EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/480

(2004/C 84 E/0557)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2007/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(11 June 2003)

Subject: Vietnam: continuing imprisonment of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do

The 75-year-old Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, the second-highest authority in the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, is still being held in prison, although he should have been released on Sunday, 1 June 2003 after serving the full two-year ‘administrative detention’ sentence (Ref.: 3208/QD-UB) which was handed down on him on 31 May on the basis of a ‘Decision’ by the Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court. According to the local court, this new sentence constituted a reactivation of the five-year sentence of ‘preliminary imprisonment’ to which the religious leader had been sentenced in August 1995, although he had been released under a general amnesty in September 1998. As justification for its ‘Decision’, the Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court claimed that it was acting in order to prevent Thich Quang Do from pursuing activities exerting a malign influence on politics and public order. Such ‘reactivation’ of a sentence is not only arbitrary and against the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Vietnam, it also constitutes a manifest breach of Vietnamese law in that the amnesty from which Ven. Thich Quang Do benefited was determined by the President of the Republic, while the ‘reactivation’ of the sentence was the outcome of a simple decision taken by the Ho Chi Minh City authorities and against which Ven. Thich Quang Do was unable to defend himself before any court whatsoever. Furthermore, according to AFP, quoting sources inside the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the Vietnamese authorities were thinking about possibly releasing him on 2 September 2003.

Is the Commission aware of these sad developments in what may henceforth be referred to as the ‘Thich Quang Do Case’? What new measures does the Commission intend to take with a view to informing the Vietnamese authorities that the continuing imprisonment of Ven. Thich Quang Do constitutes a serious breach of Vietnamese law, international Conventions to which Vietnam is signatory and the letter and the spirit of the Cooperation Agreement which links Vietnam to the EU? More generally, what measures will the Commission take to ensure that the Vietnamese authorities radically change their attitude and revive the spirit of dialogue which they demonstrated during the recent meeting between the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr Phan Van Khai?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(30 June 2003)

The Commission is well aware of the continued housearrest for the most Venerable Thich Quan Do.

The Commission's policy towards Vietnam is to encourage and support continued progress on human rights and democratisation, and to raise concerns where abuses occur or where a deterioration in the situation becomes evident. The Commission works closely with the Member States in monitoring human rights developments in the country and participates in all Union démarches to the Government of Vietnam on human rights issues, including those pertaining to the situation of Persons of Concern.

The Commission and the Member States have repeatedly urged the Government of Vietnam to strengthen its respect for political and religious freedoms, to further strengthen economic and social freedoms and to create a legal framework for a supportive environment to allow the development of a strengthened civil society.

The Commission will continue to follow closely the human rights situation in Vietnam, together with the Diplomatic Missions of the Member States in Vietnam, and take appropriate action.