Washington D.C., Dec 21, 2010 / 04:14 am
As violence against Catholics by the Vietnamese government continues, Rep. Chris Smith appealed to President Obama for a resolution designating Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
Beatings, Church raids, arrests – and even deaths – are some of the violent incidents inflicted on Catholics by authorities in Vietnam over increased conflict on property rights. Throughout the last several decades, in provinces throughout the country, tensions have mounted between the Communist government and local parishioners as officials have repeatedly attempted to claim land where Catholic churches and facilities are situated.
One of the latest violent outbreaks involved a funeral procession earlier this year, where government agents clashed with 500 Catholics and at the parish cemetery of Con Dau. Police arrested 59 people as part of the incident.
On May 4, Catholics had conducted a funeral procession for an 82-year-old woman and tried to bury her in the cemetery, which had been seized by the local government to build a tourist resort.