Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
Agence France Presse
HANOI, 17 March 2008 (AFP) – A leading Vietnamese dissident Buddhist monk on Monday called on the international community to put pressure on China to end “repression” in Tibet, following a week of deadly unrest.
“The Buddhists of Tibet are struggling to prevent the suppression of their culture and their faith, and protesting the injustice of one-party rule,” said Thich Quang Do, number two in the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
“Only dialogue, not destruction, can open the way to a lasting solution in Tibet.” “The United Nations, world governments, parliaments and the whole international community must press the Chinese to cease repression and concretely address the Tibetan people’s legitimate demands,” he said.
“The Buddhists of Vietnam stand beside you in this nonviolent struggle for religious freedom and human rights.”
Tibet’s government-in-exile said 80 people have been confirmed killed in the Chinese crackdown on protests against Beijing’s rule in the vast Himalayan region. China has put the death toll at 13.
Thich Quang Do has for the past 30 years campaigned against the communist regime in Hanoi. His church has been banned since 1981.
After serving a lengthy prison term, the monk now lives under virtual house arrest in his pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, from where he continues to campaign for religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam.
