10 (E)(i) Other religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church, are formally recognized by the Government but are subjected to perva sive regulation which violates the right to free dom of religion. For instance, the Catholic Church is forbidden to appoint its own bishops without Government consent, which is fre quently denied, to accept seminarians without specific official permission, and to profess Catholic doctrines which are inconsistent with Government policy. Government restrictions on the seminary process have caused a severe shortage of priests. (ii) A Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly, was arrested in March 2001 and remains in detention after submitting written testimony to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. On October 19, 2001, he was sentenced to a total of 20 years of imprisonment and house arrest; the trial in Hue took place closed to the public and without a defense lawyer. (iii) In October 2002, the Vietnamese Bishops Conference took an unprecedented step when they protested to the National Assembly 11 about the persecutions endured by Catholic eth nic minorities. (F) The Government has also confiscated numerous churches, temples, and other prop erties belonging to religious organizations. The vast majority of these properties-even those belonging to religious organizations formally recognized by the Government-have never been returned. (5)(A) Since 1975 the Government of Viet Nam has persecuted veterans of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam and other Vietnamese who had opposed the Viet Cong insurgency and the North Vietnamese invasion of South Viet Nam. Such persecution typically included substantial terms in "re-education camps", where detainees were often subjected to torture and other forms of physical abuse, and in which many died. (B) Re-education camp survivors and their families were often forced into internal exile in "New Economic Zones". Many of these former allies of the United States, as well as members of their families, continue until the present day to suffer various forms of harassment and discrimination, including 12 1 denial of basic social benefits and exclusion from higher education and employment. (6)(A) The Government of Viet Nam has been particularly harsh in its treatment of members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, who were the first line in the defense of South Viet Nam against invasion from the North and who fought courageously beside members of the Special Forces of the United States, suffering disproportionately heavy casualties, and saving the lives of many of their American and Vietnamese comrades-in-arms. (B) Since 1975 the Montagnard peoples have been singled out for severe repression, in part because of their past association with the United States and in part because their strong commitment to their traditional way of life and to their Christian religion is regarded as inconsistent with the absolute loyalty and control demanded by the Communist sys tem. The Government employs a policy of assimilation and oppression against the Montagnards, forc ibly displacing them from their ancestral lands to make way for North Vietnamese settlers, coffee plantations, and logging operations. 13 (C) Between February and March 2001, several thousand members of the mountain tribes Djarai, Bahnar, and Rhadé from the provinces of Pleiku, Gialai, and Daklak took part in a series of peaceful responded by closing off the Central Highlands and sending in military forces, tanks, and helicopter gunships. Hundreds of demonstrators were injured. Altogether, more than 200 people, among them 60 evangelical priests and tribal chieftains, were arrested. Some regions of the Central Highlands remain closed to journalists and foreign diplomats. (D) Credible reports by refugees who have es caped to Cambodia indicate that the Government has executed some participants in the demonstra tions and has subjected others to imprisonment, tor ture, and other forms of physical abuse. (E) The Government of Viet Nam has also taken steps to prevent further Montagnards from es caping, and there are credible reports that Viet namese security forces in Cambodia are offering bounties for the surrender of Montagnard asylum seekers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 14 (F) According to Human Rights Watch, in December 2002 "[The Government] arrested or de tained dozens of highlanders and banned Christmas church services in order to prevent minority Chris tians from gathering. Six highlanders were detained during the third week in December in Krong Ana and Cu Jut districts, Dak Lak, during Christmas prayer services, while another eight were taken into custody as they were attempting to cross the border to Cambodia. Villagers throughout the Central Highlands were warned they would face fines and even imprisonment if they organized Christmas services. In many areas authorities banned gatherings of four or more people.". (7) The Government of Viet Nam has also persecuted members of other ethnic minority groups, in cluding the Khmer Krom from the Mekong Delta, many of whom fought alongside United States military personnel during the Viet Nam war and whose Hinayana Buddhist religion is not among those recognized by the Government. (8) The Government of Viet Nam also engages in or condones serious violations of the rights of workers. In August 1997, the United Nations Chil dren's Fund (UNICEF) reported that child labor ex |