Texas Friends For A Free Vietnam Committee
P.O. Box 262323, Houston, Texas 77207 - USA
Tel: (713) 640-4268 - Fax: (713) 991-1721
Email: TexasFriends@pdq.net
PRESS RELEASE
Recently, we have learned that the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, a well-known Buddhist monk, was arrested in Saigon Vietnam, at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1999. He was detained for several hours on accusations of "seeking to overthrow the Government". We have also learned that prominent Buddhist monk Thich Tue Sy, Secretary General of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma, was also detained for several hours on September 14, 1999, on the same charge: "seeking to overthrow the Government".
The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, a respected Buddhist leader, has spent more than 15 years in prison for his support of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and his outspoken advocacy of religious freedom and human rights. Since his release from prison on November 10, 1998, the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh has been constantly interrogated and threatened with re-arrest by Security Police. He is under permanent surveillance by police and his freedom of movement is severely curtailed. On September 9, 1999, while Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright visited Vietnam, the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh was detained at the Police Station to keep him from seeing Albright.
The Venerable Thich Tue Sy, another prominent Buddhist leader, has spent 14 years in prison for his outspoken advocacy of religious freedom and human rights. He was arrested in 1988 and was sentenced to death. However, he was granted amnesty in 1998 under international pressure. Since his release from prison, he has been frequently harassed and threatened with re-arrest by Security Police.
The harassment and arrest of the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh and Thich Tue Sy constitute violations of human rights, as guaranteed by the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Vietnam has ratified. The Vietnamese Government uses the so-called "administrative detainment" under the unlawful Directive 31/CP to arrest, harass, and detain dissidents without trial for up to two years.
We, Texas Friends For A Free Vietnam Committee, represent the freedom-loving people in the State of Texas:
1. Strongly protest the Vietnamese Government for basic human rights violations and strongly condemn the oppressive actions against the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh and Venerable Thich Tue Sy.
2. Urgently call on the Congress and the President of the United States to hold the Trade Agreement with Vietnam until the Vietnamese Government respects human rights (including expression freedom, religious freedom and labor rights freedom), and rescinds the unlawful Directive 31/CP.
3. Urgently call on all freedom-loving countries, international organizations and the media in the world to use their influence to stop the harassment and terrorism of religious leaders and dissidents by Vietnamese authorities.
Houston, Texas, September 20, 1999
Contact: David Stockman, Secretary General, (p): (713) 687-1625