Vietnam Stops Dissident Monk
CAO LANH - Authorities have stopped a dissident Buddhist leader and his followers from
distributing relief supplies to victims of flooding in the Mekong Delta, authorities said Sunday.
Thich Quang Do, deputy head of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was detained by
authorities Saturday in southern An Giang province after he tried to deliver aid parcels in remote areas
along the Cambodian border, said a police officer in An Phu district.
Do was later asked to leave the province, said the officer, adding that he was stopped because of a
government ban on individuals distributing aid.
Do has spent more than 20 years in prison, in internal exile and under house arrest for advocating
religious freedom and human rights. He has been under virtual house arrest at Thanh Minh Zen
Monastery since he was pardoned in 1998 under a mass amnesty.
The last time the 73-year-old monk attempted a similar rescue mission in 1994, he was arrested and
jailed for 3 1/2 years.
Vietnam's delta region has been hit by the worst flooding in decades, killing more than 300 people so
far. Floodwaters have inundated seven of the 12 Mekong Delta provinces, and about 4 million people
have been affected through loss of homes, property and livestock.
Do set out on Friday from Ho Chi Minh City about a dozen followers, carrying 11,700 parcels each
containing money, rice, sugar and salt.
Do's group rented a boat in An Giang early Saturday, loaded it with instant noodles and soy sauce, and
went out to the remote hamlet of Vinh Hoi Dong to distribute it to several families, said the police
officer, who refused to give his name.
He and church followers were stopped shortly afterward by authorities from the district's relief agency,
who said he needed government permission to deliver aid near the Cambodia border.
``They explained to him that he needs to go through their agency,'' the officer said, adding that police
did not intervene.
The Vietnamese government has insisted that flood relief can only be channeled through three
government agencies — the Vietnam Red Cross, the Fatherland Front, the Communist Party's mass
movement umbrella organization, and the Finance Ministry's aid committee.
The government said the rule against independent distribution was in place to ensure effective and
timely delivery of aid.
Do was asked to leave the province Saturday, and police are not sure of his current whereabouts, the
officer said. A person at the monastery in Ho Chi Minh said Do had not arrived there by Sunday
morning.
Last month, An Giang police stopped 17 church members from distributing more than $22,000 worth
of relief supplies with UBCV labels, according to the Paris-based International Buddhist Information
Bureau. A second relief team was also prevented from leaving Ho Chi Minh City.
Associated Press - October 8, 2000.
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