CSW calls for fair treatment for church after COVID outbreak

CSW is concerned by reports of criticisms and allegations by both state media and social media users against an independent church in Vietnam, currently under criminal investigation for spreading COVID-19.

CSW also calls on the authorities to ensure that any limitations to freedom of religion or belief on public health grounds are applied in a non-discriminatory manner.

Morning Star News 报告 that Revival Ekklesia Mission (REM) is a church organisation based in Ho Chi Minh City with other branches around the country. The organisation is locally registered with the authorities to carry out religious activities, but reportedly not “legally recognized” as a religious organisation. Under Vietnamese law, official registration is required for a wide range of religious activities and official recognition takes several years.

The Morning Star report states that on 26 May, two people who attended the church meeting place in HCMC tested positive for COVID-19. By 1 June, the country’s tracing system found at least 211 positive cases connected with the REM centre. The city has been put into lockdown and gatherings of more than 10 people in public, and all religious gatherings, are prohibited.

The report adds that on 30 May, authorities temporarily suspended REM’s registration; the following day police announced that the organisation is under criminal investigation for spreading COVID-19. The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, who also serves as the chairman of the Government Committee of Religious Affairs, stated that the REM was not a church and its leaders could not call themselves “reverend” or “pastor”. A GCRA bulletin issued on 28 May required local authorities to “nearly single out house churches for inspection and education regarding COVID-19 regulations.”

Co-leaders of the REM who have themselves contracted Covid-19 have made a public apology. Nevertheless, the organisation’s leaders and their family have faced intense criticism from state and social media. They have reportedly refuted allegations that they broke health regulations. Some Christian leaders, including Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Nang of HCMC, have called for compassion for the church, pointing out that REM did not willingly or carelessly spread the virus.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “In these exceptional times, governments and health services have a responsibility to investigate the sources and spread of COVID outbreaks. However, this must be done in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. We are concerned by reports of criticisms and allegations against the church and its leader both by state media and social media users, and particularly by reports of the ‘singling out’ of churches by authorities, apparently in connection with this outbreak. We call on the authorities to ensure that any limitations on public health grounds are applied in a non-discriminatory manner, and that they are not instrumentalised to undermine the future enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. We further call on the authorities to ensure that any criminal investigations are carried out in line with international standards which protect the rights of the persons involved, in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a party.”