Over sixty religious figures, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, legislators and civil society leaders call on Vietnam to cease religious repression and release Thich Quang Do on UN Vesak Day

PARIS, 7 May 2014 (Vietnam Committee) – As Vietnam hosts celebrations of the United Nations Day of the Vesak (Birth, Enlightenment and Passing away of the Buddha) at the Bai Dinh Temple in Ninh Binh from 7-11 May, sixty one prominent international personalities have launched a joint appeal to the Vietnamese leadership to cease repression against the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and release its Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do.

The signatories include four women Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Tawakkol Karman, Roman Catholic Bishop Vaclav Maly of Prague, US Congress members Frank Wolf, Chris Smith, Loretta Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren, former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, Vice-President of the European Parliament Edward McMillan-Scott and prominent MEPs from the UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain and France, Lord David Alton and Lord Eric Avebury (UK House of Lords), Emma Bonino, former Foreign Minister (Italy), David Kilgour, former Minister (Canada), laureates of the Norwegian Rafto Prize from Estonia, Hungary, South Africa, Mexico, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Bahrain, as well as civil society leaders from the USA, Europe, Burma, Mongolia, Taiwan, Tibet and Japan.

Nobel Peace Prize laureates Tawakkol Karman, Mairead Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Shirin Ebadi

In their joint letter to Vietnamese government and Communist Party, the 61 international personalities expressed concern at the stark contrast between the grandiose celebration of Buddhism’s most sacred festival and the renewed intensity of State repression against Buddhists in Vietnam. “We are deeply disturbed by recent reports of grave repression against Buddhism, the very faith you claim to celebrate”, they wrote, noting that “UBCV monks, nuns and lay-followers all over the country are routinely harassed, and Security Police are preventing Vesak celebrations in UBCV temples in Danang, Hue and elsewhere”. Only the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Sangha is involved in the ceremonies, whereas UBCV leaders remain “prisoners in their own pagodas”.

They urged Vietnam to celebrate Vesak more meaningfully by releasing Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do, 86, who has spent the past three decades in detention, re-establishing the legitimate status of the banned UBCV and ceasing all repression against the UBCV. (Full text below).

Excellencies,

From 7-11 May 2014, your government will host the 2014 United Nations’ Day of the Vesak at the Bai Dinh Temple in Ninh Binh province. This sacred festival, which commemorates the Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment and Passing Away, is a world-recognized religious and cultural event. It should be a joyful occasion, a day to remember Buddha’s message of tolerance and peace, and to inspire all people, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, to work together towards mutual understanding and harmonious coexistence in our world.

However, we are deeply disturbed by recent reports of grave repression against Buddhism, the very faith you claim to celebrate. Only the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, controlled by the Communist Party’s Fatherland Front, is involved in these celebrations, whilst the independent, historical Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) remains banned and its leaders are prisoners in their own pagodas.

Today, the UBCV’s Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do, aged 86, a renowned scholar and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City. He has spent more than three decades in detention for his peaceful advocacy of religious freedom and human rights. UBCV monks, nuns and lay-followers in twenty provincial sections all over the country are routinely harassed, and Security Police are preventing Vesak celebrations in UBCV temples in Danang, Hue and elsewhere. In the light of these grave abuses against Buddhists, as well as Catholics, Protestants, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai and other religious communities, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its 2014 report that Vietnam be re-designated as a “Country of Particular Concern”.

We appreciate the progress Vietnam has made in the economic domain, but we believe that progress is only sustainable if it is built upon tolerance and respect. Vietnam is a member of the UN Human Rights Council and a signatory to key UN human rights treaties. As such, your government has a binding obligation to uphold human rights, including the universal and inalienable right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.

We, the undersigned, call upon you to mark this 2014 UN Day of the Vesak by ceasing all repression against the UBCV, releasing Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do and restoring the UBCV’s legitimate status. By this gesture, you will uphold the noble aims enshrined in the UN Vesak Day Charter, and honour the 2,000 year heritage of Buddhism in Vietnam.

Sincerely,