International Buddhist Information Bureau
Director: Vo Van Ai
25 rue Jaffeux, 92230 Gennevilliers, France
tel. (33 1) 47 93 10 81 - fax. (33 1) 47 91 41 38
E-mail: 100302.3100@compuserve.com
For Immediate Release
June 16th, 1997
Buddhist delegates from 20 countries at the International Network of Engaged Buddhists Conference in Thailand call for the release of Buddhist leaders in Vietnam.
Buddhists from 20 countries in Asia, the USA and Europe attending the 8th International Conference of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) in Kanchanaburi, Thailand last week called on the Vietnamese Government to release detained leaders of the independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). Buddhist monks, nuns and lay-followers from Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Nepal, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, the UK, the USA and Vietnam attended the Conference. INEB, a Bangkok-based organisation that promotes the integration of Buddhist principles with social action, has supported a number of humanitarian and educational projects in Vietnam. A Buddhist delegation from Vietnam was invited to attend, but their visa was refused by the Vietnamese authorities. Vietnam was represented by UBCV overseas spokesman Mr Vo Van Ai, Director of the International Buddhist Information Bureau and President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights.
After discussing Buddhist strategies to address the growing violations of women's rights, environmental and regional issues, the Conference adopted several human rights resolutions and set up a Joint Buddhist Human Rights Committee for Burma, Tibet and Vietnam.
The following Open Letter, signed by 50 Buddhist monks, nuns and lay-Buddhist delegates from the 20 countries was sent to the Secretary General of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Mr Do Muoi, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and SRV National Assembly President Nong Duc Manh:
"We the undersigned, participants from 20 countries at the 8th Conference of the International Network of Buddhists (INEB) meeting in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, in June 1997, express our deep concern about the serious violations of religious freedom against the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. These violations are part of a systematic policy of repression waged against Buddhists since 1954 (after the Geneva Agreement) in North Vietnam and since 1975 in the South.
In Vietnam today, the traditional Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UVBC) is banned, its pagodas are confiscated and its network of educational, social and cultural institutions are closed down. Monks, nuns and lay-Buddhists have suffered torture, detention and intimidation, and today virtually all the UBCV leadership is in prison or under house arrest. Moreover, repression against the "Buddhist Youth Movement" has reached such a pitch that 200 leaders of this 300,000-strong educational movement are preparing to immolate themselves in protest.
We, the undersigned, call on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to cease its policy of repression against the UBCV and take the following urgent steps:
1) immediately and unconditionally release all Buddhist monks, nuns and lay-persons detained on account of their non-violent religious beliefs, particularly Venerables Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do, Thich Tue Sy, Thich Tri Sieu (Le Manh That), Thich Khong Tanh, Thich Nhat Ban, Thich Tri Tuu, Thich Thien Minh etc.;
2) guarantee the right to existence of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and restore its freedom of religious activity;
3) cease the campaign to disband the Buddhist Youth Movement (Gia Dinh Phat Tu);
4) restore all property confiscated by the authorities from the UBCV."
International Buddhist Information Bureau
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