Vietnam lacks freedoms
Churches and Buddhist temples
may be full in Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City, but there is still no real
religious freedom in Vietnam, a
group of exile leaders said in
Montreal yesterday.
The exiles, based in France, the
United States and western Canada,
were in Montreal as part of a tour
seeking to bring international
pressure to bear on the
Vietnamese government to
increase democracy and halt
human-rights abuses.
"Do not be misled by showcases of the Vietnamese government," said
Rev. Andrew Nguyen Huu Le of the Washington-based International
Committee for Religious Freedom.
Vo Van Ai of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said
Vietnamese now have freedom of worship and can carry out the
ceremonial parts of their religions, but they lack true freedom of
religion. They cannot follow the teachings of their religions when these
lead them to criticize the failings of Vietnamese society.
Lam Thu-Van of the Montreal branch of Democracy for Vietnam and
others at the press conference said several prominent Catholics and
Buddhists are still in jail or under house arrest or other forms of
detention. They said the government has set up a Buddhist
organization and other groups that it dominates, exerts pressure on
the Catholic hierarchy and simply represses some religious groups like
Protestant churches in rural areas and the Cao Dai religion.
They urged that the Canadian government and other groups exert
moral pressure on the Vietnamese government and take other steps,
such as attaching human-rights conditions to foreign aid.
Warren Allman, president of Rights and Democracy, said the current
preoccupation with terrorism should not distract attention from
governments that oppress their citizens.
By Harvey Shepherd - The Montréal Gazette - Octobre 27, 2001.
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