Free Vietnam Alliance
(http://www.fva.org)
News Alert
October 26, 2003
Venerable Thich Thien Hanh is in perilous health after seven days of a hunger strike to protest religious persecution by the Vietnamese authorities.
Venerable Thich Hien Hanh, head of the Buddhist Clergy Council of Thua-Thien Hue province and secretary of the Executive Council of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, is currently at Bao Quoc pagoda in Hue, where he was put under detention by verbal orders of authorities and without any explanation. On October 15th, he sent authorities a petition for the following six points to be redressed:
(1) For authorities to respect the rule of law and refrain from using verbal orders to arbitrarily detain citizens; (2) To stop turning pagodas into jails cells and forcing co-religionists into being prison wardens; (3) To remove immediately the plain clothes police surrounding numerous pagodas and restore phone service to the affected pagodas; (4) To return freedom to the leaders of the UBCV who have been arrested or detained since October 8th; (5) To discontinue the “working sessions” forced on the above individuals; (6) To restore the legal right of the UBCV to operate.
After sending his petition and not receiving any answer for several days, Venerable Thich Thien Hanh initiated a hunger strike at 10 a.m. on October 19, 2003. To this day, the Vietnamese authorities have continued to turn a blind eye and have not acknowledged any of the six points above. After seven days of the hunger strike, Venerable Thich Thien Hanh’s health is in serious jeopardy. He is now unable to sit upright and currently rests on a mat in Bao Quoc pagoda. Outside, police continue to form a cordon isolating everyone in the pagoda.
The Free Vietnam Alliance urgently calls on the international community to intercede on behalf of Venerable Thich Thien Hanh. The Vietnamese government bears full responsibility for anything that may befall him.