Press Release

Vietnam bans UBCV Vesak celebrations in Binh Thuan – Police surround Giac Minh Pagoda in Danang

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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Vietnam must free bloggers Dieu Cay, Phan Thanh Hai and Ta Phong Tan

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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Local authorities threaten to cut electricity and water in UBCV Executive Institute at the Giac Hoa Pagoda in Saigon

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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USCIRF Report lists Vietnam as one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom

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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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) issues conclusions on Vietnam

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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Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do writes to President Obama on the situation of human rights, VOA radio broadcasts and repression of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

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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UN Committee calls on Vietnam to cease persecution of religious and ethnic minorities

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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UN to review Vietnam’s efforts to eliminate racial discrimination

  GENEVA-PARIS-BANGKOK, 20 February 2012. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member league the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) urge the Vietnamese authorities, when they go before the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination this week, to make firm commitments to address persistent discriminatory practices …

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Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do sends Message of Solidarity to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet

PARIS, 16 February 2012 (IBIB) – Following the recent wave of self-immolations by Tibetans calling for religious freedom, and the ensuing brutal crackdown on these protests by the Chinese authorities, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Patriarch of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has written to His …

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Vietnam must free prominent Blogger Dieu Cay, detained incommunicado and feared to have disappeared

PARIS, 13 February 2012 (VCHR) – The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights is deeply concerned about the physical integrity of prominent blogger Nguyen Van Hai (alias Dieu Cay), who has been detained incommunicado for the past 16 months on charges of “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam”. His …

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