Vietnam’s jailing of Khmer priests violates religious freedom, human rights group says

Human rights advocates have accused Communist-run Vietnam of violating religious freedom after a court this week sentenced five ethnic Khmer Buddhist monks and four religious activists to prison.

A court in the southern province of Long An sentenced them to two to six years in prison after finding them guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms in violation of state interests” and illegally detaining people, according to a police statement.

Asian Human Rights and Labor Defenders said late Wednesday that the monks’ punishments against the monks were “outrageous and unacceptable.”

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement that Khmer Krom Buddhist monk Thach Chanh Da Ra was given the longest term of six years after a hearing on Tuesday.

Police said Thach Chanh Da Ra instructed his followers to illegally detain and attack local officials when they attempted to search the temple where he resided in November 2023.

The priests were arrested in March this year.

The Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation, which represents the Khmer Krom people in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, said the monks were reacting to the attack by Vietnamese officials who were not in uniform. It was stated that the authorities, accompanied by local gang members, prevented the Khmer language lesson at the temple.

The Federation added that in 2022, authorities tried to cut down a 700-year-old sacred tree in the same temple.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“What was actually on trial was the right of the Khmer Krom people to practice their religion, language and culture without interference from Vietnam’s ruling Communist party,” said Phil Robertson, director of Asian Human Rights and Labor Advocates.

He said the priests did not have lawyers because they could not afford them and he believed no one would take the risk of representing them.

Robertson added that the sentences show that the government is intolerant of freedom of religion and belief outside tightly controlled official structures.

In a report on Vietnam in 2023, the US State Department included the restriction of religious freedoms among a long list of “significant human rights issues.” REUTERS