Viet Nam
07.04.05
Urgent Interventions
Vietnam: Arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Mr. Thich Vien Phuong
Case VNM 070405
Arbitrary arrest / incommunicado detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Vietnam.
Brief Description of the Situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that Thich Vien Phuong, a member of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), was arrested in Saigon by Security Police on March 30, 2005, at 5.30 pm. Security Police arrested him on his motorbike at the Phu Nhuan crossroads, at the intersection of Phan Dang Luu, Hoang Van Thu, Phan Dinh Phung and Nguyen Kiem streets. Thich Vien Phuong had just left the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, where he had visited the UBCV’s Deputy leader and prominent dissident Thich Quang Do.
According to the information received, Security Police arrested Thich Vien Phuong on the pretext that his dilapidated Honda had no wing mirror. A number of passers-by protested this action, arguing that Police might fine the monk, but they had no right to arrest him for such a minor offence. A crowd began to gather, and someone suggested to Thich Vien Phuong that he take a cab and go home. He hailed a motorcycle taxi (xe om) and set off towards the Giac Hoa Pagoda, where he currently lives. However, Police intercepted the motorcycle and dragged him into a taxi. Thich Vien Phuong has not been heard of since. Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, Superior monk at Giac Hoa Pagoda allegedly called the local police in Binh Thanh Ward, but they knew nothing about the arrest. At 9pm, the monks at Giac Hoa pagoda still had no news of Thich Vien Phuong’s whereabouts.
The arrest of Thich Vien Phuong takes place at a time when Vietnam is under scrutiny for its religious freedom violations. In September 2004, the United States blacklisted Vietnam as “country of particular concern” for religious freedom abuses. The United States has given Vietnam a deadline to prove that it has made concrete improvements, otherwise it could impose a range of measures, including economic sanctions, on Vietnam.
OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Thich Vien Phuong, as well as by the general climate of arbitrariness against UBCV monks. UBCV monks have been subjected to systematic harassment and repression on the part of the Vietnamese authorities for many years because of their commitment to religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam. (See relevant appeals from the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint OMCT FIDH programme.)
More generally, OMCT urges the Vietnamese authorities to comply with international human rights standards included in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Action Requested
Please write a letter to the authorities in Vietnam urging them to:
i. immediately locate the whereabouts of Thich Vien Phuong and guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Thich Vien Phuong;
ii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iii. ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of Vietnam in your respective country.
Geneva, April 7th, 2005
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrest / incommunicado detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Vietnam.
Brief Description of the Situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that Thich Vien Phuong, a member of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), was arrested in Saigon by Security Police on March 30, 2005, at 5.30 pm. Security Police arrested him on his motorbike at the Phu Nhuan crossroads, at the intersection of Phan Dang Luu, Hoang Van Thu, Phan Dinh Phung and Nguyen Kiem streets. Thich Vien Phuong had just left the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, where he had visited the UBCV’s Deputy leader and prominent dissident Thich Quang Do.
According to the information received, Security Police arrested Thich Vien Phuong on the pretext that his dilapidated Honda had no wing mirror. A number of passers-by protested this action, arguing that Police might fine the monk, but they had no right to arrest him for such a minor offence. A crowd began to gather, and someone suggested to Thich Vien Phuong that he take a cab and go home. He hailed a motorcycle taxi (xe om) and set off towards the Giac Hoa Pagoda, where he currently lives. However, Police intercepted the motorcycle and dragged him into a taxi. Thich Vien Phuong has not been heard of since. Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, Superior monk at Giac Hoa Pagoda allegedly called the local police in Binh Thanh Ward, but they knew nothing about the arrest. At 9pm, the monks at Giac Hoa pagoda still had no news of Thich Vien Phuong’s whereabouts.
The arrest of Thich Vien Phuong takes place at a time when Vietnam is under scrutiny for its religious freedom violations. In September 2004, the United States blacklisted Vietnam as “country of particular concern” for religious freedom abuses. The United States has given Vietnam a deadline to prove that it has made concrete improvements, otherwise it could impose a range of measures, including economic sanctions, on Vietnam.
OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Thich Vien Phuong, as well as by the general climate of arbitrariness against UBCV monks. UBCV monks have been subjected to systematic harassment and repression on the part of the Vietnamese authorities for many years because of their commitment to religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam. (See relevant appeals from the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint OMCT FIDH programme.)
More generally, OMCT urges the Vietnamese authorities to comply with international human rights standards included in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Action Requested
Please write a letter to the authorities in Vietnam urging them to:
i. immediately locate the whereabouts of Thich Vien Phuong and guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Thich Vien Phuong;
ii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iii. ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
- Tran Duc Luong, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Office of the State, 1 Bach Thao, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Fax : (+84) 4199 2682
- Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 1 Bach Thao Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Fax : (+84) 4823 1872
- M. Nong Duc Manh, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Hanoi. Fax: (+84) 48 23514
- M. Nguyen Nang Tien, Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva, Fax : (+ 41 22) 798 24 69 ; (+ 41 22) 798 07 24
e-mail : mission.vietnam@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Vietnam in your respective country.
Geneva, April 7th, 2005
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.