Agence France Presse HANOI, Jul 2, 2006 (AFP) – A new decree has sparked debate about how Vietnam’s communist government plans to manage media outlets which are already under strong state control but have recently shown stirrings of independence. The decree entitled “Administrative Sanctions on Information and Culture …
Read More »GENEVA, 20th June 2006 – As the new United Nations Human Rights Council begins its first session in Geneva this week, Vo Van Ai, President of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and Vice-President of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), wrote to UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, the …
Read More »The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) has received urgent information that Security Police have expelled Buddhist nun Thich Nu Thong Man and all her novices from Dich Quang Pagoda in Ninh Hoa district in the central province of Khanh Hoa. Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, head of the local village authorities, …
Read More »PARIS, 17 May 2006 (IBIB) – Thanks to concerted international pressure for improvements in religious freedom in Vietnam, including as Resolutions in the European Parliament and US Congress, the US State Department’s designation of Vietnam as a “Country of Particular Concern” and repeated interventions by the United Nations, and following …
Read More »PARIS, 12 May 2006 (IBIB) – As State-sponsored Buddhist organisations celebrate the 2550th Anniversary of the Vesak (Birth of Buddha) in Vietnam today (15th day of the 4th Lunar month, i.e. 12th May 2006), the authorities are tightening controls on the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Security Police have …
Read More »PARIS, April 25, 2006 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) strongly denounces the statement made by Ngo Yen Thi, Chairman of Vietnam’s Religious Board at a Press Conference in Hanoi on Monday 24th April. Asked by a reporter whether Vietnam was prepared to re-establish the legal status of …
Read More »Agence France Presse HANOI, April 21 2006 (AFP) – Rights activists have urged the European Union to press Vietnam for the release of several dissidents, as a top EU official arrived in Hanoi on Friday for talks with leaders of the communist country. Media rights watchdog Reporters without …
Read More »Agence France Presse HANOI, April 21 2006 (AFP) – A top EU diplomat said Friday she would discuss human rights and push for the release of jailed political and religious dissidents when she meets Vietnam’s communist leaders. The European commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, was due to …
Read More »Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, wrote to European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner this week asking her to place issues of human rights and democratization high on her agenda during her official visit to Vietnam which begins on Friday, in which she will …
Read More »At the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul (2-5 April), Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy Head of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and Communist Party veteran Hoang Minh Chinh were awarded the “Democracy Courage Tribute” alongside activists from Nepal, Uzbekistan and the Crimea (1). …
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Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights