Press Review

AFP : Vietnam refuses visa for Norwegian rights activist

Agence France Presse HANOI, 14 February 2007 (AFP) – Vietnam has refused to issue a visa to the head of a human rights foundation who wanted to visit the communist state to give its annual prize to a Buddhist monk, according to activists. Arne Liljedahl Lynngaard, chairman of the Rafto …

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AP : Vietnam denies human rights group’s request to present award to dissident

    HANOI, 14 February 2007 (AP) – Vietnam has rejected the request of an international human rights group to present an award to a leading dissident, the organization said. Arne Liljedahl Lynngard, chairman of the Norway-based Rafto Foundation, had sought to visit Vietnam to present the group’s annual human …

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DPA : Vietnam denies banning Buddhist patriarch from hospital visit

    HANOI, January 4, 2007 (dpa) – Vietnam on Thursday denied a report that provincial authorities have forbidden the ailing patriarch of a banned Buddhist sect from travelling to Ho Chi Minh City for a medical examination. The government dismissed as a “total fabrication” a claim that security police …

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AFP : Vietnam denies Buddhist dissident’s hospital visit : supporters

Agence France Presse HANOI, Jan 4, 2007 (AFP) – Vietnamese police have prevented the 87-year-old leader of a banned Buddhist organisation from visiting his hospital for a medical checkup, a Paris-based pro-democracy group said on Thursday. Thich Huyen Quang, patriarch of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), was …

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The Daily Telegraph : Vietnam dissident accuses Bush of betrayal

Ho Chi Minh City, 27 November 2006 – Vietnam’s leading dissident yesterday accused America of betrayal after Washington took the Communist state off a list of countries of concern over religious freedom. Thich Quang Do, 77, is deputy leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He spent more …

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DPA : Vietnam critical of human rights prize for Buddhist monk

    Ho Chi Minh City/Oslo, Nov 1, 2006 (dpa) – Communist-run Vietnam on Wednesday dismissed an international human rights prize for a leading monk of a banned Buddhist sect as “completely inappropriate,” state media reported. Thich Quang Do, 77, a pro-democracy activist and deputy patriarch of the Unified Buddhist …

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AFP : Vietnam monk fears exile if he travels to accept human rights prize

HANOI, Oct 31, 2006 (AFP) – A Vietnamese Buddhist monk will not travel to Norway this week to receive the Rafto human rights award because he fears he would be banned from returning to his homeland, his supporters said Tuesday. Thich Quang Do, a 77-year-old monk who has been under …

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AFP : Vietnamese monk wins Norwegian prize for human rights

  Agence France Presse   OSLO, 21 September 2006 (AFP) – Thich Quang Do, a Vietnamese monk currently under house arrest, has been awarded the annual Norwegian Rafto human rights prize for his work in promoting democracy and freedom of expression. The 77-year-old monk, researcher and author had “devoted his …

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Reuters : Vietnamese monk wins Norwegian human rights prize

    OSLO, 21 September 2006 (Reuters) – A Norwegian human rights body, which has four times anticipated the choice of the Nobel Peace Prize winner with its own award, chose a Vietnamese monk on Thursday to receive its annual prize. The Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights honored Thich …

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DPA : VN cyber-dissident to continue criticism

    Hanoi, 30 Aug 2006 (dpa) – Newly freed Vietnamese internet dissident Pham Hong Son vowed hours after his release Wednesday that he would continue to call for free elections in communist-ruled Vietnam despite remaining under house arrest. “I will speak and exchange opinions freely and openly,” Son, 37, …

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