~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]

US criticises Vietnam arrest

The US authorities have urged Vietnam to release a Roman Catholic priest who has been arrested on charges of anti-government activities. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, an outspoken critic of Vietnam's human rights record, was detained on Thursday for "spreading propaganda against the government".

A US embassy spokesman said: "The ambassador and other US officials have raised our strong concerns with the Vietnam Government and urged that Father Ly be returned to his church residence." In March, Father Ly urged the Americans not to ratify a trade pact until human rights in Vietnam improve. Shortly afterwards he was placed under house arrest and denounced in the state-run media as a "traitor" for urging the US to link improved trade to guarantees of religious freedom.

Buddhist sentences

Reports from Vietnam on Friday said that two members of a dissident Buddhist group had been sentenced to up to 12 years in jail on charges of disturbing public peace. Truong Van Duc, 58, was sentenced to 12 years in jail, and Ho Van Trong, 76, to four years at their trial last Friday The police said the two men had participated in a rally last December in the southern An Giang province, during which they had encouraged participants to attack the police. Vietnam's Communist government forbids religious activity by unapproved groups.

Strained ties

The developments coincide with a visit to Vietnam by US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, the first senior official of the new American administration to go there. He was expected to meet the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Nguyen Dy Nien, on Friday. Relations with the US have deteriorated recently, with Hanoi accusing Washington of interfering in its internal affairs. The US recently granted asylum to 24 Vietnamese refugees from an army crackdown on unrest in the highlands. Vietnam has also expressed anger about delays in the US Congress in ratifying the trade pact, which would give the two countries greater access to each other's markets.

BBC News - May 18, 2001.


Dissident buddhist monk questioned in Vietnam

HANOI - A controversial Buddhist monk, who was questioned and later released, has vowed to defy a ban on visiting his detained patriarch in a move likely to prompt a showdown with the Vietnamese authorities. Thich Quang Do, the second-highest monk in the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), told Reuters that local People's Committee officials accused him of seeking to undermine the Communist government.

``They summoned me there and they said I was violating the law,'' Do, 73, said by telephone from the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City. The questioning of Do came a day after authorities arrested a dissident Catholic priest for ``propaganda against the government.'' Do said authorities rejected his request to visit Thich Huyen Quang, the 83-year-old patriarch of the UBCV who has been under house arrest for 19 years in central Quang Ngai province. Nevertheless, Do said he would defy the ban and attempt to visit Quang in early June.

``I may be arrested, but I am ready,'' he said. The confrontation came as a U.S. envoy voiced concern about the arrest of 54-year-old Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, who was denounced in March for urging the United States to link religious freedom to trade. James Kelly, the assistant secretary of state for Asian and Pacific affairs, met Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien on Friday and raised the issue of religious freedom, specifically mentioning Ly, a U.S. embassy spokesman said. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on Do's questioning, but said on Thursday that Ly violated his probation by continuing to act against the government.

Vietnam insists its citizens have full religious freedom. The country has more than five million Catholics and 80 percent of its 78 million people are at least nominally Buddhist. However, abuse of religion is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison and any political activity by clergy is not tolerated.

Reuters - May 18, 2001.