Venerable Thich Quang Do is nominated for 2008 Nobel Peace prize by 137 MPs from Europe, the USA and Asia

PARIS, 1st February 2008 (IBIB) – As the Nobel Selection Committee for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize closes the deadline for nominations today (1st February 2008), the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) is informed that the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has been nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize by a wide range of academics and legislators from Europe, the United States and Asia.

Sixty Members of the European Parliament from all major political groups from left to right endorsed Thich Quang Do’s nomination in letters sent to the Nobel Committee in Oslo yesterday. The signatories included Graham Watson, leader of ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni, Co-Presidents of the European Greens, Pasqualina Napoletano, Vice-President of the European Socialist Group, and five Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, Edward Mc-Millian Scott (EPP-DE, European and Christian Democrats Party), Diana Wallis, Luigi Cocilovo, Gerard Onesta and Mario Mauro. Other prominent Euro MPs backing the nomination were Bronislaw Geremek, former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italian MEP Marco Pannella and Marco Cappato (EP Rapporteur on Human Rights), Charles Tannock (UK), Paulo Casaca (Portugal), Richard Czarnecki (Poland), Pia Locatelli, President of the Women’s Socialist International and Baroness Sarah Ludford, Vice-President of the EP Sub-Commission on Human Rights. “By nominating Thich Quang Do, we are not only honouring a personality of great merit and value who has spent a great part of his life in prison under successive political regimes” said MEP Marco Cappato in Brussels, “we are acknowledging the political value and efficiency of Thich Quang Do’s methods of non-violence as the best way of promoting democracy and human rights”.

Sixty-seven Members of the Italian Parliament from all political parties, including a member of the Italian Communist Party also nominated Thich Quang Do for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. “Religious freedom is the key to democracy in South-East Asia”, said Italian MP Bruno Mellano, “Venerable Thich Quang Do is a symbol of the peaceful struggle for religious freedom and human rights”. In France, several prominent members of the National Assembly, including Françoise Hostalier, former Secretary of State for Education, also endorsed the appeal. “Thich Quang Do’s vision of democracy extends beyond Vietnam’s borders. In September 2007, he expressed solidarity with the democratic protests of Buddhist monks and civilians in Burma, calling for urgent UN action to cease the violence” wrote the French MPs, noting that “The Vietnamese authorities reacted by launching a widespread vilification campaign against Thich Quang Do in the State-controlled media and threatening his imminent arrest”.

In the United States, prominent Members of Congress including Congressman Edward Royce (R.), Zoe Lofgren (D.), Tom Davies (R.) and Loretta Sanchez (D.) launched bi-partisan nominations for Thich Quang Do. In letters to the Nobel Selection Committee in Oslo, they declared that Thich Quang Do’s “advocacy for liberty is of historic proportions, and deserves to be recognized by members of your Committee”. The Nobel Peace Prize for Thich Quang Do, they wrote, would “not only honour a courageous proponent of peace, but also acknowledge the silent struggle of all those who risk their lives daily for the cause of human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam and elsewhere”.

Many university professors and academics also submitted nominations on Thich Quang Do. Dr Paul Scott, Professor of Asian Studies at the Kansai Gaidai University, Japan, wrote: “The Nobel Prize committee honoured us all by making Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a recipient. It is my strongest opinion that the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, a Buddhist monk, an inspired writer and Deputy Head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), stands in the same ranks with Dr. King.”