Public Opinion--International Support

Public Opinion-International Support

By Van Nguyen




The United Nations, in 1986, created the position of a special rapporteur on religious intolerance within the U.N. Commission of Human Rights. Since 1994, the special rapporteur had led religious inquests in a number of countries, namely, China, Pakistan, Greece, Soudan, India, Australia, Germany, and the United States. A visit to Vietnam of the special rapporteur had been initiated since 1995. An inquest on the situation of human rights in Vietnam was addressed at the t54th session of the Commission for Human Rights in Geneva in April 1998, On September 8 of the same year. The Honorable Abdelfattah Amor was to come to Hanoi, Hue, Saigon, Tay Ninh, and a number of other locations where he could meet officials of the State and the representatives of diverse religious communities. The special rapporteur, nevertheless, was prevented from meeting with the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. Other religious dignitaries were estranged from the envoy. Among them were Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang who was then under house surveillance in Quang Ngai, the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu and the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, both of whom were former professors at Van Hanh University, Saigon, and the Venerable Thich Tri Tuu, Superior Monk at Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue. Included in the list were the Catholic priests of the Congregation of the Maria Coredemptrix including the Congregation Superior-general Tran Dinh Thu, Fr. Pham Minh Chi, and other religious, namely, Br. Nguyen Viet Huan, Br. Mai Duc Chuong, and Br. Nguyen Van Thin.  On his return, the envoy of the United Nations publicly complained about the complications caused by the Vietnamese authorities on his trip for finding facts.

Until December 2, 1999, could David Young, the deputy-secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, come to visit Patriarch Thicn Huyen Quang, who was under house surveillance at Hoi Nghia Pagoda, Quang Ngai Province. The American diplomat was the first foreign visitor to the ailing patriarch since his forced isolation from his followers since 1982. International humanitarian organizations including the Red Cross and foreign journalists had not been authorized to come to visit him. During conversation, the Patriarch of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church had opportunity to express his views, reportedly underlining the distinctive character pertaining to the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church from that of the Buddhist Church of Vietnam created by and administered under the patronage of the Fatherland Front. The former Church, in his opinions, is founded on the tradition of twenty centuries of Buddhism and the unity all Vietnamese branches of Buddhism cherish. The Church operates from the base, which is the population of Vietnam. Its hierarchy is founded on this base. The Buddhist Church of Vietnam, on the contrary, was founded in 1981, at the initiative of the State. It is devoid of legitimacy, historicity, and popularity. Established essentially by such a hierarchical superstructure, the population has no representation in it.  Therefore, the popular representation is null in it. He stressed, in particular, that the Church does not have to interfere in the affairs of the State, the State should then take care of not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church.     

On November 19, 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton, during his visit tour in the country, had a meeting with the Archbishop of Saigon Pham Minh Man at the Saigon City Hall. This was a heartening moment for rights advocates. The President assured during conversation that the liberty of beliefs is indissolubly linked to certain rights necessarily accompanying the market economy. Religious liberty even seems to have predominated on the other aspects. In his speech before the students at the University of Hanoi, the President ascertained, in addition, that the liaison of economic rights between civil rights is absolute.    

At the end of February 2002, a delegation of the U.S. Commission of Religious Freedom, at the invitation of the government of Vietban, came to the country to make an investigation on the situation of religious freedom. The chief of the delegation, Firus Kazemzaden and his colleagues, had difficulties in making contacts with leaders of the Churches of the country, Catholicism, the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao Buddhism. They could only contact with the Churches’ representatives in an indirect and non-official manner. Authorities sought all means to control their itinerary displacements. The chief of the delegation added that he admired the courage of the personalities thus contacted. He said that there is no religious freedom in Vietnam since the authorities want to strictly control all religions and religious organizations. As for those people they cannot control, they interdict them.

On July 5, 2002, the European Parliament adopted a motion calling for liberation of all religious prisoners in Vietnam and designated a group of six deputies to come to Vietnam to meet the leaders of all religions, particularly those who were in the prison. The delegation would, in addition, participate in the general Assembly of the inter-parliamentary organization of the ASEAN that started on September 9, 2002 in Hanoi. The delegation arrived in Hanoi on September 7, 2002, The delegation was not authorized to meet the religious dignitaries who were in prison or placed in residence surveillance, nevertheless. Authorities also refused to give it permission to meet a number of religious dissidents and prisoners assigned to residence surveillance in diverse locations.

 Hanoi was under international pressure due to non-cooperation on rights issues. Until May 2005, regardless of official protests from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Vietnam, the U.S. State Department maintained Vietnam on the list of the countries of particular concern (CPC). Rights advocates were awed into silence at the exclusion of Vietnam from the list of the countries of particular concerns of the U.S. State Department. International concerns over the rights situation were increasingly manifest, however.    

After his vast tour to Vietnam, December.1-3, 2005, U.S. Congressman Christopher Smith published in a report his observations and remarks on the rights situation in the country. As regards religious freedom, he remunerated, in particular, the excruciating pressure under which the believer serves his faith, being forced to renounce his faith, for instance. The Ordinance on the Beliefs and Religions is promulgated, but the application of the law is not observed. Persecutions continue. Vietnam remains a country that is worrisome in the domain of religious liberty.    

Amnesty International, on May 23, 2006, published an annual report (2005) report on the situation of human rights in the world. Vietnam is included in the list of the countries of particular considerations. The report shows great concern over the situation of the Montagnards in the Central Highlands and the infringements on religious freedom. It noted that during the year 2005, at least 45 Montagards were condemned by the local People’s Court. These condemnations had been motivated by the participation of the accused in the movements of protests from 2001 to 2004.  Violations of religious freedom were pervasive.  Christians were forced to renounce their faith. Many of them had to evade their homeland and sought refuge in Cambodia.

On March 16, 2007, security officers intercepted Theresa Jebsen of the

Oslo-based Radio Foundation as she came to the monastery Thanh Minh Thien Vien to present to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do the prestigious 2006 Thorolf Radio Memorial Award. Thersa Jebsen was detained, and the Norwegian journalist Tom Rune Orsel was questioned for two hours. Previously, he Foundation Chairman Ame Lynngard had sent a letter to the Vietnamese authorities seeking permission for its citizens to visit Vietnam to present the award to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, but the demand was denied. The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do reluctantly grieved at the improper conduct of the authorities as regards the authority’s attitude towards foreign visitors. He said:  “One could then imagine how 80 million people live under this regime. They are living in a prison, in a large concentration camp,”

During conversation with the U.S. Foreign Affairs delegation led by the Undersecretary in charge of East Asia and the Pacific Eric John on April 9, 2007 at Thanh Minh Monastery, the Most Venerable Thich Quangg Do expressed his hopes as regards the policy on religion in Vietnam of the U.S. administration. He particularly weighed in with remarks the statement by President Georges W. Bush on the presidential inaugural ceremony of the second term according to which the United State would readily stand on the side of the oppressed under a totalitarian regime. Nevertheless, on his visit to Vietnam to attend the APEC Conference in November 2006, the President said nothing about democracy and human rights. Not only the Vietnamese, but also the oppressed peoples in other countries such as North Korea and Myanmar expressed hopelessness as regards U.S. rights pokily. 

On December 24, 2008; two E.U. congressmen were invited to Vietnam to observe the situation of religions but were asked to cancel their visit for security reason at Bangkok, Thailand, by the host country. One of these two dignitaries, Marco Pannelia, refuted the excuse. The invited observer believed that even Hanoi said that it had not known the reason for the obstruction, it could not deny that the Embassy of Italy in Hanoi had communicated to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Italy that the Vietnamese administration was very concerned about this visit and awaited the visitors at the Vietnam National Assembly. A certain travel agency of Vietnam also prevented them to enter Vietnam. There must be a problem between them. For whatever the reason it might be, the visitors could not conceive why they were treated by the host country in such a manner. 

The congressmen intended to see the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do. Previously, the European politician Olivier Dupuis had come to Vietnam and participated in a nonviolent demonstration in Vietnam to support the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. He supported the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do for his cause and bravery. He had nominated the venerable monk to the candidacy to the award of the Sakharov Awards of Europe. The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do is highly worthy of it.  Nevertheless, Hanoi had fear of it. The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, who is well known for bravery and integrity. Hanoi does not want anyone to see him. Those mandarins in Hanoi fear foreign politicians ‘visits.

Marco Panella had hopes he would surely have opportunity to see the highest dignitary of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. The meeting has link to the legacy of civilization of Asia: religious Freedom. It was believed he was vaguely aware of a historical incident in October 2008 when an uprising of the Catholics would likely break out in Vietnam, which incident was little spoken of by the media. As for the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, he had had for many years knowledge about its struggle for rights from Vo Van Ai of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in Paris, France, Elsewhere in the world, Buddhism is facing tyranny. In China, with a trillion and three hundred million people, the authorities in Beijing nevertheless fear the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhists, and not the ten million Tibetan Buddhists that fear Beijing.

In October 2010, police brutality and religious intolerance came as U.S. Secretary State Hilary Clinton prepared her visit to Hanoi for regional summit. Authorities demolished all the houses in Con Dau Parish, Da Nang for the eco-tourism project. Many parishioners who claimed for rights were convicted or alleged offences. The U.S. Commission on International religious Freedom (USCIRF) called for their unconditional release founded on evidence of the authorities’ intimidation, harassment, and restriction, and torture in detention. Scott Filipse, deputy Director of the USCIRF advocated that the U.S. should consider putting conditions on U.S.-Vietnam economic relationship so that progress is not paid for by the blood and tears of Vietnamese citizens. The commission urged the State Secretary to raise the case when she talked with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi. In April 2011, the commission, again, asked President Barrak Obama‘s administration to reinstate Vietnam on a blacklist of religious freedom violators. The Vietnamese government severely restricts religious practice and brutally represses rights advocates and suppresses the voices that challenge its authority.