Incidents of Repression

  

    The Hue Incident

The State reform of Buddhism failed to unify various Buddhist sects into a sigle organization under the supervision of the Communist Party and administration. It met with resilient resistance notably ftom the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the old Capital Hue, where the Buddhist clergy and faithful determinedly defended their religious faith. They had played the major role in the overthrow the administration of President Ngo Dinh Diem in the “coup d’etat” of November 11, 1963. The Communist administration seemed to ignore the fact and sought to subdue the Unified Buddhist Church right at its cradle. Under the pretext that the Unified Buddhist Church was an outlawed organization, and thus the conduct of affairs of its leadership and clergy were regarded illegal,  the Communist administration decidedly flattened out all  their assemblies, services, and activities.

    

The clergy and faithful could no longer bear the misfortune that fefell on them. From Hue, a nonviolent resistance to repression sparked to life. The opportune moment happened when Patriarch Thich Don Hau, the acting president of the Unified Buddhist Church, passed away at Linh Mu Pagoda, Hue, on April 23, 1992. A message from Saigon to a Buddhist monk living in Southern California on April 30, 1992 disclosed that the Buddhist opposition in Hue against the Communist authorities’ repression was taking shape. Patriarch Thich Don Hau had instructed in his will his family members and disciples to perform his funeral rites and rituals in commemorative silence and in the absence of condolences and citations. Contradicting his will, the Communist administration, alleging as a pretext that Patriarch Thich Don Hau had been a member of the Communist Fatherland Front’s leadership, insisted that it be the organizer for the funeral. The decision was imposed on the dignitary’s family members and disciples, and thus met with strong opposition. Regardless of discontent and protest from the defunct’ s family members and disciples, it unilaterally instituted an organizing committee for the funeral with Nguyen Huu Tho, the vice-president of the Vietnam National Assembly, as its head.

    

Executing the will of Patriarch Thich Don Hau, his family members and disciples refused to join in the committee.  Four Buddhist monks went on a hunger strike. The Venerable Thich Tri Tuu, who was the superior monk at Linh Mu Pagoda, declared that he would immolate himself by fire to protest against the interference of the State in the internal affairs of the Unified Buddhist Church.         

   

On October 3, 1991, the Buddhists assembled at Linh Mu Pagoda to protest against the dissolution of the Unified Buddhist Church of the State.  Four overseas Buddhist associations demanded in a joint declaration that the Communist government in Vietnam to reestablish the Buddhist Churches’ legal status, restore their ecclesiastic personnel, and return to them all their properties. They also pledged to take steps towards strengthening the Buddhist organizations and consolidating union among the Buddhists overseas. They would act in response to Patriarch Thich Don Hau' s religious order and vow to struggle for the rights to religious freedom  in their home country.

 

Facing strong opposition from the Church at home and overseas, the administration yielded to the its demands by withdrawing its unilateral decision to organize the funeral ceremony for the late Patriarch Thich Don Hau. In the meantime, to divert the motivation of the protesters, Nguyen Kim Dinh, an official at the Department of Religious Affairs of the province of Thua Thien - Hue, tried to blind public opinion, divulging speculations about the situation. There would a hunger strike at Linh Mu Pagoda. Confusion would arise and the funeral ceremony for Patriarch Don Hau would be entangled with difficulties. 

    

The funeral procession for the late Patriarch  Thich Don Hau proceeded as planned and in order and at peace. Nguyen Huu Tho, who represented the administration, was allowed to be present at the funeral ceremony for 3 instead of 15 minutes and to read a “commemorative speech” without mentioning the secular titles or positions of the departed instead of a “speech of condolences.” The concession on the part of the administration was only a tactic of a hidden scheme. The administration took “one step backwards to move two steps forward.” To begin with, on April 4, 1993, the police broke into Linh Mu Pagoda. Telephone lines in the pagoda were cut off. The security forces squelched the assembly of lay Buddhists. At he same time, the police stormed and searched through  the legendary Tu Dam Pagoda.

     Repression Intensified

The movement of protest spread as far as the high plateau of Central Vietnam. Buddhist Monk Thich Tri Luc, living in Hoa Nghiem Pagoda was arrested for ungrounded reason while he was riding in a vehicle on Bach Thai Buoi Street, First Precinct, Saigon, on October 2. 1992. The monk is one of the disciples of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang.  On the day of his arrest, he had with him the letters of protest against the State. He was then charged with acting with intent to oppose the “Revolution.” He was put under house arrest in early 1993. 

Repression intensified. The administration prohibited all religious services and activities at pagodas. Buddhist dignitaries, monks, and 3,000 followers attending the first commemorative anniversary of Patriarch Thich Don Hau at Linh Mu Pagoda protested against acts of oppression of religious practices. Police checkpoints were posited at crossroads in Hue. Fear pervaded the old Capital. Foreign visitors were forbidden to come near pagodas. Three convoys busing Buddhists from the provinces in the South  to Hue were blocked on Hai Van Pass. The Venerable Thich Hai Tang was stopped on his way to Hue at Binh Son District, Binh Dinh Province. The monk was interrogated, and all his documents were confiscated. He insisted that they be given back; otherwise, he would go on a hunger strike. Buddhist dignitaries in the provinces adjacent to Thua Thien - Hue were not allowed to come to Hue to attend the ceremony. The Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang was restricted to house arrest.

The following days, the security forces escalated the repression. On April 12, 1993, the Sangha and Buddhist followers from the provinces in Central Vietnam, both north and south of Hue, were barred from entering the old Capital to attend the commemorative anniversary for Patriarch Thich Don Hau. The situation in Hue was reportedly edgy. On May 21, 1993, the Communist authorities in Hue announced that they had found a burnt body in the backyard of Linh Mu Pagoda. The city chief of Hue Le Van Anh declared that the authorities would conduct an investigation to probe the veiled secret relating to the death of the victim. Sources close to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, by contrast, confirmed that the dead body was the one of a male Buddhist. The man made himself a torch of faith to protest against the authorities' repression against his Church. He was Nguyen Van Dung, a native of Quang Ngan Commune, Quang Dien District, Thua Thien - Hue Province.  In the letter to his family before he sacrificed himself for his faith, Nguyen specified the reason for his decision: “ I cannot live peacefully and suffer indignation in silence under such foreign [Communist] domination as most of our fellow countrymen. The situation in which our Church an venerable masters have suffered is so miserable, especially since our Most Venerable Thich Don Hau  passed away at Linh Mu Pagoda. I have to do something to prove that I am not a buffalo or an insect.”

The conflict between the administration and Buddhism became increasingly edgy. On May 24, 1993, the Buddhists in Hue, again, assembled in the street to protest against the local authorities following the arrest of Monk Thich Tri Tuu, the superior monk at Linh Mu Pagoda. To retaliate, the administration resolutely negated any possible opposition, tightening control on the Buddhists’ activities and restricting public circulation along the entrances to the pagoda. Nevertheless, approximately 40,000 Buddhists in Thua Thien - Hue Province and the adjacent provinces reached Hue although with difficulty. They resisted police offense when the security forces tried to disband 20 Buddhist monks and nuns who were carrying on a hunger strike. The Buddhists joined their spiritual leaders, staging a sit-in demonstration on Le Loi Street to demand the release of Monk Thich Tri Tuu and respect for religious practices. The demonstration blocked the street traffic for three hours. Clashes between the police and the demonstrators broke out when the security forces disbanded with violence the demonstration. Three policemen were wounded. About twenty demonstrators were beaten up. A number of them were arrested.

The authorities later declared that when the local police escorted Monk Thich Tri Tuu in a car back to Linh Mu Pagoda, a number of monks and demonstrators forced the driver and several other men in the vehicle to get off, turned it upside down, and set fire on it. Sources close to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, on the contrary, affirmed that this vile scheme was instigated by the Communist administration itself.  It schemed with an intent to put the blame on the monks and the Buddhists for having caused social disturbance. The reconciliation came to the death end. The Buddhist laity became chagrined and angry over the authorities' brutal repression: In their "cascade" operations in May 1993, the city security police overwhelmed the Buddhist demonstrators and flatly repressed them. They killed 14 lay Buddhists and arrested hundreds of them. Among the arrested were Monks Thich Hai Tang and Thich Hai Thinh.

Do Thuong Ngai, the director of SRVN Bureau for Business Licenses and Taxes, during his lunch with American businessmen at Los Angeles Hilton & Tower on September 15, 1993 admitted that the local police in Hue had shot down 14 people in the Hue incident 

   Trials

Many monks in Hue were arrested, tried, and imprisoned. Four days prior to the trial, on November 11, 1993, a Western diplomat in Hanoi asked the Communist authorities’ permission for an observer to attend the trial. The request was denied, however. Ton Nu Thi Khuong Ninh of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the trial would be postponed until an unknown date. Vu Khoan, Foreign Ministry vice-minister, said in a press conference in Paris, on November 10, 1993, that there was no violation of human rights whatsoever in Vietnam, that there was no trial of any monk, and that the Most Venerable Huyen Quang was not under confinement.

The trial, in reality took place on November 15, 1993. Although the defendants stood trial in a civil court, the court proceedings were conducted in a military headquarters. Three-fourths of the jury were the state cadres, plain-clothed security policemen, and retired Communist party members. The defendants were not allowed to speak. When they were allowed to do so, the cadres that merged with the audience at the court shouted and screamed to intimidate the defendants. The defendants had no rights to choose their defense lawyers, and had to defend themselves.  Five lay Buddhists, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Hoang, Nguyen Khuong Hai Tri, Tran Xuan Quyen, and Nguyen Van Vinh were sentenced from 2 months to 2 years in prison. The Venerable Thich Tri Tuu and the Venerable Thich Hai Tang were given each a 3- year- in- prison sentence.  By sentencing the four monks with prison terms, the State certainly showed its indifference to the demands of the Unified Buddhist Church.  The negative attitude of the State  toward the Church gave the initial impetus  the led to the opposition  of the Buddhists subsequent to the death of  Patriarch Thich Don Hau.

Family members of the monks Thich Tri Tuu, Thich Hai Tang, Thich Hai Thinh, Thich Hai Chanh, and the representatives of the Sangha of Linh Mu Pagoda sent petitions to 11 central government agencies, denouncing the arbitrary decisions and capricious judgments by the Hue People's Court. The petitions came to the deaf ears, nevertheless.

    Repression in the Cehter

     Hue

In the months that followed the Hue incident, the Communist administration launched large-scale search-and-destroy operations to sweep out the opposition of the Unified Buddhist Church. One of its schemes was to lend the state-sponsored monks a helping hand to mete out the Unified Buddhist Church. To begin with, it stroke hard at the Church’s leadership of the old Capital. It charged the Unified Buddhist Church organizations in Hue with crimes such as having actuated sabotage aiming to divide the Buddhist Churches of Vietnam. In his circular to the Party and the administration of Thua hien - Hue Province, Monk Thich Thien Hao, the president of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church, specifically requested the Communist administration to execute appropriate measures against certain Buddhist monks of the Unified Buddhist Church and their associates. Monk Thich Thien Hao ' s request gave a pretext for the security police’s repression  to flatten out with reasons the opposition of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. Taking the opportunity, the administration pushed forward its furtive plan to eliminate the Church’s prestigious monks, first, by isolating them from the faithful, and then some administrative measures to disband the Church’s clergy.

By the decision 1180 TB/UBND, Pham Ba Dien, Chairman of the Thua Thien - Hue People's Council, dissolved the Federation of Sangha and Lay Buddhists in Hue. The Venerable Thich Thien Hanh, the leader of the federation, was ordered to dissolve his organization and end forthwith its activities. The order aroused discontent among the Shanga. In an announcement to the public, the Venerable Thich Hanh Dao, in the name of the federation, declared that "... [the order by the administration] is a rude action that aims at destroying the Sangha whose religious role and function have been preserved for 2537 years. Such an act of rudeness proves that the administration has interfered with the internal affairs of the Church. It has repressed Buddhism." The monk also stressed that “Pham Ba Dien, in fact, twisted his words to defame the Sangha. Like the French colonialists, the Communists showed disrespect towards Buddhism. When Vietnam was under French domination, the colonialist administration promulgated Decree 10 forbidding Buddhism to use the term “Church.”  Under the current Communist law, the Church is recognized as an association, and  the Sangha is outlawed, although it is the body and soul of Buddhism and an institution for the propagation for the Buddhist faith throughout thousands of years."  

     Quang Tri

The State also executed repressive measures against the Unified Buddhist Church’s clergy at all levels in other provinces in Central Vietnam. On January 18, 1994, the Venerable Hai Tang, the  monk in residence at Long An Pagoda, Quang Tri Province sent a petition to the local authorities. In it, he complained that he had constantly been living in shaken insecurity. He had continually been summoned to "work with" the police. He had been followed day and night, and his pagoda had been under strict control. At one time, his father visited him and spent overnight at the pagoda. Nevertheless, he was summoned to the police department and interrogated. He was blamed for not having reported his father's visit to the police.  He asked the administration for intervention in such an incident.  His petition came to the deaf ears.

     Da Nang

On May 20, 1993, the Venerable Thich Hai Tang and Monk Thich Giac Ly were arrested in Da Nang when they were about to wire the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang' s two letters. one destined  to send to Australia's Prime Minister Paul Keating and, the other to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, who was at that time on a visit to Australia. Da Nang post officials held the letters at the post office and delayed their service. The monks nevertheless reported the matter to the police. The letter was considered as a proof of antigovernment material and was confiscated. The monks were then released, but Monk Thich Hai Tang decided to stay. He protested against the police authorities' unlawful confiscation of his personal property. He insisted that the letter be given back to him.

    

On June 5, 1993, the  Venerable Thich Hai Tang was arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned. He was given 4 years in prison. He was then detained in Ba Sao reeducation camp, Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. In its statements to the press on March 31 and April 12, 1996, the International  Buddhist Bureau of Information in Paris particularly stressed the fact that the Communist administration had inflicted false charge and ill-treatment on Monk Thich Hai Tang. While in prison, the monk suffered maltreatment. In August 1995, he was transferred to and interned in camp P.14 near Hanoi. The monk was isolated in a hermetically sealed cell when enduring acute stomach pain. Moreover, by means of constant interrogation, the security police  intimidated the monk, forcing him to withdraw his support for the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The monk was later transferred from Ba Sao Camp, Ha Nam Ninh Province to B4 Camp in Hanoi and was, again, placed under  solitary confinement. Forced labor was used as a means of repression He and the Hoa Hao Buddhist dignitary Tran Huu Duyen, and sick Catholic priests were treated without medical care.

     Quang Nam

Opposition to the Communist administration spread to other provinces in Central Vietnam. In a concerted effort, the Buddhist laity initiated campaigns of protest and demonstration. In Quang Nam Province, in June 1893, the police stormed Giac Vien Pagoda, Hoi An Township and quenched an assembly of hundreds of Buddhist who ere in attendance for  a commemorative ceremony for Pham Cam Binh, who had made himself a torch for religious freedom.

     Quang Ngai

On April 30, 1993, a Buddhist nun immolated themselves by fire as acts of protest against the Communist rule's repressive measures against Buddhism. The Buddhist nun, whose name was not disclosed, died at a pagoda near Quang Ngai Township. The local police confiscated the letters left by the deceased, and her dead body was taken away to an unknown place.

    Repression in the South

    Saigon

    The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh

The movement of protest in the Center spread southward and reached the capital city of the South, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. The Monk Thich Khong Tanh (Phan Tan Dat), the Secretary-general of the Central Finance Committee of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church and the representative of the Church at Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City met with harsh difficulty. For the past 18 years following the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, he had  struggled for the rights to freedom of religion and civil rights by peaceful means. On July 20, 1992, he sent a letter of protest to the Communist administration demanding practical realization of freedom, democracy, and human rights for Vietnam. He was an active supporter of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang' s nine-point claim.

On August 20, 1992, he sent a petition to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and the Vietnamese Communist Party leadership, protesting against the repressive measures against the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. by the local Communist administration in Saigon. The petition specified such cases of oppression as the summons on ungrounded reasons to the police headquarters of the monk himself and other Buddhist monks and followers. Among them were Monks Thich Long Tri, Thich Tri Giac, Thich Minh Tam, Thich Quang Hue, Thich Duc Thang, Thich Giac Nguyen, Thich Tri Tuu, Thich Hai Tang, Thich Toan Chau, Thich Tri Tuc, and prominent lay Buddhists Nhat Thuong and Dong Ngoc. They were subject to various police interrogations on unfounded reasons.

   

The petition also specified that the local police in Thu Duc had closed schools and markets on the Buddhist Annual Ceremony Day of July 15 of the Lunar Calendar (August 13, 1992) and that they maneuvered state-affiliated Church organizations to abort religious ceremonies on this occasion at pagodas. It also cited cases of harassment toward and threats against the Buddhist monks and followers who had attended the funeral ceremony for the Most Venerable Thich Don Hau. It denounced the oppressive policies the Communist administration that had continuously executed plans to annihilate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the last 17 years. The Church endured sufferings. High dignitaries of the Buddhist clergy were arrested and imprisoned; some died in dark cells, and others were to join the State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church out of fear; still, others sought to escape the country and lived in exile.

 

The petition warned the Communist rule of the disastrous consequences resulting from the hostile policy it had exercised against the religion and the class struggle it had waged amid the various Vietnamese social strata. Those political schemes were only detrimental to the future of the country and entailed calamity to the people. The petition demanded the Vietnamese Communist rule to end  its oppressive and repressive measures against the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, its monks and followers, to release forthwith the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, to return to the Church all its cultural institutions and charitable establishments, to respect human rights, and to establish the Church’s religious legal status, which act is just, humane, free, and truly democratic."

On October 2, 1992, the Ho Chi Minh security police arrested the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh on charge of  "propagating anti-socialist propaganda and undermining the policy of national union of the State.” The monk was imprisoned without a trial for a year and was released in October 1993. On October 2, 1992, he was, again, arrested for “leaving his pagoda without a permit.” The arrest took place after he circulated a text in which he protested against the authorities’ suppression against the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church and demanded the release from prison of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do. He was brought to stand trial and charged with the crime of “diffusion anti socialist propaganda and a saboteur of the policy of national union.” He was released in October 1993.

On February 18, 1994, the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh was re-arrested on the ground of "movement outside the pagoda without permission." He was also accused of carrying materials whose contents were "detrimental to the revolution and the State." The report by the Ho Chi Minh City security police said that they found at Lien Tri Pagoda antigovernment materials that were, in reality, the records and letters of the Unified Buddhist Church’s  internal affairs.   On November 5, 1994, he was re-arrested in Ho Chi Minh City for having participated in a flood relief delegation to the Mekong delta. He was tried in a People's court and sentenced to 5 years in prison. He appealed to a higher court.  On October 26, 1995, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City rejected his appeal, however.

The Nine-point Claim

Persistent to its policy, the Communist administration executed repressive measures against the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. On June 25, 1992, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the “Charge d'Affairs” of Vien Hoa Dao (Institute for the Propagation for the Buddhist Faith), sent a letter of claims to the Secretary-general of the Vietnamese Communist Party. The letter particularly stressed the role of Buddhism in the moral and spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. It equally denounced the political discrimination and repressive measures against Buddhism of the Communist administration in the past decades. The dignitary concluded his letter with a 9-point claim, demanding the Hanoi Communist administration to restore the legal status to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and to return to it pagodas and the academic, social, cultural, and religious establishments the State had illegally dispossessed. The letter recounts the facts that,

"As a first step, the Communists dissolved the Inter-zone V Patriotic Buddhist Congregation (1951) during the Resistance against the colonial powers. They forced all Buddhist organizations and followers to join the Lien  Viet  Front,  the predecessor to the present National Fatherland Front. I myself --the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang,-- protested against the dissolution. I was arbitrarily arrested in 1952 and was only released subsequent to the Geneva Agreements (1954). In 1976, the Hanoi authorities undertook the reunification of the country. The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam expressed the wish to unify the masses of Buddhists, those from the North and those from the South, with the aim to revive the moral faith and rebuild the country after the terrible devastating war. The Venerable Thich Don Hau was appointed, on behalf of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, to meet with Nguyen Van Hieu, the then Minister of Culture, to request his authorization for the Church to prepare for the reunification of the National Buddhist community. Nevertheless, Nguyen Van Hieu categorically refused in the following terms: ‘ ... the reunification of Buddhists, that's fine, but only for revolutionary Buddhists. It is out of the question to reunify with reactionary Buddhists. By the words ‘reactionary Buddhists,’ Nguyen meant the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (An Quang Pagoda).

Persistent to this policy, the Government began a series of severe repressive actions, massively arresting monks, nuns, and lay Buddhist, destroying statues of Buddha, occupying pagodas, and confiscating the Church’s academic, cultural, social, and charitable centers all over Vietnam. At the end of 1981, to impose its law on our Church, the Government organized a Congress, which was headed exclusively by the government officials and not by the legitimate Church’s dignitaries, monks, or their followers as proceeded by and in accordance with the Vietnamese Buddhist traditions. That is the reason why we proclaim that this State-affiliated Church is simply a tool in the hands of the present regime. And, by serving the regime's interest, it no longer has anything to do with the great Buddhist community. A Church such as that has no mandate to take charge of the affairs of the traditional Vietnamese Buddhist Church. It is nothing other than a successor to a propaganda agency such as the so-called ‘Liaison Committee of Buddhist  and Patriotic Buddhists Association.’

The Vietnamese Communist Party and Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has persistently executed severe persecution against the Church and concentrated every effort to count out the presence of this Church, eliminating its clergy and exterminating its religious services and activities. In this way, the very existence of the Church is rooted out from the spiritual, moral, social, and educational life of the Vietnamese people.”  As regards the renovation policy of Communist Party Secretary-general Nguyen Van Linh, the Patriarch of the Vietnam  Unified Buddhist Church considered that the policy only created a few openings in various sectors of the population. Buddhism, in fact, benefited from this, although things only opened halfway.  In his opinion, this opening should not be considered as a gift. The State should imperatively give back what it illegally stole from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and is requested to

 “ 1.  Restore the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam's right to exist and to carry out activities as before 1975;

 2. Bear the responsibility of and give an answer for: a) the death of the Venerable Thich Thien Minh, Vice-President of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith of the Unified Buddhist Church, who was tortured to death at the National Security Headquarters in Ho Chi Minh Ville in 1978; b) the self-immolation by fire of 12 bonzes at the Duoc Su Pagoda in Can Tho; and c) the destruction of pagodas and statues of Buddha;

     

3. Free all Buddhist monks, nuns and followers, writers, journalists, politicians, etc., who are arbitrarily imprisoned without trial or as a result of unfair trials.  Observe respect for religious freedom and basic human rights. Restore freedom to all those whose fundamental rights have been violated, as is my [Huyen Quang] case and the cases of Thich Quang Do, Thich Duc Nhuan, Thich Tue Sy[Pham Van Thuong], Thich Tri Sieu (Le Manh That) and of the monks from other religions in Vietnam;

       

4. Restore, both at the national level and the local level, to the Unified Church of Vietnam all its pagodas, all its establishments and administrative quarters, as well as its cultural, social, and charitable centers which have been illegally confiscated over the past 11 years [1981-1992] by the Communist authorities. The monasteries in the North, which had been confiscated after 1945, must be returned to their rightful owners;

      

5. Restore the right of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam to maintain relations with its sections abroad, as was the case before 1975;

6. Judge my [Thich Huyen Quang] personal case for the period between 1945 and 1992 in a competent court. I [Thich Huyen Quang] cannot remain a prisoner without a trial. 7. Proclaim the innocence of all Buddhist monks, including myself [Thich Huyen Quang], in response to the 20,000 letters sent, within the past months, to Hanoi from different democratic human rights organizations in Europe, the United States, Australia, and Asia;

    

8. The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is ready to participate in the country's national reconstruction. But it cannot do this under the authority of a regime to which the religion still remains the arch enemy and which incessantly interferes in and strives to control the church's internal affairs; and 

      

9. I  [Thich Huyen Quang] hereby vow to sacrifice my body to Buddhism and the Nation when this humiliation reaches a point where I can no longer bear.”

The claims by the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang on June 25, 1992 came to no answer. The leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party kept silent on the issue but called on the Buddhists to heighten vigilance to support the Communist Party and Government in the unification of the country and religions. The leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam reacted by initiating a non-cooperation movement throughout the South. On the other side, the administration stepped up stricter measures of control. In Saigon and other provinces, police agents spied on activities at pagodas. Secret agents, disguising themselves as monks followed the monks' activities at pagodas and wherever they went. There were more police under-covers than monks in pagodas.

Being fearful of similar upheavals in the countries of the former Communist Eastern Europe, the Communists eased favors on the state-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church but laid heavy hands on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. In Hue, Nha Trang and several other cities and provinces, they allowed State-affiliated Buddhist association or monks to establish or reopen institutes for studies of Buddhism. However, the candidates to priesthood must have good political backgrounds and acquired political achievements, and of much more importance, they must acquire approvals from the Party and State. Student priests were subject to similar conditions.

The following tabulation of arrests recognizes cases of arrest and incidents of repression of the Unified Buddhist Church’s clergy at the outset of the period of ” renovation .”

      Cases of Arrest

The Venerable Hanh Duc whose secular name is Vo Van Hanh.,  the guardian monk at Son Linh Pagoda since 1983,  was expelled from it by the government in February 1993 for having dissociated himself from the State-created Buddhist Church. He was arrested in July 1993 on charge of conducting activities against the laws and disseminating documents hostile to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 1994 by the People’s court of Ba Ria- Vung Tau on allegedly having organized armed resistance the government security police.  

The Venerable Thich Tri Luc was arrested on October 2, 1992, in Saigon for having circulated a text to protest against the political regime’s suppression of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, demand the release of the Most Venerable Thich Huyyen Quang and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, and urged on the Communist government to respect human rights. He was placed under house arrest in March 1993.

After the funeral for the Patriarch of Thich Don Hau in April 1992, many members of the hierarchy of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church were put in prison either without  trial’  .Among them  Without a trial. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh and the Venerable Thich Nhat Ban were condemned to five and four years in prison, respectively, for having organized a convoy of aid to relieve the flood victims in the Mekong delta. The Venerable Thich Hue Dang was condemned to twenty years in prison. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh was twice condemned to life imprisonment. The Venerable Thich Tri Tuu, the superior monk of Thien Mu Pagoda (Pagoda of the Celestial Dame) in Hue was under house arrest.

The Venerable Thich Nhat Lien was arrested on unspecified grounds on December 2, 1992. He was then placed under house arrest at Long Tho Pagoda, Dong Nai Province.

The Venerable Thich Tri Tuu (Le Quang Vinh), showed vigilance against the State repression. A superior monk at the famous Linh Mu Pagoda, Hue - Thua Thien, he was arrested in June 1993 for ungrounded reasons. He was first incarcerated in Thua Phu Prison in Hue the transferred to Nam Ha Prison, Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. He  was brought to stand trial  in November 1993. He was accused of being the leader of the May 1993 protests against the regime. He was sentenced to four years in prison on charge of disturbing public disorder.

The Venerable Thich Hai Thinh (Le Phu Thinh), a monk at  the Linh Mu Pagoda, Hue - Thua Thien , was arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tri Tuu in June 1993. He was brought to stand trial and was accused of inciting extremist elements in the masses during the protests of Buddhists in Hue in May 1993. particularly to stop  a police car, roll it over, and set fire on it. He was sentenced  to three years in prison on November 15, 11993.

The Venerable Thich Hai Tang (Nguyen Dinh Hoa) was the superior monk at the Long An Pagoda, Quang Tri Province, Central Vietnam. He was arrested on June 5, 1993 along with the Venerable Thich Tri Tuu and the Venerable Thich Hai Thinh. His arrest occurred during the Buddhist demonstration  that followed the self-immolation by fire of a Buddhist on May 21, 1993.  He was brought to stand trial and was accused of having incited the masses to stop a police car, roll it over and set fire on it.   He was sentenced to five years in prison  in November 1993.

The Venerable Thich Hai Chanh, vigilant Buddhist monk, was arrested on July 1993 along with the Venerable Thich Hai Dan and the Venerable Tich Hai Lac both of whom had been reportedly released. His arrest was in connection with the Hue incidents. He was brought to stand trial and sentenced to three years in prison on November 15, 1993.

The Venerable Thich Thien Tho, a member of the State-instituted Buddhist Church himself, the monk was arrested  together with Thich Hanh Duc during the police attacks on Son Linh Pagoda. He was brought to stand trial at a People’s court in Ba Ria- Vung Tau on charges of activities against the law and was sentenced to house arrest for 18 months in January 1994.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

    

    A Call for International Support

   

The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do received warm sympathy from public opinion worldwide for his resilient struggle for religious freedom and patriotic fervor for national sovereignty. The Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights (IFHR) sent a letter to the Vietnamese Ambassador in Paris asking it to issue visas for three French lawyers who were mandated by it to defend the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do before the Court. The monk was standing on trial this time  in Saigon on charges of "provoking trouble in contrary to the Vietnamese law." The three French lawyers were Etiienne Grumbach, Guy Aurench, and Carine Jacoby. The Communist authorities did not confirm the date of issuance of the visas, however.

  

The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do was convicted of being a "Vietnamese delinquent, and not a Buddhist." The International Information Office of Buddhism, on November 4, 1995 informed that he might have been moved to a prison in North Vietnam at an unknown date. The dignitary was born in North Vietnam on November 27, 1928.  He was a well-known scholar and one of the advocates of religious freedom, democracy, and human rights for Vietnam . Because of his firm stance on this issue, he has been targeted with enmity over the years.  

 

     The Legitimacy of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

     

The two letters written on the occasion of Buddhist fete of Phat Dan (Buddha Anniversary), one by the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, and the other by the exiled Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, put into question the the unlawful ban on the legal status of the Unified Buddhist of Vietnam and renewed the call for the Vietnamese Buddhists participation in the campaign for religious freedom and democracy. The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, in particular, declared the Church legitimacy in its Appeal for Democracy in Vietnam on the occasion of the 4880th Anniversary of the Founding Fathers, the Hung Kings and the Dawn of the Third Millennium as follows:

“Buddhism came into the world to deliver all creatures from suffering. The emergence of Buddhism 2,544 years ago represented a brilliant advancement in the thinking and practices of all times, both in the Indian society and the world at large. It stressed the Enlightened Path towards liberation for mankind, liberation from ignorance, liberation from fear, and  alteration for the better of idolatry, dogmatism, and fanatical ideology, emancipation from  tyranny and the injustices of all social systems. During his lifetime, Buddha’s teachings defeated all contemporary doctrinal schools and trends of nihilism, materialism, skepticism, and determinism, placing the human person at the center of society and the universe, endowed with the potentiality to free himself and emancipate his fellows. Buddhism [as a religious doctrine] has never preached alienation of society. On the contrary, a Buddhist always seeks to respect and protect the human person, actively opposes all forms of social constraint that impede them from attaining Enlightenment. Buddhism liberates man  from injustice and inequality that trample on the human person’s rights to life, that hinder spiritual progress, prevent the Buddhists from fulfilling Boddhisattva’s vow to salvage humankind and translate into reality the tenets of compassion, tolerance, wisdom --the guiding principles of salvation , help Vietnamese Buddhism develop the dynamic tradition of Buddhist enlightenment to defend the Vietnamese people and nation.

   

The history of Vietnamese Buddhism, which is inextricably interrelated with the Vietnamese history throughout two thousand years, repeatedly demonstrates that the mutually-reinforcing principles of Protecting the People, Protecting the Nation, and Protecting the Dharma (Buddhist Faith), thereby constituting the lodestar to guide the Vietnamese Buddhists’ actions and ways of life. One of the earliest Vietnamese Buddhist sultras, Luc Do Tap Kinh (Six Ways of Liberation) translated by Monk Khong Tang Hoi in the second century, A. D. reflects this spirit of engagement. When the Boddhisattva (Enlightened Man) hears his people lamenting, he brushes away tears and throws himself into the combat against tyranny to save them from suffering. To authoritarian rulers who oppress and persecute people, the Sultra declares: ‘Wild wolves cannot be tammed; therefore,, tyrants cannot be kings.’  In  his book “Ly Hoac Luan”  (Essay on Dissipating Doubt) written in the second century A. D. in Giao Chau,  formerly Vietnam, the Scholar Mouzi spoke highly of Vietnamese Buddhists whilst criticizing the alienating effects of cultural values and ethics imported from China (which sought to assimilate Vietnamese culture into a Chinese subculture, as part of Chinese expansionist policies.

  

The essence of Buddhism is that it can be used at the domestic level to develop and respect for one’s parents, to educate and shape the people’s moral life at the national level, and to develop self-control at the individual level. This perception inspired countless resistance movements against foreign aggressors and supporters of ideological domination that were registered in our history. It was the driving force of the struggle for self-determination and the survival of Vietnamese cultural identity, freedom, and welfare, Trieu Thi Trinh and her brother, [Trieu Quoc Dat] (248 A.D.) , the founder of the independent State of  Van Xuan under [King] Ly Nam De (544 A. D.), and others were the examples. Those movements paved the way for the independence of the country and happiness of the people. The annals of history relate the struggles of the two Trung Sisters (40 A.D.), (?) the nine uprisings of Khu Lien, Chu Dat, Luong Long, Khong Chi and Tru Thien Tuong Quan (throughout the second century, the development of a flourishing Vietnam under the Dinh, Le, Ly, Tran, and the Le Posterior dynasties.)

    

Yet, today, while all the countries in the world are increasingly developing prosperous, free, and democratic societies, our country economy remains paralyzed in despair and poverty, and the people are trampled underfoot and oppressed. 

  

In his ‘Message for the Lunar New Year 2001, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the UBCV’s Patriarch and Head of the Sangha summed up the situation in one sentence: ‘We have endured 35 years of war [under the present regime], [we are] deprived of our human rights and religious freedom!’ A total of sixty miserable, dark years that have led us to this impasse without possible means of escape.

   

This tragic situation persists because it is supported by three factors:

 

1. A pretentious, self-absorbed government that rejects all alternative opinions, resulting in a one-Party, authoritarian regime;

2.  A government that excludes the people from their legitimate demands for human rights and civil liberties, resulting in a ruthless, repressive dictatorship; and

   

3. A government that imports everything from abroad, from ideology to the organizational structures of the State apparatus, and imposes its imperatives unilaterally on the people.

All of these factors contribute to creating a total collapse of the Vietnamese society and civilization and  immerse our people into a course of cultural alienation and slavery, entailing the corruption of moral values and the nation’s decline.

 

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has inherited this tradition of engagement, to flourish the Vietnamese Buddhism, in theory and in practice, owing to the millennium-old heritage of building and protecting the nation. Today, the UBCV cannot stand idle and watch with indifference  as our society plunges into a profound  crisis and our people sink into poverty. The people are deprived of their fundamental freedoms and human rights. We, both UBCV monks and nuns and the laity, therefore, solemnly call upon  the Vietnamese from all walks of life, regardless of  their political opinions or religious tenets, both UBCV monks, nuns and the laity to mobilize our energy and rally ourselves in a unique movement to  find solutions to the grave problems facing our country today.      

    

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam considers that:

   

1. To counter the current trend of one-Party leadership, and replace it with a popular alliance composed of different religious and political tendencies to ably lay the foundation of a democratic and pluralist government. Specifically, abolish Article 4 of the [1992] Constitution [on the supremacy of the Communist Party and Marxist-Leninist doctrine]. The Vietnamese culture and thoughts imbued with genuine traditions of tolerance dating back to the times of our Founding Fathers, the Hung Kings, should be retrieved as the supreme spiritual and moral values in society, thus stimulating the driving force of this social-based popular alliance;

     

2- To counter the rigid control of the totalitarian regime with all UN human rights treaties and international covenants of political and civil rights, challenging the Party-State to fully implement these rights [by which it has pledged to abide]. In concrete terms, the  freedom to form association must not be subjected to approval by the Fatherland Front, which is a political tool of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the freedom of expression must not be subordinated to Marxist-Leninist doctrines and thought, the freedom of the Press must necessarily include the right to publish private newspapers independent of the Vietnamese Communist Party control, the freedom to form free trade unions that are free to operate independently outside the Vietnamese Communist Party organic structures, and the worker’s rights must be fully guaranteed. The respect for these fundamental freedoms will safeguard the rights to free expression of democratic aspirations of the people and the exercise of their right to life;

    

3- To counter the blind imposition of an alien imported ideology in all aspects of the society and nation thereby encouraging the rebirth of a tradition-based Vietnamese civilization. This civilization will uphold the national cultural heritage whilst opening up to a cross-cultural communication with the capacity to absorb the quintessence of the cultural currents from all over the world to enrich our own culture; and

    

In the light of the three observations with counteractive remedies described above, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam calls upon every Vietnamese  to join in its efforts to struggle for the national cause and freedoms of the people and pledges its full support for all individuals or organizations that pledge to realize the eight-point program for national salvation underlined below:

  

1. Build a tolerant, peaceful, pluralist, and egalitarian  society, the one that upholds internal and external warfare and that is governed by democratic institutions of a multiparty system;

  

2. Dismantle all discriminatory antidemocratic mechanisms of control, notably the threefold mechanism of the ‘ly lich’ (curriculum vitae), ‘ho khau’ (compulsory residence permit), and the network of ‘cong an khu vuc’ (local security police). Organize free and fair general elections under the United Nations supervision to elect a National Assembly that is representative of the people: guarantee universal suffrage and the right to run for office of all independent candidates and political formations outside the Vietnamese Communist Party. Separate the powers of the executive, legislative, and judiciary organs and build a society grounded on the rule of law, based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

   

3. Definitively, close  down all reeducation camps. Release prisoners and prisoners of conscience detained in Northern Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Agreement and in Southern Vietnam since 1975, and encourage all former prisoners with specialized skills and knowledge to participate in the process of national reconstruction. At the same time, encourage all professionals, intellectuals, scholars, business leaders, individuals and organizations who left Vietnam as ‘boat people’ after 1975 and live in exile overseas to return home and contribute to rebuild the home land with their knowledge in various areas of technology and expertise they have acquired in the advanced countries. Repeal all arbitrary decrees and laws and restrictions on religious freedom and prohibition of all forms and practices of  the ‘administrative detention’ penalty;

   

4. Guarantee the right to private property, free enterprise, and the right to establish free trade unions. Accelerate the process of agrarian reform to industrialize agriculture, modernize the rural economy, and improve the living standards of the peasants and farmers, who form the potential labor force of our nation. Abandon the policy of ‘market-based but socialist-orientated economy.’ This is manifest in the State’s economy, which is  modeled on the outdated socialist economic system that failed after a 74-year experiment in the Soviet Union, and which only provokes the enmity of its people and led ultimately to its demise in the early 1990’s, instead of implementing development and prosperity. Develop the free market sector in accordance with the Vietnamese social norms, stimulate the development of a knowledge-led economy and protection of the environment. Embrace the trend of comprehensive globalization as a means of enhancing sustainable development and promoting global peace and security while  combating the serious dangers posed by the current economic globalization which promotes trade without the respect for human  rights and the rights  of the worker. Concentrate all efforts on narrowing the widening gulf between the rich and the poor, which is alienating our people from our traditional solidarity and splitting the Vietnamese society apart;

 

5. Protect our territorial suzerainty, make a clear separation between politics and the military-- the army. Security and secret services must not be used as instruments of any political party. Reduce  the manpower of the armed forces to the one of the normal peacetime strength. Reduce the military budget and transfer the excess expenditure to education and health. In the field of education, urgently train a contingent of  prospective specialists of talent and expertise capable of restoring the nation’s prosperity, energize the emergence of  a young transitional generation --the young people who can forge a transitional path [towards democracy], assuage the aspirations of the old revolutionary generation of war and the anachronistic class-struggle concepts which divide and paralyze  the people on the one hand, and incite the modern preoccupation with consumerism, money-worship, and the daily pressure of making ends meet, on the other. The access to health services must be improved. Priority should be given to solving the serious problem of child malnutrition and improving health infrastructures in the rural areas;

   

6. Abolish all degrading forms of imported culture and ideologies that prevent Vietnamese spiritual and moral values from flourishing. Promote the development of a vibrant, traditional Vietnamese culture based on  the spirit of openness, creativity, and the capacity to absorb the  richness and diversity of other cultures from all over the world. Uphold the fundamental moral values of Humanism, Wisdom, and encourage the practices of moral and spiritual conduct as did our ancestors. Guarantee social justice, the equal status and full participation of women in all areas of occupation and social life, nondiscrimination between the religions, respect the autonomy and cultural differences of the ethnic minorities; protect the interests of the foreigners living and investing in Vietnam through processes of law, and on the basis of mutual respect ad equality, and guarantee the rights and dignity of the Vietnamese living abroad;

  

7. Respect the territorial sovereignty of the neighboring nations. Promote a policy of friendship through dialogue and cooperation on an equal footing with the neighboring countries in all economic, cultural, religious, and social domains. Consolidate efforts to promote peace, security, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Join with neighboring countries in a common effort to foster the values of Asian humanism. By preserving mankind’s central standing place within our society, we can prevent the free market from becoming a slave market where human beings are reduced to simple articles of commodities of trade; and

 

8. As regards the foreign policy, uphold the Vietnamese tradition of friendly and peaceful relations and the axiom of diplomatic ‘tam cong’ (winning the hearts) in the relationship with all countries around the world.  Promote dialogue, cooperation, and mutual respect in order to bring mutual interests to one and all without sacrificing national identity and sovereignty.  Apply this policy as basis to accelerate economic growth and expand industrialization on a parallel  and social progress to catch up and keep pace with the civilized, progressive, and prosperous democratic nations of the world at the dawn of the 21st century.

   

In order to create favorable conditions to put into practice the above three observations, three counteractive remedies, and the 8-point political program to save our nation, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam calls upon the peoples all over the world who cherish justice and democracy and all concerned governments to support the program for democracy and help to bring it into life.

     

On behalf of the Bicameral Institute [Institute of the Sangha and Institute of the Propagation of the Dharma] of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, February 21, 1991

(Signature and Seal)

Sramana THICH QUANG DO

Translated and Diffused by Ban Huong Dan Gia Dinh Phat Tu

Mien Quang Duc, Southwestern California.