J 'Bell - The Mindfulness Bell

Buddhist Prisoners in Vietnam
by Stephen Denney
In the last issue ofThe Mindfulness Bell, we reportedthe trial
of Venerable Thich Quang Do, age 68, and five other
members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBC)
on August 15,1995.
Ven. Quang Do, UBC Secretary General,was sentenced to
five years imprisonment. Others sentenced were Ven. Thich
Khong Tanh (five years), Ven. Thich Nhat Bang (four years),
Ven. Thich Tri Luc (two and a half years), Nhat Thuong, a
layman (three years), and Mrs. Dong Ngoc (two years, suspended
sentence). They were charged with "undermining the
policy of unity" between religion and state, which appears to
be based on theirefforts to carry out religiousand social work
in the name of the UBC. Ven. Thich Quang Do had also written
anopen letter to Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary General
protesting the Party's legacy of religious and political
repression. At the time they were tried, authorities indicated
that UBC Executive Director Ven. Thich Huyen Quang (age
77) and Ven. Thich Tri Luc, head abbot of the famous Linh Mu
Pagoda in Hue, will also be tried for their public dissent.
Ven. Thich Quang Do has been forcibly relocated to the
north and his present whereabouts are unknown. Three ofthe
other monks at the August 15 trial appealed their verdicts, but
a higher court rejected the appeal on October 28. We had hoped
that Ven. Thich Tue Sy and Ven. Thich Tri Sieu might be
released on Vietnam's 50th National Day (the anniversary of
the government established by Ho Chi Minh in 1945), but
unfortunately this did not occur. The number of prisoners
released that day was much lower than expected. On the other
hand, government spokespersons indicated in October that
Ven. Thich Huyen Quang would not be tried.
In a related development, Do TrungHieu was sentenced to
15 months imprisonment in a trial held in November. Hieu was
formerly Ho Chi Minh City's Communist Party liaison officer
for religious affairs and was arrested in June 1995 for writing
a document highly critical of the government's policy toward
Buddhists.
The government's imprisonment of these leading UBC
monks has elicited strong protests from human rights organizations
such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
Asia, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus;as well as the
United States and other governments.In August,the Community
of Mindful Living sent 8,000 people a letter written by
Sister Chan Khong urging that faxes be sent to Vietnam's
Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and Party leader Do Muoi protesting
these latest developments. We also circulated letters to be
faxed to Mr.Kietand Mr. Muoiat Thay's lecturesand retreats
in the United States in September and October. We are grateful
tothose of you whoresponded to these appeals.If you would
like to joinin this effort, pleaseask the Community of Mindful
Living to send you copies of the letters for you to sign and send.
I recently came across this passagein a monograph written
by Sister Chan Khong in 1969, entitled "Voices From the
Burning House":
"In 1964 two young Buddhist monks, Ven. Thich Nhat
Hanh and Ven. Thich Quang Do, worked to convince the
Buddhist Church to lead the movement against the war and
against the intervention of foreignersin Vietnam. "
Now, 31 years later, Ven. Thich QuangDo is serving a fiveyear
sentence for protesting human rights abuses, his present
whereabouts unknown. Is this not tragic? Let us continue to
support him and other monks, nuns, and laypeople who have
devoted their lives to peace and genuine reconciliation in
Vietnam.
I would like to conclude with a note we received from Sister
Chan Khong, commenting.on the government's announcement
that Thich Huyen Quang will not be tried: "That is only
one step back from the government's pattern of increasing
human rights violations.If the Vietnamese authoritiesdid step
back a bit, it is because we have advanced our work with tens
of thousands of letters and with more pressure from international
organizations. But if we are not alert and we are lazy,
then they will advance their suppression. Thank you for your
patience. Please continue. The process is slow but without
bloodshed."
Stephen Denney is editor of Vietnam Journal and a longtime
activist forhuman rights in Southeast Asia. To subscribe to
Vietnam Journal ($8 per year), write P.O. Box 1163,
Burlingame, CA 94011.
Floods in Vietnam
by Sister Chan Khong
I
n South Vietnam, ourteam has visited and helped people in
LongAnand Dong Thap whose lives have been devastated
by the floods. Our team worked in four villages—Binh Thanh,
hamlets one and two; Due Hue District, and Long An Province.
In November, we provided palm leaves for each family to
repair their roof ($25 each; altogether $3,000—$1,000 to help
40 families in Due Hue, and $2,000for Moc Hoa Village). In
Moc Hoa, people are extremely poor, and a number of them
have deaf and blind children. We could only help with 30
families, as we also provided them with food and blankets.
Immediately after this effort, there were calls for help in
Tuy Hoa, Quang Ngai, Thua Thien (Hue), Quang Tri, and
Quang Binh. Sisters Nhu Minh, Dieu Dat, and Minh Tanh
brought $7,800 to help Tuy Hoa and Quang Ngai. Two schools
in Thua Thien collapsed in the floods. Two toddlers under our
sponsorship drowned. At Sister Dieu Dat's request, $2,200
was sent to rebuild two schools in Loc Tri and An Cuu
destroyed in the floods.