Published by: World Tibet Network News Tuesday - February 13, 1996

Forwarded by: sdenney@uclink.berkeley.edu

International Buddhist Information Bureau Official Information Service of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

25 rue Jaffeux, 92230 Gennevilliers, France. Tel: Paris (1) 47 93 10 81; fax: Paris (1) 47 91 41 38

Press Statement 1 February 1996

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA CALLS ON THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE THICH HUYEN QUANG, THICH QUANG DO AND ALL IMPRISONED LEADERS OF THE UNIFIED BUDDHIST CHURCH OF VIETNAM

THICH KE CHAU, PROMINENT DIGNITARY OF THE STATE-SPONSORED VIETNAM BUDDHIST CHURCH DIES IN MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES IN VIETNAM

In a Message sent from his exile home in Dharamsala, India, dated January 24, 1996, His Holiness the Dalai Lama called on the Vietnamese Government to release "immediately and unconditionally" all leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam imprisoned for "legitimate expressions of the fundamental right to freedom of religion." The Message was sent to the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) in Paris in support of its campaign for the release of Venerables Huyen Quang, Quang Do, Tue Sy, Tri Sieu, Khong Tanh, Nhat Ban, Tri Luc, Hai Tang, Tri Tuu, Hai Thinh, Hanh Duc, Giac Nguyen, Phuoc Vien, Tam Can, Hue Dang Nguyen Ngoc Dat, lay-Buddhist Nhat Thuong and all other clergy and followers detained in Vietnam's campaign to suppress the independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).

Recalling the vocation of all Buddhists, the Dalai Lama wrote:

"The Buddha's advice simply stated was to avoid harming others and if possible to help them. All other beings are just like us in that they want happiness and dislike suffering. By developing a sense of respect for others and a concern for their welfare, we reduce our own selfishness, which is the source of all problems, and enhance our sense of kindness, which is a natural source of goodness."

"It therefore gives me pain to learn that eminent leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam have been punished with imprisonment for doing no more than their Buddhist vocation demands. These Buddhists have been prosecuted for organizing a humanitarian mission to distribute relief aid to 500,000 victims of flooding in the Mekong Delta and for proclaiming the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam's right to exist. Such acts are simply the legitimate expressions of the fundamental right to freedom of religion."

"In the name of world peace, to which all humanity aspires, and in the name of compassion, to which all Buddhists aspire, I call upon the Vietnamese Government to release these eminent Buddhists immediately and unconditionally."

The Dalai Lama's Message of support comes at a crucial moment for UBCV Buddhists in Vietnam. Since the clamp-down on the UBCV Rescue Mission for flood victims in November 1995 and the subsequent arrest of Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and his Deputy Thich Quang Do on 29 December 1994 and 4 January 1995, virtually the entire UBCV leadership is under arrest. Over the past few months, the Government has been discretely but systematically isolating Church leaders by sending them to remote prison camps, depriving them of visits and communications, and subjecting them to increasingly harsh conditions of detention. For example:

* Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, still detained incommunicado in Quang Ngai, has recently been subjected to intense pressure by Party officials and Police who have threatened serious reprisals if he attempts to issue any further "Declarations" to UBCV Buddhists or protests to the authorities;

* Thich Quang Do, is suffering from severe privation and cold as a result of his transfer to Ba Sao reeducation camp in Nam Ha province, Northern Vietnam;

* Thich Tue Sy, an eminent UBCV scholar and historian, is in very poor health as a result of ill-treatment in Ba Sao camp. He was transferred from A 20 Camp, Phu Yen to Ba Sao last year after he took part in a protest over the authorities' refusal to let prisoners meet a delegation from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions which visited the camp in October 1994. He is serving a 20 year sentence;

* Thich Hai Tang, one of the four monks from Linh Mu Pagoda, Hue, condemned to 4 years imprisonment after the Buddhist demonstration in Hue on May 24, 1993, has been moved from Ba Sao to P 4 prison camp near Hanoi. Thich Hai Tang suffers from stomach ulcers and chronic migraine, but is deprived of medication;

* Thich Hanh Duc, former Superior Monk at Son Linh Pagoda, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, was moved to K1 Camp, Gia Trung, an isolated prison camp near Pleiku without any notification to his disciples and family. He has undertaken several hunger strikes in protest against his arbitrary detention, and is now extremely weak.

Furthermore Buddhists in Vietnam express concern about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Venerable Thich Ke Chau, Superior monk of the famous Thap Thap Pagoda in Binh Dinh on 24 January 1996. High dignitary of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC), Chairman of the VBC Executive Committee in Binh Dinh Province, Thich Ke Chau was among the most outspoken critics of the State's religious policies. On 4 July 1995 he sent a Petition to Communist Party Secretary Do Muoi calling for the release of Venerable Thich Huyen Quang. The Petition was signed by 48 other officials from the State- sponsored VBC including the entire VBC Executive Board in binh Dinh Province and heads of 7 district and municipal sections of the VBC in Central Vietnam (Ref. 09/PGBD/VT). Since then, Thich Ke Chau had been continually harassed by Security Police and his Pagoda placed under permanent surveillance. Buddhists in Binh Dinh say that Thich Ke Chau, aged 76, was in good health on the eve of his death, and

had complained of no illness. He was found dead at 6:30 am the next day.