VCHR Archives - Page 28 of 34

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

September 2, 2008 VCHR 0

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 …

The Life and Times of Thich Huyen Quang

July 14, 2008 Opinions, Press Review, Thich Huyen Quang, VCHR 0

By Vo Van Ai – From The Wall Street Journal AsiaJuly 14, 2008 12:01 am ET Thich Huyen Quang, 87, patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, died in Vietnam on July 5 at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh. One of Vietnam’s most beloved and esteemed spiritual …

As the U.S. President meets Vietnamese Prime Minister in Washington DC: President Bush should urge Vietnamese PM to legalise banned Buddhist Church and allow gravely ill UBCV Patriarch to receive medical treatment in Saigon

June 24, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 24 June 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS) – As the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung embarked on a 4-day official visit in the United States from 23-26 June, and will be received at the White House by U.S. President George W. Bush today, Mr. Vo Van Ai, …

International personalities call on Hanoi to cease religious repression and release Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do on UN Day of the Vesak in Hanoi

May 9, 2008 VCHR 0

PARIS, 9 May 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – Fifty-seven prominent international personalities including a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, religious leaders from different faiths, Members of the European Parliament, the US Congress, Senators and MPs from Italy, France and the UK launched a joint appeal to the Vietnamese leadership on the occasion …

World Movement for Democracy holds Fifth Assembly in Ukraine

April 10, 2008 VCHR 0

KYIV (UKRAINE), 10 April 2008 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – From 6-9 April 2008, 531 democracy activists, practitioners and scholars from 112 countries gathered in Kyiv, Ukraine, for the Fifth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy (WMD) under the theme “Making Democracy Work: From Principles to Performance”. Founded in 1999, the …

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” …

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 …