Press Release

World Day Against the Death Penalty, 10 October 2008:
The Death Penalty in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

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 …

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UBCV leader Thich Quang Do supports Buddhist movement against discrimination in South Korea

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, …

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At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Global Civil Society Democracy Movement condemns repression of peaceful demonstrations in Vietnam

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 …

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50 years after PM Pham Van Dong recognizes Chinese claims to Spratly and Paracel Islands:
Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do calls on Hanoi to reject “anti-Vietnamese” pact and defend territorial integrity

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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Buddhist Review Tricycle examines the situation of Buddhism in Vietnam

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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U.S. officials visit UBCV Patriarch Thich Quang Do in Saigon

PARIS, 3 September 2008 (IBIB) – A delegation of U.S. officials including Ms Katia Bennett, Political Officer of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Laura Carey of the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour in Washington DC visited the new UBCV …

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Vo Van Ai notes the failure of Vietnam’s “renovation” policy and urges Hanoi to recognize the role of civil society and human rights in national development at a Hearing in the European Parliament on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

PARIS, 2nd September 2008 (Vietnam Committee on Human Rights) – From 25-29 August 2008, Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and International Spokesman of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) met European Commission officials and members of the European Parliament in Brussels to press …

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UBCV Spokesman Vo Van Ai welcomes new report by US Commission on International Religious Freedom on abuses of religious freedom in Vietnam

Paris, 1st September 2008 (International Buddhist Information Bureau) – Mr. Vo Van Ai, Director of the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) and International Spokesman of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), warmly welcomed the “Vietnam Policy Focus” issued by the US International Commission on International Religious Freedom. This …

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Thich Quang Do is appointed new leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

HOUSTON, 17th August 2008 (IBIB) – At a ceremony marking the 49th day of the death of Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam held in Houston, Texas today, leaders of the Overseas UBCV made public the late Patriarch’s last will and testament in which …

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