E/CN.4/1999/58/Add.2 page 5 10. Lastly, there are concerns about the transposition of freedom of religion or belief, as guaranteed by the Constitution, into other legal provisions and, consequently, about the protection of this fundamental right in the Vietnamese legal system as a whole. B. Other legal provisions and the Special Rapporteur's concerns 1. Decrees 11. There are two decrees that directly or indirectly relate to freedom of religion or belief, namely, Decree No. 69/HDBT of the Council of Ministers of 21 March 1991 on the regulation of religious activities and Government Decree No. CP/31 on administrative detention. (a) Decree No. 69/HDBT 12. Articles 1 to 4 and 6 of this Decree guarantee freedom of religion and belief and the principle of non-discrimination based on religion or belief. The Special Rapporteur is, however, concerned about article 5, which stipulates some very vague reservations to freedom of religion such as “any activity using religion to sabotage national independence, oppose the State, sabotage the policy of uniting the whole people, undermine the healthy culture of our nation or prevent the faithful from carrying out their civic duties”. Article 7 guarantees religious activities, but, like articles 70 and 4 of the Constitution, raises some questions about the priority given to “policy lines” and “ideological education”. While article 8 provides that certain religious activities are not subject to government authorization, i.e. “ordinary activities within places of worship (such as prayer meetings, ceremonies, sermons and teaching catechism ...) in accordance with the religious customs of the region”, it specifies that these activities, which are incidentally rather limited, must be programmed and registered every year. 13. All other religious activities, which are very diverse and numerous, are subjected to the authorization of the Provincial People's Committee or of a corresponding administrative body, or even of the Council of Ministers (arts. 9 et seq.), including diocesan priests' retreats and retreats for regular clergy from various orders among the Catholics, periods of meditation and fasting for Buddhist monks (art. 9), periodic conferences, national meetings of religious organizations (art. 10), repair or enlargement work changing the architecture of religious buildings (art. 11), charitable organizations, which have to operate within the guidelines of the competent State organs (art. 16) and the opening of religious schools (art. 17). Moreover, according to article 18, in the training schools for ecclesiastics and monks, the authorities reserve the right to verify the quality of the staff and monitor the teaching and ideological education. 14. Article 14 guarantees freedom to print religious books and to produce or import religious cultural works and objects used in worship, in accordance with the rules established by the State concerning printing and publishing and the production and importation of cultural works. The obligation to have recourse to State printing houses could have the potential result of censorship control.