Press Release

Dissidents Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong face unfair trials in Vietnam

PARIS, 8 July 2004 (VCHR) – The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights condemn the forthcoming trials of dissidents Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong to be held on 9 and 14 July 2004 respectively. The organizations protest against the grave violations …

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Buddhist dissident Thich Tri Luc reports from Sweden :
Security Police forced him to conceal the truth at his trial in exchange for freedom

The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) has received a statement from Buddhist dissident Thich Tri Luc (secular name Pham Van Tuong) with the request that it be made public to the international media. Sent from Sweden, where he has been granted political asylum, the statement describes Thich Tri Luc’s views …

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As the United Nations observes the International Day of the Vesak in New York, UBCV leaders “celebrate” Buddha’s Birthday under house arrest in Vietnam

Whilst hundreds of millions of Buddhists around the globe celebrate the 2548th Anniversary of the Birth of Buddha, or Vesak, on June 2nd 2004, and a ceremony of international observance of the “Day of Vesak” took place at the United Nations in New York, leaders of the outlawed Unified Buddhist …

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Security Police threaten to expel Buddhist monks and cut off electricity at Giac Hoa Pagoda in Saigon for supporting the banned UBCV

The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) has received an urgent appeal for help from Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, Superior monk of Giac Hoa Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He reports that the Security Police and authorities threaten to expel 40 resident Buddhist monks and cut off the electricity …

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Buddhist Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang calls on all Vietnamese Buddhists to unite in the non-violent struggle for the survival of Buddhism

70 delegations of senior monks, nuns and lay-Buddhists representing sections of the Vietnamese American Unified Buddhist Congress in the USA (VAUBC-USA), leaders of the Buddhist Youth Movement and representatives of 36 organizations of the Vietnamese community and media from all over the United States, Canada and Europe gathered in San …

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U.S. Ambassador Raymond Burghardt visits UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang in Binh Dinh

At 10.50 a.m. this morning (28, April 2004), U.S. Ambassador Raymond Burghardt paid a visit to the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh Province, where the 86-year-old UBCV leader is currently under house …

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Senior UBCV monks send Petition to the Vietnamese government calling for the release of Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and detained UBCV leaders

The International Buddhist International Information Bureau (IBIB) has received a copy of a forceful Petition sent to Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai by two senior dignitaries of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) calling for the release of UBCV monks arrested in …

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Authorities in Hue impede members of the US Consulate from meeting UBCV monk Thich Thien Hanh at Bao Quoc Pagoda

The International Buddhist International Information Bureau (IBIB) has received a copy of a letter (dated 2.4.2004) from Venerable Thich Thien Hanh, senior monk of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) to the Communist authorities in Hue protesting incidents on March 29th 2004 in which members of the US Consulate …

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VCP Secretary-general Nong Duc Manh visits European Commission in Brussels :
Vietnam Committee and prominent Euro MPs urge Romano Prodi to demand the release of Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and Pham Quê Duong

Whilst the Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary-general Nong Duc Manh made an extremely “discrete” visit to Brussels today, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights sent a letter to EC President Romano Prodi calling on him to raise Vietnam’s serious human rights violations during their …

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35th Congress of the FIDH in Quito (Equador) calls for the release of Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and Pham Quê Duong

QUITO (Equador), 8 March 2004 (VCHR) – At the 35th triennial Congress of the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) held in Quito, Equador, from 2-6 March 2004 – the very first to be held in Latin America since the FIDH was founded in 1922 – 144 human …

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