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."
Also in this press release, the International Buddhist Information Bureau reported the mysterious death of Ven. Thich Ke Chau, the superior monk of the state-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church.
Ven. Thich Ke Chau has been dropped out of favor with the government since July 1995 when he led 48 other clergymen in an official petition for the release of the leaders of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).