By Scott Johnson

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MD07Ae01.html

These same prisoners have also been documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In January 2009, the European Parliament confirmed Puih Hbat had been imprisoned "for leading prayer services for Christians in her house". Sources confirm that US Embassy officials in Hanoi had investigated her arrest.

The leaked cables make repeated mention of the "significant gains" Vietnam has supposedly made on upholding religious freedoms. That assessment includes references to the "registration of scores of new religions" and the "training of hundreds of new Protestant and Catholic clergy".