WRITTEN QUESTION E-0004/03 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission. Illegal detention of Buddhist leaders in Vietnam.
Date: 2003-01-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Viet Nam, cooperation agreement (EU), foreign policy, freedom of religious beliefs, human rights, illegal restraint

3.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155 E/207

citizens except top Communist Party officials and foreigners (June, 2002), directives on residence
prohibition and house arrest for released prisoners (Decree 53/ND-CP, August 2001),
in flagrant
violation of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam acceded in
September 1982;

(cid:1) refused to rescind arbitrary legislation such as Decree 31/CP on ‘administrative detention’, which
empowers local security police to detain citizens without a court order for up to two years; to review
the broadly-defined ‘national security’ clauses in the revised 2000 Criminal Code under which
thousands of citizens are currently detained for the peaceful expression of their political opinions and
religious beliefs;

(cid:1) taken no steps to implement recommendations made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention (1995), the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance (1999) and the UN Committee
on Human Rights (2002) to urgently bring domestic legislation into line with international human
rights law. After examining Vietnam’s report on the ICCPR in July 2002, the UN Human Rights
Committee expressed particular concern that provisions in the Vietnamese Constitution subjugated
individual rights to the interest and policies of the one-party State (e.g. Art. 4 of the Constitution on
the mastery of the Communist Party) and were thus totally incompatible with the ICCPR.

Is the Commission aware that Vietnam continues to adopt such restrictive legislation in flagrant violation
of its commitments to the international community? Could this affect the development of bilateral EU-
Vietnam relations, given that the 1995 EU-Vietnam Cooperation Agreement is based on the respect of
human rights and democratic principles? In the light of EU support for the Legal Reform Strategy, would
the Commission consider blocking funding to LRS until Vietnam incorporates UN human rights provisions
into its legal system and rescinds all legislation which impedes the enjoyment of civil and political rights in
Vietnam?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 February 2003)

The Commission is fully aware that Vietnam had not yet adhered to all United Nations Human Rights
Conventions and that shortcomings persist in the implementation of the Conventions that Vietnam has
ratified.

It is against this background that the Commission welcomes the decision by the government of Vietnam to
draw up an action plan for legal reform, based on the Legal Means Assessment. The Union, has repeatedly
urged the government of Vietnam to strengthen its respect for political and religious freedoms, as well as
further strengthen economic and social freedoms. They have expressed this request recently in their joint
declaration at the Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi in December 2002.

Both the Commission and the Member States would support the Vietnamese government in efforts to
strengthen the governance and public administrative reforms, to improve human rights, to prepare for the
signing and implementation of additional international conventions in the area of human rights.

(2003/C 155 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0004/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(16 January 2003)

Subject: Illegal detention of Buddhist leaders in Vietnam

According to information provided by the Paris-based NGO Quê Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam,
the situation of Ven. Thich Huyen Quang and Ven. Thich Quang Do, prominent dissidents and leaders of

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Official Journal of the European Union

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3.7.2003

the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) is extremely disturbing. UBCV Supreme Patriarch
Thich Huyen Quang is now ‘celebrating’ his twentieth year under house arrest without trial in Quang
Phuoc Pagoda, Nghia Hanh village in the remote central province of Quang Ngai. Arrested in 1982 for
protesting the suppression of the independent UBCV and the creation of a State-sponsored ‘Vietnam
Buddhist Church’, he has never been formally charged nor granted the right to a fair trial. Today, the 84-
year-old Buddhist monk is in very poor health as a result of harsh detention conditions. In a message to
the European Parliament in September 2002, he confirmed that he is routinely harassed by security police,
denied all freedom of movement and communication, and deprived of medical care. The UBCV’s deputy
leader, Ven. Thich Quang Do, is detained under extremely severe conditions at the Thanh Minh Zen
Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City. The 74-year-old Nobel Peace Prize nominee was condemned to two years’
‘administrative detention’ in June 2001 for launching an ‘Appeal for Democracy in Vietnam’ proposing a
peaceful transition plan for democratic change. He is currently detained incommunicado. Both monks have
been recognised by the UN as victims of arbitrary detention. Despite the fact
that Commissioner
Christopher Patten reiterated the EU’s grave concern about their continued detention, the Vietnamese
authorities refused last September to allow a visiting EP delegation to travel to Quang Ngai and Ho Chi
Minh City to meet Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do, even though the delegation was mandated
by an EP resolution (July 2001 (1)) to meet detained religious leaders in Vietnam.

Does the Commission consider that the Vietnamese Government’s recent obstruction of the EP delegation’s
meetings with detained religious leaders in Vietnam constitutes a violation of the human rights clause
embodied in the 1995 EU-Vietnam Cooperation Agreement and, if so, what steps does the Commission
intend to take in this regard? In view of the UBCV Patriarch’s seriously deteriorating health, will the
Commission strongly press the Vietnamese Government to allow him to return to Ho Chi Minh City for
medical treatment? Will the Commission send an EU diplomatic envoy to visit Thich Huyen Quang in
Quang Ngai at the earliest possible opportunity?

(1) OJ C 65 E, 14.3.2002, p. 369.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 February 2003)

Commission policy, as expressed in the May 2001 Commission Communication on the European Union’s
role in promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries (1), is to encourage and support
continued progress in Human Rights and Democracy in all appropriate international and bilateral fora. The
Commission, together with the Member States represented in Vietnam, closely monitors human rights
developments in the country.

The Human Rights clause of the Community (cid:1) Vietnam Cooperation Agreement of 1995 provides the
Commission and the Government of Vietnam with a supplementary framework to have a political dialogue
on all questions of concern in addition to the regular diplomatic channels and Union-démarches to the
government of Vietnam.

Please refer to the Commission’s answer to Written Question E-0003/03 by the Honourable Member (2) on
the Union’s joint statement with regard to religious freedom in Vietnam during the Consultative Group
meeting in December 2002.

The Commission and Member States have requested the Vietnamese authorities to release both Mr Quang
and Mr Do. The Commission believes that neither the crimes they are accused of, nor their advanced age
justify their detainment/house arrest. The Commission Delegation in Vietnam has recently repeated the
request for access to Mr Quang and Mr Do. Should the Delegation be allowed to visit them, the
Commission will inform the Honourable Member about these meetings.

(1) COM(2001) 252 final.
(2) See page 206.