A/59/366 84. On 30 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent to the Government information alleging that, in the first such case since 2002, a Jehovah’s Witness from Samarkand, Mr. Vladimir Kushchevoy, had been sentenced to three years’ “corrective labour” under the criminal law for “failing to observe the prescribed manner of communicating religious doctrine”. Viet Nam 85. On 26 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent to the Government of Viet Nam further information on the case of Pham Van Tuong (alias Thich Tri Luc) (see E/CN.4/2004/63, para. 101) who was reportedly sentenced to 20 months in prison on 12 March 2004 during a closed trial at the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City which lasted less than one hour. His family was not informed of the trial until 11 March 2004. No lawyer was present for his defence. 86. By letter of 6 April 2004, the Government replied that the information sent by the Special Rapporteur was not true and that the rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of non-religion or belief were clearly enshrined in the Constitution and laws and were guaranteed in practice. It stated that Thich Tri Luc had been arrested on 26 July 2002 at Tay Ninh frontier when he was trying to cross the border illegally in an attempt to contact and coordinate with certain foreign organizations for activities against the State. At his trial, the court, considering his attitude of repentance, sentenced Pham Van Tuong to only 20 months of imprisonment. On 26 March 2004, Pham Van Tuong was released and is now leading a normal life with his family and is expected to be resettled abroad by arrangement with UNHCR. 87. On 10 June 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent another communication to the Vietnamese Government about the following allegations: (a) Thich Vien Dinh, superior monk of Giac Hoa pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, was harassed by the Security Police and other authorities during the first weeks of May 2004 allegedly after he expressed support for the illegal Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in a letter to the Government. In this letter, he reportedly called for the release of UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and all other members of the UBCV leadership who were reportedly arrested in October 2003. Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do were placed under house arrest in their respective monasteries in Binh Dinh and Ho Chi Minh City. (b) On 10 and 11 April 2004, on the occasion of Easter celebrations, between 10,000 and 30,000 Christian members of the Degar tribe reportedly gathered in the cities of Buon Ma Tuor, Kontum, Dalat, Phuoc Long and Plei Ku as well as in other areas, to protest alleged ongoing repression against hill tribes and violations of their human rights, including their right to freedom of religion, by the authorities. The demonstrations were allegedly violently suppressed by the Vietnamese authorities, causing an undetermined number of casualties. While the authorities had barred access to the area by independent observers and had imposed a news blackout on hospital personnel, some reports asserted that at least 10 Montagnards had been killed, including one from a gunshot wound in the head and others from beatings, and hundreds were allegedly wounded. 18