State-Sponsored Intolerance against Religious Groups Vietnam’s constitution permits citizens to “follow any religion or follow none” and mandates respect and protection for religious freedom. However, it also authorizes authorities to override human rights, including religious freedom, for reasons of “national security, social order and security, social morality, and community well-being.” The country’s Law on Belief and Religion, which went into effect in January 2018, requires religious communities to formally register their organizations, activities, and places of worship. It allows only religious organizations that have operated for at least five years to apply for registration, and it grants registered organizations status as legal entities. Roughly 20 percent of Vietnam’s estimated 97 million citizens identify with a religion. Approximately 8 percent of the population follow Buddhism, while 7 percent identify as Catholics. Other religious traditions with a significant presence include Hoa Hao Buddhism, Cao Dai, Evangelical Protestantism, and Islam. By the end of 2020, the government had officially recognized a total of 16 religions and 43 religious organizations; however, many groups refused to register for fear of persecution or concern for their independence, which has led to both state-sponsored and independent organizations competing to represent the religion in some cases. Human rights groups raised concerns that the government of Vietnam targets religious groups and individuals through online hate speech and defamation. In 2020, the state-backed “Red Flag Association” joined with government entities in spreading online propaganda that promoted discrimination and intolerance against religious groups and individuals such as Catholic priests, Montagnard Christians, and independent Cao Dai adherents. The Red Flag Association has been active since 2017 and was involved in violent incidents attacking the Catholic community. Although reportedly dissolved in 2018, the association has increasingly moved its operations to online platforms. In one instance, the Red Flag Association attacked three members of the Catholic community with derogatory language on its website, calling them “terrorists” and “brain dead.” Positive Developments The government has reportedly made efforts to streamline administrative processes and procedures related to religion by implementing an interagency, one-stop online platform. The platform is also used by the government’s Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA), which monitors and evaluates the implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion, in addition to coordinating with central and local authorities to address complaints from religious organizations and individuals. In February, the Ministry of Public Security issued a circular on the regulation of detention facilities, which included a provision allowing prisoner access to religious publications. In early 2020, the government of Dam Rong District in Lam Dong Province announced a plan to resettle stateless Hmong Christian residents in Subdivision 179 and to issue them household registration documents. For decades, local authorities have discriminated against Hmong and Montagnard Christian communities in the Northern and Central Highlands because of their faith and refused to issue them household registration and identification cards, which are necessary to access public services such as education and healthcare. If successfully implemented, Subdivision 179 could serve as a model for central and local government officials to improve conditions for other ethnic and religious minority communities. In September, the government released Pastor A Dao, leader of the Montagnard Evangelical Church of Christ and one of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience (RPOC). State authorities had arrested A Dao in 2016 after he attended the Southeast Asia Freedom of Religion or Belief Conference, where he had shared the challenges his church faced from the government. Cybersecurity and State Secret Laws and Regulations Several new laws had potentially negative implications for religious freedom. Broad and vague provisions in the Cybersecurity Law (effective January 1, 2019) and Protection of State Secrets Law (effective July 1, 2020) could be used in conjunction with their implementing decrees and decisions to punish and persecute religious groups and individuals. For example, according to the State Secrets Law, certain documents concerning religion and belief—such as meeting minutes between religious groups and the government—could be classified as state secrets, while “unauthorized” possession or dissemination of such information could be grounds for criminal prosecution or administrative punishment. Key U.S. Policy While the United States and Vietnam have close economic and defense relationships, religious freedom and broader human rights remain key U.S. concerns. In October 2020, during the 24th U.S.Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, U.S. officials raised concerns with their Vietnamese counterparts about religious freedom conditions, the status of ethnic minority groups, and other related human rights issues. In April and during the third Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in November, then Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel D. Brownback called on countries, including Vietnam, to release prisoners of conscience. In August, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Cornyn (R-TX) sent a joint letter to then Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo urging the U.S. Department of State to designate Vietnam as a CPC for its religious freedom violations and to consider imposing Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against perpetrators of grave human rights abuses in that country. While USCIRF has recommended Vietnam’s designation as a CPC every year since 2002— finding that despite some areas of progress, “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom within the meaning of IRFA persist—the State Department designated it as a CPC only in 2004 and 2005. U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R C O U N T R I E S O F PA R T I C U L A R C O N C E R N ( C P C ) 53 VIETNAM Background