Letter of Ven. Thich Khong Tanh to U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom

 

August 26, 2015

 

To: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Our Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists is a Buddhist organization established in 1964 in South Vietnam. After the collapse of the Vietnam Republic in 1975, the communist government has strived to impose political control over all Buddhist organizations nationwide, and in 1981, it set up the Delegation of Vietnamese Buddhists, making the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists illegal. The government have continuously been harassing our organization.

Since 1975, the structure of the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists has been forced to scale down, and only executive offices remain in ten localities namely Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Danang, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Tien Giang provinces. By 2013, only 10% of the delegation’s facilities remain under the management of the delegation while the remaining 90% were taken by the government and given to the state-controlled Buddhist delegation.

The Lien Tri Pagoda in Thu Thiem, District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City belongs to the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists. The pagoda leadership has been under great pressure of the local authorities which strive to seize the land on which the pagoda is located. We think the move is aimed at demolishing the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists and suppress unregistered civil society organizations as the pagoda is the place where representatives of these organizations have gathered monthly in the past three years, and it is the location for granting presents for war invalids of the Saigon regime’s army in the past decades.

The Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists is facing a number of obstacles created by the Vietnamese communist government:

-The freedom of residence and movement of monks has been restricted or violated

Every year, monks gather three months in the summer in big pagodas. All monks who want to gather in pagodas of Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists have met difficulties in obtaining temporary registration, and forced to move to state-controlled pagodas. The movement of monks of the delegation from one pagoda to another has been limited, and some have even been barred from studying abroad. Local authorities have refused to register monks who want to serve in pagodas belonging to the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists.

– Only state-controlled pagodas are given permission for restoration and building of religious facilities while the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists are not allowed to conduct such activities for the pagodas under its management. Local authorities will demolish pagodas of the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists if monks try to restore them or build new facilities.

– State authorities have banned the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists from printing documentation, opening training courses, organizing meetings of followers and delivering Buddhist lectures.

– Local authorities require the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists to ask for permissions for regular activities such as praying and worship, and limit the number of participants.

– Security forces have maintained close surveillance of monks and followers of the delegation, threatened them and barred them from gathering to discuss the delegation’s activities. Monks and followers have been forced to carry out online meetings.

– Local authorities have used security agents and thugs to torture and threaten followers of the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists, forcing them to move to state-controlled facilities.

– Authorities have tried to halt charity activities of the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists, even forcing the delegation to give presents to those approved by the local authorities but not to those who are in need.

Recently, the Vietnamese government has introduced a draft law on beliefs and religions which will force all religious organizations to register for their establishment, merging, separation, and unification (Article 19-20), the setting up of religious training facilities (Article 21-25), the organizing of religious conferences and congresses (Article 32) and opening of religious training courses (Article 27.) The draft law also empowers local authorities to approve personnel affairs of religious facilities and religious training facilities (Article 24), forcing people who want to become religious staff to register (Article 43) and allowing government interference in religious training programs (Article 26) and in the promotion, appointment and transferring of managing religious clerks.

Clearly, the Vietnamese communist government has no desire to loosen its control over independent religious sects. We hope that you will continue to observe violations of religious freedom in Vietnam in general and the harassments against the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists in particular.

Regards

Venerable Thich Khong Tanh

Chief Monk of Lien Tri Pagoda

Deputy Head of the the Delegation of Vietnamese United Buddhists’ Management Council

Representative of Buddhists in the Vietnam Inter-religious Council

Thich Khong Tanh: Thich Khong Tanh’s letter to The US commission for International Religious Freedom

 

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