PARIS, 16 December 2008 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau received a report today from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) on a visit by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Hanoi, Ms. Virginia E. Palmer to Very Venerable Thich Thien Hanh, Secretary …
Read More »PARIS, 4 December 2008 (International Buddhist Information Bureau) – Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Ban, 73, Superior monk at the Ba La Mat pagoda and head of the local representative board of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in the southern province of Dong Nai has been beaten and his …
Read More »PARIS, 18 November 2008 (IBIB) – Leading monks from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) gathered at the Giac Hoa Pagoda in Saigon on 15 November 2008 for a meeting of the UBCV Supreme Bi-cameral Council (Institute of the Sangha and Institute for the Dissemination of the Dharma Vien …
Read More »PARIS, 1st November 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS) – The wives of five pro-democracy activists in Vietnam whose husbands were arrested in September 2008 have written to the Vietnamese leadership calling for their release and “safe return” to their families. In a letter dated 30.10.2008, Mrs Nguyen Thi Nga, …
Read More »STRASBOURG, 22 October 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS) – In its plenary session in Strasbourg today, the European Parliament passed a “Resolution on the new EU-Vietnam Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and Human Rights”. Adopted by an overwhelming majority of 479 in favour with 21 against and 4 abstentions, the …
Read More »PARIS, 9 October 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS) – 664 people were executed in Asia in 2007, more than in any other region in the world. In Vietnam, 104 people received death sentences, including 14 women. Last year, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution calling on all countries …
Read More »PARIS, 4 October 2008 (IBIB) – Prominent dissident and leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam Thich Quang Do has sent a letter to Buddhist leaders in South Korea supporting their peaceful protests against anti-Buddhist intolerance. Buddhists in Korea have complained that the administration of President Lee Myung Bak, …
Read More »NEW YORK, 26 September 2008 (IBIB) – Addressing Ministers of over 100 member-states of the United Nations Democracy Caucus meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York today (Friday 26th September), the Non-governmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD) condemned the recent arrests and repression of …
Read More »PARIS, 15 September 2008 (IBIB) – On the 50th Anniversary of a diplomatic note by North Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong accepting China’s claims of sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, the new leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), Patriarch Thich Quang Do has called …
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PARIS, 12 September 2008 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau is pleased to introduce the following article by Jared Roscoe, “Buddhism, Under Vietnam’s Thumb”, published online by the Tricycle Buddhist Review in August 2008. The article discusses two different approaches on how to tackle religious repression in Vietnam. On …
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Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights