Allison Addicott

Photo by Plum Village - walking in support of religious freedom in Vietnam

A  number of human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are closely monitoring a difficult situation in Vietnam at present. Monks and nuns who lived in Bat Nha Monastery in Lam Dong province were, according to numerous sources including the AP and UPI, forced out of their home by Vietnamese authorities in a police attack on the compound in September. Reports of abuse and injury abound. Tension continues to mount as the international scale of the drama unfolds.

Hundreds of members of the Bat Nha Monastery now face an expulsion deadline of December 31 from what has been a temporary shelter in a pagoda, Phuoc Hue, located in the same region. Police raided the group again at Phuoc Hue in mid-December. The group’s leaders now call on French authorities to grant them temporary asylum in France. On December 21^st representatives from a sister monastery in Paris and other delegates from the Buddhist community of Thich Nhat Hanh in France near Bordeaux, met with French officials including Francois Zimmeray, France’s Ambassador for Human Rights, to request the temporary asylum for the persecuted group in Vietnam.  The officials vowed to support the group, and to work with the Vietnamese government to provide a solution.

After the raids in September, the European Union, a large source of aid for Vietnam, has monitored the problem. Released November 26^th , a lengthy statement from the European Parliament criticized the violence of the Vietnamese government in forcibly attacking the approximately 400 members of the peaceful community at Bat Nha. Further, the resolution sharply requested Vietnamese authorities to end their attempts to suppress freedom of religion. The initial points of the resolution outlined the EU’s assessment of the situation:

C. ”Whereas on 27 September 2009 hundreds of young Buddhists from Bat Nha Monastery were violently attacked and beaten and their monastery vandalized, while the State authorities and police ignored their plea for help; whereas other monks who found refuge in the Phuoc Hue Temple were subjected to physical violence and harassment by the police; whereas the monks are facing the risk of expulsion by the government on the grounds that they have been occupying Bat Nha Monastery without permission or prior registration.”

D. “Whereas the assault on the monastery is considered by many to be linked to the 10-Point proposal for religious reform which Thich Nhat Hanh presented to Vietnam’s President Nguye Minh Treit in 2007;

E. “Whereas all religious groups must be authorized by the Government and overseen by a government-appointed management committees, and whereas many religious organizations face a ban and persecution of their members if they wish to remain independent of the government.”

Further points of the resolution call upon the Vietnamese officials to completely end the violent harassment and persecution of the group.  Further, the EU pointed out the numerous forms of international law, and the United Nations Security Council fundamental agreements to abide by such laws that protect freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom to gather. In point 4 the resolution states:

4. “(The EU) Calls for the cessation of all persecution and harassment, and for monks and nuns to be allowed to practice Buddhism in the tradition of the Thich Nhat Hanh Buddhist community in Bat Nha and elsewhere”, and lastly,

7. “Calls on the government of Vietnam, in view of Vietnam’s role as a member of the UN Security Council, to issue a standing invitation to UN special rapporteurs, particularly those on freedom of expression, religious freedom, torture, human rights defenders, and violence against women, and to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.”

With regard to the Bat Nha community, it maintains close ties with Thich Nhat Hanh’s community in Bordeaux. Vietnam and France are historically intertwined from the colonization of Vietnam by France in the 19th century.  Thich Nhat Hanh, widely-recognized author and teacher, honored for bringing Buddhism to the West, has lived in exile in France since the late 1960’s. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967,  Hanh’s work in non-violence and peace developed during the Vietnam war. Since that time, he has written hundreds of books, and has taught at major American universities. In 1993 his visit to New York compelled the mayor to call for that day as a “Day of Reconciliation” for the city. He travels extensively to teach and lecture.

For futher information about the current situation, you can visit the website for the members of Bat Nha, including a video.