E/CN.4/1993/62 page 109 Viet Nam 68. In a communication sent on 10 August 1992 addressed to the Government of Viet Nam, the following was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur: "According to the information received, the practice of religion in Viet Nam is subjected to severe restrictions. It has been reported that no one can openly practise religion as a priest or minister without the Government’s approval of candidates for ordination and enrolment in seminaries. Restrictions in the exercise of religious freedoms are said to have affected the holding of religious services, gatherings and retreats, religious education and the publication of religious materials. It has also been reported that sermons are subjected to Government approval and that any type of proselytizing is prohibited. The Government has allegedly made attempts to unify religious groups by establishing state-sponsored religious associations such as the Committee for the Solidarity of Patriotic Vietnamese Catholics, the Union of Patriotic Priests, the Protestant Association and the Viet Nam Buddhist Church, the only officially recognized Buddhist organization. It has been alleged that growing numbers of clergy as well as religious activists have been imprisoned since 1989 because of their religious beliefs. It has also been reported that the Government had launched a particularly intensive campaign against religious leaders between April and September 1990. A new decree on the regulation of religious activities passed in May 1991 reportedly stipulates that any nominations to religious office, travel abroad by members of the Vietnamese clergy and visits to Viet Nam by representatives of foreign religious organizations must be approved by the Government. The same decree is said to apply to the holding of religious meetings such as regional and national conferences and the opening of religious schools and seminaries. Catholic priests, nuns and lay persons reportedly may be assigned by the authorities to religious functions and duties at the local level without prior consultation with the Roman Catholic church hierarchy. In addition, the Special Rapporteur has been informed that numerous members of the clergy belonging to various religious denominations have been imprisoned since 1975. This is said to particularly be the case with Roman Catholic priests and Buddhist monks as well as Protestant pastors, who are said to have been persecuted systematically and placed in arbitrary detention for prolonged periods as political prisoners in re-education and labour camps. Military chaplains allegedly were also sent to such camps after 1975, at a time when all foreign missionaries were expelled from the country, numerous places of worship and religious presses closed and religious property confiscated. Large numbers of religious schools, seminaries, hospitals and orphanages were reportedly also closed or nationalized, as was the case with the Evangelical Nha Trang Seminary. It is believed that at least 40 re-education and labour camps were in existence at the beginning of 1990 and that at least 60 prisoners of conscience are detained in Viet Nam on account of their religious beliefs. The conditions prevailing in such camps have been described as extremely harsh, including hard labour, torture and inhuman treatment, lack of food