PARIS, May 2, 2012 (IBIB) – On the occasion of the 2556th Vesak, or anniversary of Buddha’s Birth, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has issued a Message to Vietnamese Buddhists urging them to keep up the spirit of freedom …
Read More »PARIS, 28 April 2012 (IBIB) The International Buddhist Information Bureau has received an urgent report from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) on the intensification of Police controls and harassment in the run-up to the celebrations of the Vesak. The Vesak is the anniversary of the Birth of Buddha …
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In further proof that irony is alive and well, Vietnam is a candidate for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2014-2016. What sort of human-rights watchdog would the government in Hanoi be? For a hint, consider the ongoing cases of three activist bloggers now facing …
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PARIS, 16 April 2012 (VCHR) – The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights calls on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release bloggers Nguyen Van Hai (pen-name Dieu Cay) Phan Thanh Hai (Anh Ba Saigon) and Ms. Ta Phong Tan (Justice and Truth) and drop all charges against them. The three are …
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PARIS, March 27, 2012 (IBIB) –The right to religious freedom is formally guaranteed in the Constitution of Vietnam. Yet in reality, the authorities implement a host of repressive measures to restrict and paralyze religious activities. Alongside the detention and house arrest of Buddhist leaders and intimidation of its followers, the …
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PARIS, March 22, 2012 (IBIB) – In its Annual Report for 2012 unveiled in Washington D.C. this week, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has named Vietnam as one of the world’s worst religious freedom violators along with Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, …
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PARIS-GENEVA, 15 March 2012 (VCHR & FIDH) – The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights welcome the conclusions issued by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) after examining Vietnam’s periodic report on its implementation of the International Convention on …
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PARIS, 2 March 2012 (IBIB) – The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, prominent dissident and Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has written to the US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Joe Boehner, calling on …
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GENEVA, 24 February 2012 (VCHR) – The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights regrets that Vietnam missed a precious opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the United Nations in Geneva on 21-22 February 2012 during the examination of its 10th-14th periodic reports on implementation of the UN International Convention …
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GENEVA, 20 February 2012 (AFP) – Authorities in Vietnam deliberately persecute and discriminate against religious minorities, a Vietnamese human rights campaigner told the UN on Monday. “The indigenous Montagnards and the Hmongs are among the ethnic groups who have borne the brunt of the Vietnamese governments discriminatory policies,” Vo Van …
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Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights