the ECVN’s beliefs. The government has already made drastic revisions to the church’s proposed constitution. The ECVN is composed of 300+ congregations meeting in church buildings erected before 1975 and in homes. They have not been allowed to hold a business meeting or elect leaders since 1976. The Prime Minister signed a document, allowing the ECVN to hold a general assembly in Ho Chih Minh City in February.
 
 
 Christmas 2000 – Christians in Vietnam’s northwest provinces were harassed, beaten and arrested in an attempt to stop them from holding Christmas services. Church elders in Phong Niem Commune in Lao Cai province were slapped and threatened by police who told them that after the Tet holiday a campaign would be launched to "entirely ban Christianity from the province." Other Hmong believers in Lao Chai faced similar treatment.
 
 
 November 19, 2000 – Police raided Grace Church, a house church led by Pastor Nguyen Ngoc Hien, and confiscated Bibles as well as the pastor’s identification card. Ironically, this incident occurred on the same day that President Clinton discussed religious freedom with the leaders of Vietnam’s Catholic Church.
 
 
 November 2000 – Cao Xuan Tao, a house church leader in Quang Binh province was imprisoned without being properly charged.
 
 
 September 20, 2000 – Six Christians meeting in a home in Phu Yen province were fined 50,000 Vietnamese dong each.
 
 
 September 19, 2000 – Sung Seo Choa, a Hmong believer from Ha Giang province, was arrested and sentenced to 24 months of labor and re-education after refusing to stop preaching.
 
 
 September 18, 2000 – Twenty police officers raided the home of Mr. Nguyen Chuc, confiscating personal property and assaulting Mr. Nguyen and his family. Mr. Nguyen had apparently refused to pay a fine levied against him for holding an Easter celebration in his home during April of 1999.
 
 
 September 2, 2000 – Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy was released from prison after serving 11 months of a 12-month sentence (see December 27, 1999 below).
 
 
 August 14, 2000 – A church building in Dong Tam, Binh Phuoc province, was razed by armed authorities.
 
 
 July 7, 2000 – Three Christians complained about treatment they had received from police. Mr. Ly van Quan, Mr. Chan Van Meng and Mr. Chang van Cai reported being beaten and kicked by authorities during 10 days of imprisonment.
 
 
 July 1, 2000 – Authorities destroyed a newly erected church in Thu Thiem district of Ho Chi Minh City. The congregation had been working with authorities for 9 years in order to do everything according to the law.
 
 
 April 30, 2000 – In honor of the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, government officials gave amnesty to 12,262 prisoners. However, few Christians were expected to be among this number.
 
 
 March 10, 2000 – An appeal on behalf of Mrs. Nguyen thi Thuy was denied by the People’s Court of Viet Tri. The six-page brief prepared by Mrs. Thuy’s lawyers stated that the conduct of the police involved in the case clearly violated Vietnamese law. They also pointed out that the punishment was out of proportion to the crime supposedly committed. Finally they charged the arresting officers with violating Mrs. Thuy’s privacy by illegally entering her home without an arrest warrant.
 
 
 December 27, 1999 – Mrs. Nguyen thi Thuy was sentenced to 12 months in prison on the charge of "interfering with an officer doing his duty." The charge stemmed from an incident that occurred in Mrs. Thuy’s home on October 10, 1999 (see below).
 
 
 October 10, 1999 – Mrs. Nguyen thi Thuy, a house church leader in Viet Tri, was arrested. Police arrived at Mrs. Thuy’s house during the Sunday afternoon worship and baptismal service. They demanded to see the home owners’ residence papers. Mrs. Thuy told the police her husband had the key to the papers and asked them to come back the next day. When the officers refused to leave Mrs. Thuy told them she needed to close her gate in order to protect her visitors’ bicycles. They were asked to leave or come to the meeting. One officer refused to leave and was thus locked in when Mrs. Thuy closed the gate. The officer then called for armed reinforcements who came and arrested Mrs. Thuy. The other Christians were also arrested and questioned but later released.
 
 
 September 19, 1999 – A house church in Que Chau Commune, Que son District in Quang Nam province was raided and all participants were arrested. Christians were handcuffed, tied together and dragged through the village by their hair to the People’s Committee office. One official held up a Bible and told frightened villagers that anyone following the religion of that book would be treated in the same way.
 
 
 September 17, 1999 – Police raided a thanksgiving ceremony in Thu Thua, Long An Province. Evangelist Nguyen Van Hoang, his father, and another evangelist were taken to the police station where they were questioned. Police confiscated Hoang’s notebook which detailed his Christian contacts and activities. This information could be used to imprison Hoang or other people mentioned in the notebook. Hoang already spent about a year in prison for converting people to Christianity and holding Christian meetings.
 
 
 August 5, 1999 — Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that four more churches were destroyed. Leaders in Hanoi have stated that what local officials do regarding religious freedom often is not centrally controlled.
 
 
 July 8, 1999 — Two leaders of the Inter-Evangelistic Mission were arrested in Quang Ngai in Central Vietnam. Both men, Dinh Truang and Tran Hung were training local Christian leaders when they were arrested. They were then released three days later.
 
 
 June 1999 — A western correspondent found and translated a classified document that gave detailed instructions to local leaders nationwide how to suppress Christianity. The title of the document was "Propagandizing and Mobilizing Citizens Not to Follow Religion Illegally." The document instructs the reader not to give a copy to the "bad people (ie. Christians) or foreigners." 4000 copies were published and distributed to local officials around the country. The document was very hostile and had some interesting twists concerning Christian doctrine such as the claim that Christians are out to steal the reader’s property. The document was discovered just after a new decree was released from Hanoi (No. 26/1999/ND/CP) guaranteeing the right of religion. However, even this decree contained internally self-negating articles that canceled out the rights it guaranteed.