Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
GENEVA, 27 September 2006 (Vietnam Committee) – Speaking today at a parallel event on “Freedom and Democracy Perspectives in Southeast Asia” with speakers from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and International Spokesman of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) called upon the Vietnamese government to immediately re-establish the legal status of the outlawed UBCV and release its Deputy leader Venerable Thich Quang Do from house arrest so that he may travel to Norway to receive the Rafto Prize 2006 for human rights defenders. On 21 September, the Rafto Foundation announced its decision to award their prestigious human rights award to Venerable Thich Quang Do. Four previous Rafto laureates went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma), Jose Ramos Horta (Timor Leste), Kim Dae Jung (South Korea) and Shirin Abedi (Iran). The award ceremony will take place in Bergen, Norway, on 4 November 2006.
Mr. Vo Van Ai told the UN meeting that he had spoken to Venerable Thich Quang Do by telephone to ask if he would go to Norway to reveive the prize. Thich Quang Do replied that this would be extremely difficult because he is currently under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Momastery in Ho Chi Minh City, and is arrested by Security Police each time he steps outside his door. Moreover, he stressed that he is Deputy leader of a banned organization, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. As long as the UBCV remains banned, he is an illegal citizen, and can be detained at any moment. Thich Quang Do said that if he went to Norway, Vietnam may never let him return. “My place is in Vietnam, beside my people in their peaceful struggle for religious freedom, democracy and human rights. I could never accept to be cut off from my people”.
Mr. Vo Van Ai called upon the Vietnamese government to immediately re-establish the UBCV’s legal status, free Thich Quang Do and allow him to go to Norway in November. “Vietnam will host the APEC Summit in Hanoi in November 2006. Legalizing the UBCV and setting free its leaders will send a strong signal to the international community that Vietnam’s new leadership is making a first step on the road to political reform”.
International pressure is mounting for the release of Thich Quang Do. On Monday 25th September, a delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, headed by its Vice- President Mrs Erna H. Solber, met the Vietnamese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi and strongly urged Vietnam to ensure that Thich Quang Do was free to travel to Norway to receive the Rafto Prize.
At the Human Rights Council last week, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights’ Executive Secretary Vo Tran Nhat made an Oral Statement calling for the release of Thich Quang Do,the UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and cyber-dissident Nguyen Vu Binh. The Vietnamese delegation immediately used their right of reply to say that “there are no prisoners of conscience in Vietnam”.
