Press Release

UBCV Buddhists are banned from celebrating Vesak in Vietnam

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 …

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As Buddhists in Vietnam celebrate the 2550th Vesak Anniversary : Vietnam harasses members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

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 …

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IBIB rejects the statement by Religious Board Chair Ngo Yen Thi on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

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 …

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Vietnam Committee urges the EU Commissioner to press for release of Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do during visit to Vietnam

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 …

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Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do comments on democracy, pluralism and the 10th Communist Party Congress

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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At the World Movement for Democracy’s Fourth Assembly in Istanbul : World Movement for Democracy awards “Democracy Courage Tribute” to Vietnamese dissidents Thich Quang Do and Hoang Minh Chinh

PARIS, 6th April 2006 – More than 600 democracy activists, practitioners and scholars from 125 countries gathered for the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy (WMD) in Istanbul from 2-5 April 2006 under the theme of “Advancing Democracy : Justice, Pluralism and Participation”. Founded in 1999, the WMD held …

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On the eve of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do Calls for the Creation of a Free Trade Union to Protect Worker Rights in Vietnam

PARIS, 30th March 2006 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) received today an “Open Letter” from Venerable Thich Quang Do, prominent dissident and Head of the Executive Institute (Vien Hoa Dao) of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), calling on international labour movements, donor agencies and …

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UBCV nun Thich Nu Thong Man is harassed and expelled from her pagoda for membership of the Khanh Hoa UBCV representative board

The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) has received an urgent appeal for assistance from members of the provincial representative board of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in the central province of Khanh Hoa. They report that local officials and Police have expelled Buddhist nun Thich Nu Thong Man …

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Security Police release Buddhist deputy leader Thich Quang Do after 40 Buddhist monks stage hunger strike in Ho Chi Minh City Railway Station

Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) was released late last night (16th February) after being assaulted by Security Police and detained for more than six hours at the Railway Station in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He was arrested along with …

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Buddhist dissident Thich Quang Do is arrested in Ho Chi Minh City

The International Buddhist Information Bureau has just received urgent information from the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) that the UBCV’s Deputy leader Venerable Thich Quang Do was arrested by Security Police at the Ho Chi Minh City Station at 6.45pm (Vietnam time) today, 16th February 2006. His current …

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