Letter of Vietnam Unified
Buddhist Congress in USA to US State Department
Regarding Recent Attacks Against Buddhist in Vietnam
San Jose, Jan 2, 1997
The Honorable John Shattuck
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights and Labor
Department of State
Dear Sir,
I have been informed that the Special Advisory Committee to the Secretary of State on Religious Freedom Overseas of which you are Chairman, will be holding its first meeting at the beginning of the year to determine its mandate and agenda for addressing abuses of religious freedom in the world during 1997.
In the resolution passed by Congress in September 1996 which preceded the creation of your Committee, China and Vietnam were singled out as countries which figure amongst the most serious violators of religious freedom in the world. In Vietnam, the most persecuted religious body is the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. I therefore urgently request that you consider the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam as a matter of high priority at your coming meeting, and make it a key issue on your agenda for 1997.
As your Committee's mandate is to provide information to the U.S. Government on abuses of religious freedom overseas, I am honored to express the willingness of Buddhists overseas to provide you with all the necessary documents and evidence regarding the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam. We sincerely hope that you will use this information to shape U.S. policy and promote the respect of religious freedom and human rights in our country.
In many parts of the world, religion is a source of discrimination and conflict. Yet Vietnam is an exception to this rule. The religious communities in Vietnam, and especially Buddhism, with its two-thousand-year heritage of tolerance and compassion, are the only popular forces capable of dispelling hatreds, defusing conflicts, and building the foundations of mutual understanding and support, which are the true keys to the democratic development in the 21st Century.
I wish your Committee every success in its endeavors, and hope you will keep us informed of your decisions and future actions.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Thich Giac Luong
Executive Vice-Chairman in charge of Religious Freedom Issues
Vietnam Unified Buddhist Congress in USA