Press Release Archives - Page 38 of 54

As Hanoi prepares to host UN International Vesak Day in May 2008, Vietnam expels monks of Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam from pagodas in Lam Dong and Quang Tri and intimidates Buddhists

April 3, 2008 IBIB 0

PARIS, 3rd April 2008 (IBIB) – The outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) informs the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) that Security Police, local authorities and sections of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC) are accelerating measures to “terrorize and harass” UBCV followers by seizing control of UBCV pagodas …

UNDP awards Hanoi a million-dollar grant to continue human rights abuses in Vietnam

March 28, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 28 March 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Hanoi has just signed a $US 1.238-million project with the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry to help “implement human rights treaties in Vietnam”. The 4-year project, signed on 20 March 2008, is aimed at “raising Vietnamese officials’ awareness” …

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

March 16, 2008 IBIB 0

PARIS, 16 March 2008 (IBIB) – In face of the Chinese government’s violent military crackdown on peaceful protests of Buddhists in Tibet, the Very Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has sent a “Message of Solidarity from the Unified Buddhist Church …

Vietnam Committee condemns crackdown on Tibetan Buddhist monks

March 15, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 15 March 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – Quê Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights strongly condemns the Chinese government’s recent brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations of Buddhist monks, nuns and lay-followers in Tibet, and calls for an urgent UN inquiry into the violence. …

State Department official disregards grave religious freedom violations in testimony to key Senate Hearing on Vietnam

March 13, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 13th March 2008 (Vietnam Committee) – Only one day after the US State Department roundly condemned Vietnam’s human rights record in its 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher Hill gave a contradicting evaluation of Vietnam’s “expanded” …

Vietnam Committee welcomes US State Department’s “closer to reality” appraisal of Human Rights Practices in Vietnam

March 12, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 12th March 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – The US State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in 2007, released on Tuesday in Washington D.C., condemned Vietnam’s “unsatisfactory” human rights record in a 52-page overview of the legal and extra-legal barriers to citizens’ enjoyment of human rights in Vietnam. Describing …

Hanoi seeks to impose a political funeral for Hoang Minh Chinh and prevent UBCV monks and pro-democracy activists from attending the event

February 13, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 13th February 2008 (Vietnam Committee on Human Rights) – According to reports from the family of Hoang Minh Chinh, who died last Thursday, Hanoi’s Institute of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy is seeking to take over the organisation of the late dissident’s funeral. The Institute, of which Hoang Minh Chinh was formerly …

On his deathbed, prominent dissident Hoang Minh Chinh asked to be converted to Buddhism by Thich Quang Do

February 11, 2008 IBIB 0

PARIS, 11th February 2008 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau expresses sincere condolences on the death of former high-ranking Communist Party member and leading dissident Professor Hoang Minh Chinh, who died in Hanoi on 7 February 2008 after a long struggle against prostate cancer. Former Dean of the Hanoi …

Interview with Stan Jolly, Co-ordinator of Amnesty International Group 65, Toronto, Canada on the Campaign for the release of Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang (Broadcast on Radio Free Asia, 31 January 2008)

February 6, 2008 VCHR 0

Intro: Y Lan Penelope Faulkner: Amnesty International is a renowned international organisation devoted to promoting internationally recognised human rights and campaigning for the release of prisoners of conscience. It was founded in 1961 by three lawyers, Peter Berenson (UK), Sean McBride (Ireland) and Eric Baker (UK) firstly under the name …

From house arrest, UBCV Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang issues New Year Message to Amnesty International and Vietnamese at home and abroad

February 5, 2008 IBIB 0

PARIS, 5th February 2008 (IBIB) – From house arrest at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh province, the Supreme Patriarch of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) Thich Huyen Quang has sent an audio Message to the international community and Vietnamese around the world. The Message was …