Thursday, October 08, 2009         Source: http://bauxitevietnam.info/c/12705.html

By Nguyễn Đắc Xuân

From June to September 2009, the official and unofficial websites gave a lot of information, photos and video clips that included statements critical of Venerable Duc Nghi, abbot of Bat Nha Monastery and his students for committing acts of violence towards about 400 monks and nuns residing there and practicing in the Plum Village tradition. That they were helped by governmental and local police forces, along with gangsters to apply these violent means were unheard of in the Vietnamese society. That these aggressions included cutting off electricity and water, beating, throwing rocks, throwing excrement at the Most Venerables from the Buddhist Church of Lam Dong Province and using speaker phones throughout the day, to curse at the monastics in the Plum Village tradition, etc.
Being trained and practiced professionally in journalism, I could not disregard these news reports. However, I also could not believe that these violent acts took place in Vietnam today – a country that has joined the WTO, that is currently the President of the Security Council in the United Nations, that has a global communication network, that has been supporting the constructions of many of the largest temples in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism, that has organized successfully the International Vesak 2008, that is preparing for the Buddhist World Summit in 2010, and that is striving to have a democratic government system. These reported events that contradicted the national ethic tradition were beyond my imagination. So during the past three months, I still did not dare to have any point view.

On the morning of September 27^th, 2009, on my way from HCM city to Da Lat to visit my mother’s grave in Du Sinh cemetery, I stopped by Bao Loc to visit Bat Nha Monastery. I had been to this place a few years ago and had the honor to visit with Venerable Thich Duc Nghi himself. And unexpectedly, even though it was raining heavily, I was able to witness those final moments of peace that became historical for almost 400 Buddhist monks and nuns practicing in the Plum Village tradition at Bat Nha Monastery. (images of a peaceful BNM)

Being adventurous “a dusty tourist”, I first went to the Love and Understanding Kindergarten School of Bat Nha Monastery. The school was closed, so I walked slowly down the slope and entered a two story building with the name “Mountain Cloud Hamlet.”

The kindergarten school Understanding and Love of Bat Nha Monastery

I learned that Mountain Cloud Hamlet was financially supported by Mr. David, an American follower. It was built for the members of the Order of Interbeing (OI) of the Plum Village tradition under the name of Venerable Duc Nghi. But the OI members did not make use of it yet so Ven. Duc Nghi temporarily used it as a resident for some of the nuns of Warm Hearth Hamlet.

A young nun greeted me and informed me that the nuns in Mountain Cloud Hamlet were doing walking meditation. I was led to the backside and walked along the slope leading to the Garuda Wings Meditation Hall, where in previous visit, I had witnessed the first pillars being erected. The meditation hall was immense and peaceful. I noticed there were many monastery signages (of monastic practice guidelines) and many glass windows broken and damaged. The first reports that I had heard about was now witnessed and confirmed. (read direct account from a nun at BNM)

The glass windows of the Garuda Wings Meditation Hall were smashed

Looking out at the Rose for Your Pocket Memorial to the right, I saw a statue of a woman standing tall and at her feet, two statues of children whose arms and legs were broken and now lay fallen with their heads to the ground. The path that connected the meditation hall and the statues was completely blocked by pilled pine branches, so I had cut through the bushes to have a closer look. Beholding the children statues reminded me of my own grandchildren in HCM city and with their broken arms and legs, I felt very disturbed. I only took a few pictures before it started to rain down heavily. (see more images)

Statues of the two children were destroyed

I turned around just on time to see hundreds of monks and nuns with umbrellas, peacefully returning from their walking meditation, now gently folding up their umbrellas and stepping into the corridor of the meditation hall. These monks and nuns did not know me, yet they all lowered their heads to greet me with friendly and gentle smiles. In the presence of their peace and ease, my earlier disturbances were calmed. I greeted everyone and asked them to take a picture of me for my journal.

A peaceful moment on the corridor of the Garuda’s Wings Meditation Hall

After bidding farewell to the monastics, I walked towards the end of the meditation hall and headed in the direction of the monks’ quarters called, Fragrant Palm Forest. This area is situated right behind the Main Buddha Hall and some general facilities that were the main establishments of Ven. Duc Nghi (latter other buildings were constructed to accommodate the 400 monastics). Between the monks’ quarters and this area is but a narrow courtyard. I was extremely surprised to see hung banners on the walls of Bat Nha Monastery that faced the Fragrant Palm Forest buildings. Ven. Duc Nghi had allowed these banners to be raised, with profane and threatening language, unwelcoming and distorting the practices of these 400 monastics of the PV tradition. I lifted my camera to take some pictures of these banners so at home I could read them closely, but the monks immediately stopped me and asked me to put away my camera and to leave this place at once. If not, the thugs who are present at the monastery will take my camera and seize me. The moment of peace in me vanished. I hasted behind the hut that on my previous visit, I had met Ven. Duc Nghi. I then passed the hut reserved for Master Nhat Hanh when he visit and stay in Bat Nha. Then I approached the nuns’ area called Warm Hearth, with 2 tall and wide buildings, divided into many rooms.

One (of the two) building of Warm Hearth Hamlet

During my last visit to this temple, I met writer To Nhuan Vy who came to visit his two nieces Dieu Lan (English translator at the Foreign Ministry) and Dieu Lien who had been practicing here. Now, Warm Hearth Hamlet is much more developed and beautiful. The nuns silently carried on with their tasks before their morning class. I did not perceive any sort of worry or fear here at all. The peace and calmness of these monastics following the practice of the Plum Village tradition helped reassure me as I continued my way up the slope towards the bell tower which was on the left hand side of the Main Hall of Bat Nha Monastery.

With my camera hidden inside my raincoat, I walked along path next to the kitchen which faced the Fragrant Palm Forest Hamlet. Looking over the fence, I saw over a hundred men and women, young and old, with brown and gray shirts; many dressing like government officials, some carrying cameras, video recorders, batons, canes, knives, and hammers; and walking back and forth, talking and laughing boisterously. I was reminded of the gangsters and thugs pretending to be Buddhist followers and plundering at Bat Nha Monastery, whose reports have been posted on websites such as phapnanbatnha, phusa, and langmai. I was afraid to run into my comrades, so I tried to get out of this place quickly. But the paved road was too slippery, so I had to take one step at a time. Just as I had reached the side of the Main Hall, I heard screams and cursing coming from behind me. The mob had forced their way into the Fragrant Palm Forest Hamlet to attack the monks. I could not understand, but I turned around and saw that all the monks were sitting in the lotus position, imperturbably, with their palms joined and invoking the name of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (the Great Being of Deep Listening to the Sound of the World), even while the people of Ven. Duc Nghi beat, pull, and demolish them. Some monks waved their hands to tell me to back away. Like a machine, I backed off.

Looking down towards the tea garden, I saw another group of Ven. Duc Nghi charging their way down to Warm Hearth Hamlet. The violence broke out there as well like in Fragrant Palm Forest Hamlet; and similarly, the nuns also sat in meditation and invoked the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara’s name. I felt terrified like on that morning of August 21^st, 1963 when the National Guards “Cảnh sát Dã chiến” carried out the Flood Operation “Nước lũ” of Mr. Ngo Dinh Nhu and assaulted the Dieu De Temple that I had written about in Giac Ngo Magazine. Even worse, at least in 1963, when I saw the National guards, I could recognize them in order to find a way to deal with them; but on that day at Bat Nha, these policemen, my comrades wore civilian clothes, indistinguishable from the common people and gangsters. I did not tell who is who. If in the case I was attacked, my camera broken and my papers confiscated from my wallet, I would not know who to report to my government. I was very confused. And added to the confusion, the storm poured heavily and my wife in Hue called on the cell phone to let me know a Typhoon #9 would soon arrive in Hue, and that she had not found anyone to help raise my books and research papers onto platforms. This was also terrifying news. Must I withstand two storms at once? The human storm and the storm of nature!

I do not know why I did not run out to the main road in front of Bat Nha Monastery. My survival instinct told me to cross the pine forest and the Garuda Wings Meditation Hall and to go down the slope back to Mountain Cloud Hamlet – the place I had stopped by this morning, thinking that it was far from Bat Nha Monastery and so hopefully would still be peaceful. But unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at Mountain Cloud Hamlet, I saw a nun with a Hue accent named Trang Nghiem walking relaxingly back and forth on the corridor of the upper floor. She advised me to leave this place immediately; people will attack Mountain Cloud Hamlet soon. Knowing the attack will come soon and yet she was still calm as if she were waiting for guests to visit. Perhaps she was about the age of my daughter. I wondered how long had she been a nun or how long had she been able to dwell in that state? I took refuge in the Buddha with the Most Venerable Thich Don Hau since 1956, back when this nun had not been born; yet in this moment, my mind is still so disturbed and confused. Out of respect her spiritual strength, I descended the stairs and walked out of the gate. The gate was not yet closed. The chanting of the Buddha’s name still resounded behind me. I knew the assault force of Ven. Duc Nghi had invaded Mountain Cloud Hamlet. Homage to the Amitabha Buddha! It’s done! At this point, I could only invoke the Buddha’s name.

I pretended to be a “dusty tourist”; pretended that “I had a sudden bout of stomachache so I had to drop my plan of visiting D’amri waterfall.” I asked a child buying gas at a shop at the side road to help me call for a motorcycle taxi. The child saw me in pain, holding my stomach, so he agreed to help me. A while later, a man in his 50’s came by on a 78-Honda to meet me. With a northern accent, he said:

“I was working in the gardens in Bat Nha Monastery. Today they are attacking the monastics of Plum Village, too violent, so I stopped working. A boy told me there is an old tourist who needs to return to Bao Loc immediately, so I ran out here; but my Honda is in such poor condition that I am afraid I won’t take you all the way to Bao Loc and if we get stranded in the middle of the road, it mean trouble. I heard the guards and policemen are stationed at many points along the road…”

I tried not to worry and asked the Honda driver, “That’s all right, thank you though. I’ll call a taxi. You work in the gardens of Bat Nha; so do you follow Buddhism?”

“I am from Thai Binh,” he replied. “But I follow Buddhism, and my wife follows Catholicism. These past few months, I have witnessed the Buddhism of the Bat Nha Temple condemning the Buddhism of Plum Village so outrageously that I have denounced Buddhism altogether.”

“In what way are they condemning?”

“They are cursing like the runaways and homeless kids in the markets. In the temple of Mr. Duc Nghi, there is an old lady, Huong, living in and serving the temple. All day long she “turns on her machine” (her mouth) and curses at the Plum Village nuns and monks without leaving any details out. She shouts, “Wherever Plum Village goes, suffering follows,” but the local people here would say, “Wherever Plum Village goes, rich people follow.”

“What do you mean rich people follow?”

“Many kinds – young children receive childcare and schooling and can go to the nursery-kindergarten of Understanding and Love program; the poor people receive aid. Thousands of guests come to practice and to visit so local people make a lot of money serving and selling goods to them. Before, the land in the D’amri area costs only a few hundred thousand “dong” (Vietnamese currency) and nobody paid attention to it. But when the Plum Village Buddhism came, each square meter cost one million “dong”. If Plum Village moves away, not even a ghost would visit this Bat Nha Temple anymore! The local people will have difficulties making a living once again.”

“How much do you earn a day from working in the Bat Nha garden?”

“I get 5 kilogram of fragrant rice. I bring home 2 kg, and I sell 3 kg to buy liquor. What a pity!”

The taxi arrived and I had to say goodbye to this Honda rider, “Thank you for the honest information you just shared with me.”

Just like the Honda rider said, on the way out of Bao Loc, even though it was raining, policemen were stationed at many points. When we got to a 3-way intersection, the taxi slowed down, and the driver told the group of policemen that he was “transporting a sick person,” so they let us pass. Once in Bao Loc, I knew there wasn’t any reason for my being there, so I took the Phuong Trang bus directly to Da Lat. I escaped the troubles at Bat Nha. But in mind, I continued to hear the chanting of the Buddha’s name by the Plum Village Sangha in Bat Nha. In Da Lat, I stayed over a friend’s place. Tired and sleepy, yet I could not go to sleep. Now and then, my friends in Bao Loc would call and report to me the situation of the 400 Plum Village monastics and that they were all forced out of their buildings in Bat Nha. While I was on my way to Da Lat, the monks and the nuns were kept under the cold rain and a number of them traveled to Phuoc Hue Temple of Ven. Thich Thai Thuan for refuge. Most of the nuns still stayed back in Mountain Cloud Hamlet. My friend lend me a thick blanket that I used to wrap around my body, but still, I felt cold. I wished for the light of day to come sooner.

The next morning September 28^th, 2009, I traveled to the cemetery to offer the incense for my mother and then visited the temple where my siblings and I had planned to entrust my mother’s spiritual care. As soon as I entered the temple, the abbot, who had in the past, gone down the street to fight against the religious discrimination of Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime in 1963, immediately asked me:

“Hey Mr. government officer, have you run out of things to say, that you have to come up with the story that Thay Thich Nhat Hanh hardly takes a shower, so stinky that his disciples have to carry him to get a bath?”

The comment surprised me. I was caught speechless and did not know how to respond to the abbot appropriately. , I quietly sat down at the table, drank some water, and began to ask about the whole story from beginning to end. The abbot told me that on the afternoon of September 16^th, 2009, the Permanent National Front Committee of Da Lat City called for all Buddhist abbots in the vicinity, along with the general public (at 31 DTH, P.2), to gather at their conference center Khoi Mat so that they can be informed of “some recent Buddhist situations in the area.” At the gathering, the abbot listened to the reports of the Religious Affairs Committee and heard this story regarding Thay Nhat Hanh from one of its representative.

Although I have retired for over 10 years, I still felt disgraceful in front of this old monk. Even though I was familiar with the sometimes crude level of education and knowledge of these local government officers, when I heard how these government officers shared with over 40 Buddhist abbots about Master Nhat Hanh in that way, I felt they had offended not only Master Thich Nhat Hanh, but also violated all the abbots of Buddhist temples in Da Lat. I asked the Abbot:
“Why didn’t you ask the officer from what source he used to claim that this internationally known Zen Master, Thay Nhat Hanh would behave like that? Or why when Zen Master Nhat Hanh returned to visit the country many times, with many Buddhist followers, government officers and leaders welcoming this Zen Master, no one spoke in such a way!”

“Drop it there Mr. Officer,” said the old monk. “You all regard us like a bunch of children and so you spread such propaganda. Why should we waste our saliva (our energy) to go about asking and complicating things more?”

When he had finished speaking, the monk handed me two pamphlets that were distributed during that meeting and said to me, “Take this.”

I already had these pamphlets [1] for awhile now, but out of respect for him, I took them anyways and thanked him. Suddenly, a young monk with a deflated face walked in. The abbot asked the young monk, “What did the government and the local police come and talk about?”

“Respected Teacher, they told us that small business owners of Da Lat were pressuring on the monks, requesting them to hold flags and to demonstrate with them against the government for beating and evicting the monastics that followed the Plum Village tradition out of Bat Nha Monastery in Bao Loc. The government now requests our temples to mind our business (“chuyện chi còn có đó”- everything is fine) and advises us to keep quite so the city can be at peace!”

The abbot complained, “See what you all have caused for these Buddhist followers!”

The young monk turned to me and said, “It’s so disgraceful to be a monk these days! All day I hide in the temple afraid to go outside. How can a big organized Buddhist Church like that let one Ven. Duc Nghi act so recklessly and completely destroy the reputation of Buddhism. Such a thing has never happened before!”

I asked the young monk, “How has Ven. Duc Nghi act recklessly?”

“My Lord Buddha! I heard you’re some kind of famous researcher and you ask me now how Ven. Duc Nghi has behaved so wildly at Bat Nha? Do you use the Internet? Just type into Google “Venerable Duc Nghi” and you can read all you like. There are movies, pictures, and documents all there!”

The way this young monk addressed me and paid attention during our conversation was like me in the 60’s from the last century. It is so contrary to the behavior, the peaceful and patient manner of the monastics that I had met at Bat Nha on the morning of September 27^th. I could only imagine the present distress of these young monastics of Lam Dong. I wonder if the Communist Party and the government are aware of this discontent. Suddenly, I felt really depressed. I paid my respect and bid farewell to the abbot and then I quietly left Da Lat, my second childhood home.

When the bus Mai Linh, transporting me, was approaching Bao Loc, I called on a teacher-poet in Bao Loc to pick me up and take me to visit Ven. Thich Thai Thuan – Vice President of the Management Board of the Buddhist Church in Lam Dong Province and also the Abbot of Phuoc Hue Temple. My poet friend quickly replied, “It’s not possible! Don’t you know that he was attacked during his last visit to Bat Nha at the end of June? The 400 monks and nuns have been evicted from Bat Nha and now, they are taking refuge in Phuoc Hue Temple. The government and the police in Bao Loc are ordering Ven. Thai Thuan to kick these monastics out of the temple. So it’s not possible for us to visit. Please don’t stop by Bao Loc at this time. The situation is very tense. Very well, bye now!”

I turned off my phone. I felt like a fugitive on the run.

When I got home, I wrote down everything that I had just seen and heard, in order to compare with the information that I had compiled from the Internet and had saved on my PC awhile ago. Opening the “File on the violent actions at Bat Nha Monastery,” I put aside all the information and reports from this person and that radio station. I only printed out official documents and reports from the central and local government, from the central and provincial Buddhist church, from the Plum Village Sangha at Bat Nha Monastery, and from the Ven. Duc Nghi, etc.

Having witnessed the reality for myself and having re-read these official documents and reports, it did not help me understand things any clearer but on the contrary, it made me even more confused.

1- At the lamp transmission ceremony (recorded at phapnanbatnha.org), in front of the Buddha’s altar and Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Venerable Duc Nghi made the following vow:

“Respected Teacher, today I receive this lamp in the Upper Hamlet meditation hall, I vow to you that: ‘Rather to kindle a feeble flame than to sit and curse at the darkness.” I will return to Viet Nam, and will go to those places with difficulties and those places still with much suffering and bring your love and the love of the Sangha to beautify life. And when tomorrow comes, when I am no longer present in this world, my disciples will continue that path and no one can go against the path that I have already laid down.”

Venerable Duc Nghi giving a Dharma talk after having received the lamp transmission

As it seems, no one has understood the political stance and has rank highly the value of the Plum Village Buddhism of Master Nhat Hanh as much as Ven. Duc Nghi. Ven. Duc Nghi invited Master Nhat Hanh to Bat Nha and in front of the Buddha’s altar, the Venerable offered the temple grounds of Bat Nha to the Master. The Venerable traveled to France to receive the lamp transmission and be accepted as a disciple the Master. He learned the Plum Village practices in order to bring back and apply them at Bat Nha. Today, if the government feels that the practice of Plum Village and the political views of Master Nhat Hanh are harmful to the present regime, then the first person responsible to the government is none other than the Ven. Duc Nghi himself – the Abbot of Bat Nha Monastery. So it is difficult to understand why up to this point, the governing laws of Vietnam have not been applied to Ven. Duc Nghi but are only concerned with the registration for temporary residency of some 400 Vietnamese youth at Bat Nha Monastery and who are at Phuoc Hue Temple.

2- In the urgent report about the attack on the delegation from the Board of Management of the Buddhist Church of Lam Dong Province which took place on June 29^th, 2009 at Bat Nha Monastery, Bao Loc district, Lam Dong Province, it states:

a) The delegation of the Board of Management went to Bat Nha Monastery to investigate and to directly behold the situation at Bat Nha Monastery, an establishment that rightly belongs to the Buddhist Church. Yet Ven. Duc Nghi allowed a group of angry and violent people attack the delegation with batons, rocks, excrements, intending to injure the delegation.
b) This violent and sinister act did not happen by chance, but was premeditated and prepared before hand, with the intention to attack the Board of Management and the Venerable leaders of the Buddhist Church of Lam Dong. This action undermines the law of the land, violates human dignity and health, and seriously offends the High Venerables’ respectability. This is a great pain and disgrace that is rarely seen in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism.
c)The violence that has taken place and continues to take place at Bat Nha Monastery from then up to now, Ven. Thich Duc Nghi, Thich Dong Hanh (his disciple) and his people must be held entirely responsible before the laws of the government and the regulations of the Buddhist Church (bolded by NDX, the author of this article).

Venerable Thai Thuan, Vice President of the Board of Management of Buddhist Church in Lam Dong province, was seriously injured on June 20th, 2009.

The violations of Ven. Duc Nghi are very clear and have been reported by the highest office of the Buddhist Church in Lam Dong to the government, to the Vietnamese Buddhist Church, to the central and local departments. Even so, during more than three months, all the departments and offices of the government and the central office of the Buddhist Church, all have yet to contact Ven. Duc Nghi and his party? Who is this Ven. Duc Nghi that he can live outside the governing laws and Buddhist regulations; that he can freely apply jungle laws to the Board of Management of the Buddhist Church in Lam Dong, and to the 400 monastics in the PV tradition, whose only self- defense is to invoke the Buddha’s name?

3- All the violences carried out by Ven. Duc Nghi and his students and followers at Bat Nha Monastery from June until now were witnessed by the local policemen. Police officers are responsible for arresting criminals and protecting innocent civilians. Why don’t you stop cooperating with the criminal with the name Thich Duc Nghi? Or could Thich Duc Nghi is a person from …?

4- The police force is there to execute the laws, to apply them clearly in bright day light and with the just reasons. Well then where did the local police force go and did not participate in bringing to order these 400 monastics in BNM; but instead, resorted to the use of suspicious characters and thugs to do the job of eviction? With that kind of behavior, do you know that you are collaborating those who are sabotaging Vietnam and disregarding our government?

5- If the suggestions of Master Nhat Hanh are not agreeable to the Vietnamese government, that is an issue between the Master and the government. The practice of these 400 youths following the Plum Village tradition has not shown any indication of relation to that disagreement nor any indication of “threat” to the security and the politics of the local area. Then why did Lam Dong Province proceed with the forced eviction, with such urgency, on a cold, wet day with rains from a #9-Typhoon?

6- The government at Lam Dong, Bao Loc district, and local policemen, via local news broadcast and other means of communication, has always affirmed that “the disorder at the Monastery of Plum Village (BNM) is a Buddhist internal matter.” The 400 monastics practicing in the PV tradition at Bat Nha Monastery are the disciples of Ven. Duc Nghi – Vice president of the Board of Management of the Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Lam Dong. Even if Ven. Duc Nghi disowns them, they are still a part of the Buddhist Church in Bao Loc (Lam Dong). Why did the government forcefully evict those 400 Buddhist monastics without any representative from the Board of Management of Bao Loc or of Lam Dong?

Venerable Duc Nghi headed the ordination ceremony for 45 aspirants on January 8th, 2006

7- In part 4 of the report dated on August 12^th, 2008 – 18 pages long, written by the monastics Thich Chan Phap Kham, Thich Chan Trung Hai, Thich Nu Chan Thoai Nghiem, Thich Nu Chan Phuc Nghiem, sent to the Board of Management of Buddhist Church of Lam Dong and the Buddhist representative committee in Bao Loc – the total cost for the construction of buildings at Bat Nha monastery, for buying the properties and for building Mountain Cloud Hamlet next to the monastery is over one million USD. All the buildings in Fragrant Palm Forest, Warm Hearth Hamlet, Mountain Cloud Hamlet, and the Garuda Wings Meditation Hall are the properties of the Plum Village Sangha. Before they evicted the 400 owners from their own property, did the local government and Ven. Duc Nghi have a clear plan as to what they will do with that property which is worth over one million dollars?

8- To succeed with the eviction of the 400 monastics out of Bat Nha Monastery using violent means as discussed above, the leaders of Lam Dong Province must have understood clearly their plan of actions. Then, I respectfully ask my comrades to help explain to this old journalist (in order to write it in history) one thing: Is there any difference between the violent acts just committed by those people, following your orders at Bat Nha Monastery and the violent acts committed by the Ngo Dinh Diem regime, oppressing Buddhism in 1963 (in its essence and in its appearance)? (If there isn’t any difference, then those historians of Vietnamese history will have a lot difficulties when they write about the history of the Diem regime. My dear comrades, please save us, researchers).

There are many things that still need explanations, but this article is already too long, so I won’t raise here. If this receives attention from the high levels of government, then I’ll share more in the next articles.

I have retired from government service for over 10 years, but with the responsibility of a revolutionary writer, I continue to stand strong on the cultural and ideological front to protect our country and its people. So I can continue to be proud of my life that has in some way contributed to the building of a society that is “equal, democratic and civilized.” So that I can write without any reservations, I respectfully ask the different central government offices and departments, leaders of Lam Dong Province, and the Buddhist Church of Viet Nam to explain to me the questions I have raised above. If this does not receive your care and attention, then my confidence and trust in the Communist Part, in the Buddhist Church of Vietnam at the end of my life will depart me.

Respectfully,

Gac Tho Loc, October 2009

Nguyễn Đắc Xuân [2]

Footnotes:

[1] Document 1: The opinion of the Government Religious Affairs Committee concerning the religious activities of Plum Village (France) in VN, number 1329/TGCP-PG, signed on October 29, 2008. (see entire document) Document 2: Announcement about the final decision about Bat Nha Monastery in Bao Loc, Lam Dong by the Board of Management of Buddhist Church of VN, office 2, number 037/CV/HĐTS, signed on January 19^th, 2009.

[2] So that readers and those responsible for resolving the violent situations at Bat Nha may understand better the background of the writer of this article, I would like to introduce myself: I was born in 1937, I am almost 73 years old now (I spent 15 childhood years in Da Lat), came from the Movement against the religious discrimination of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime (1963), had 3 years fighting in the city (1963-1966), had 9 years joining the fight against Americans (1966-1975), 36 years in the Communist Party (1973-2009), member of Vietnamese Writer Group, member of KH Vietnamese History Group, before retirement (July 1998) had 5 years being the head office of Lao Dong Magazine in the Central and Highlands (1993-1998). Presently a researcher on history and culture, member of the scientist group in the National Research Center, special CTV of Hon Viet Magazine (Address: 62 Trần Quốc Thảo, Q.3, TP HCM), specialist in Nguyen Hue-Quang Trung in Hue, research specialist about the Youthful period of Bac Ho in Hue. I published almost 50 books on the history and culture of Hue. Presently I am writing about the history of the Buddhist movement against the religious discrimination policy of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime (1963), the history of the Patriotic Movement in the city, Literature and Music Movement calling for peace in 1964-1966 in South VN. Permanent resident in Hue, half of my time is lived in HCM city. All contacts can be through e-mail gactholoc@yahoo.com. If any readers want to know more about me and what I have written, please go on these following websites: : sachhiem.net, giaodiemonline.com, dongduongthoibao.net, nhandanvietnam.org, http:/honvietquochoc.com.vn.

Translator’s note: translation of the author’s background and activities (CV) may not be accurate. Therefore, I am including the author’s original introduction of himself here (in Vietnamese):

Để những người có trách nhiệm trong việc giải quyết những bạo hành ở TV Bát Nhã và độc giả gần xa hiểu rõ hơn về nhân thân tác giả bài viết này, tôi xin tự giới thiệu vài nét sau đây: Tôi sinh năm 1937, nay gần 73 tuổi (có 15 năm thơ ấu ở Đà Lạt), xuất thân từ Phong trào đấu tranh chống Chính quyền Ngô Đình Diệm kỳ thị tôn giáo (1963), có 3 năm tranh đấu ở đô thị (1963-1966), có 9 năm tham gia kháng chiến chống Mỹ (1966-1975), 36 tuổi Đảng (1973-2009), Hội viên Hội Nhà văn VN, hội viên Hội KH Lịch sử VN, trước khi hưu trí (7-1998) có 5 năm làm Trưởng Văn phòng báo Lao Động ở miền Trung và Tây nguyên (1993-1998), hiện nay là nhà nghiên cứu văn hóa lịch sử, thành viên của Hội đồng khoa học Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Quốc học, CTV đặc biệt của báo Hồn Việt (62 Trần Quốc Thảo, Q.3, TP HCM), chuyên gia về Nguyễn Huệ-Quang Trung ở Huế, chuyên gia nghiên cứu về Thời niên thiếu của Bác Hồ ở Huế, đã xuất bản gần 50 đầu sách văn hóa lịch sử Huế, đang viết lịch sử cuộc Vận động của Phật giáo chống chính sách kỳ thị tôn giáo của chế độ Ngô Đình Diệm (1963), lịch sử của Phong trào đấu tranh yêu nước ở đô thị, Phong trào Văn thơ âm nhạc vận động hòa bình những năm 1964-1966 tại miền Nam VN. Thường trú ở Huế, một nửa thời gian sống ở TP HCM. Mọi liên lạc qua e-mail: gactholoc@yahoo.com Địa chỉ email này đã được bảo vệ từ spam bots, bạn cần kích hoạt Javascript để xem nó. . Nếu có độc giả nào muốn biết thêm về tôi, về những gì tôi đã viết xin vào các trang web sau: sachhiem.net, giaodiemonline.com, dongduongthoibao.net, nhandanvietnam.org, http:/honvietquochoc.com.vn.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report: Harsh Crackdown on Followers of Buddhist Peace Activist Thich Nhat Hanh

“Once again Vietnam has clamped down on a peaceful religious group – even one that was initially welcomed by the government. The government views many religious groups, particularly popular ones that it fears it can’t control, as a challenge to the Communist Party’s authority.”        

– Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director, Human Rights Watch
[see full report] 

Oct 18, 2009
(NEW YORK) – The violent forced expulsion of more than 300 followers of the world-renowned Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh from Bat Nha monastery in late September highlights the Vietnamese government’s suppression of religious freedom, Human Rights Watch said today.

In 2005, the Vietnamese government welcomed Thich Nhat Hanh during his first return to his homeland after 39 years in exile abroad. Government and religious officials subsequently invited him to open a Buddhist meditation center at Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province, which soon began to draw large numbers of followers.

But on September 27, 2009, police officers cordoned off the monastery as more than 100 thugs and undercover police officers armed with sticks and hammers broke down the doors and forcefully evicted 150 monks – all followers of Thich Nhat Hanh – beating some of the monks in the process. Police reportedly arrested two senior monks, Phap Hoi and Phap Sy, whose whereabouts remain unknown. The next day, in response to threats and coercion, more than 200 Buddhist nuns, also adherents of Thich Nhat Hanh, fled the monastery, seeking temporary refuge with the monks at a nearby pagoda.

“Once again Vietnam has clamped down on a peaceful religious group – even one that was initially welcomed by the government,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government views many religious groups, particularly popular ones that it fears it can’t control, as a challenge to the Communist Party’s authority.”

The crackdown is thought to be linked in part to proposals Thich Nhat Hanh made during a private meeting with President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2007 – and later made public – urging the government to ease its restrictions on religion.

All religious groups must be authorized by the government and overseen by government-appointed management committees. For Buddhists – the majority of the population – the management entity is the government-sanctioned Vietnamese Buddhist Church (VBC), sometimes referred to as the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha.

The VBC, which is designated to preside over all Buddhist organizations and “sects” in Vietnam, oversees pagodas and educational institutes. Its approval is required for Buddhist ordinations and ceremonies, donations to pagodas, and temple expansions. It also vets the content of Buddhist publications and religious studies curricula offered at pagoda schools. In 2007, it authorized the establishment of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Buddhist training and meditation center at Bat Nha monastery.

Other Buddhist organizations – such as the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and some Hoa Hao and ethnic Khmer Buddhist congregations – are banned by the government because they choose to operate independently of government-appointed management committees.

The UBCV has faced decades of harassment and repression for seeking independent status and appealing to the government to respect human rights and cease its interference in religious affairs. Its leaders have been threatened, detained, put under pagoda arrest, imprisoned, and placed under strict travel restrictions for many years.

“Sadly, the harassment and expulsion of Buddhists in Lam Dong is not an isolated incident,” said Pearson. “Buddhists in Vietnam have long faced harsh treatment and persecution.”

Other religious groups, including some Catholics, ethnic minority Christians, Mennonites, and members of the Cao Dai faith, suffer repression and persecution for practicing their faith or conducting peaceful demonstrations calling for religious freedom and the return of church properties confiscated by the government. (For more information, see Background on Religious Freedom, below.)

The Crackdown on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Followers

Thich Nhat Hanh – one of the world’s most prominent and influential Buddhist monks – first drew international attention in the 1960s as a leader of South Vietnamese Buddhists opposed to the US war in Vietnam, critical of all sides to the conflict. He continued his anti-war activities from exile in France after he left the country in 1965. The government banned him from the country as he increasingly took on human rights issues, including the plight of the thousands of boat people who fled Vietnam after the communist victory in 1975 and the persecution of Buddhist clergy and patriarchs.

In February 2005, Thich Nhat Hanh was warmly welcomed by the Vietnamese government during his widely publicized return from exile. Thousands of Vietnamese attended Buddhist ceremonies, lectures, and monastic retreats led by Thich Nhat Hanh during three visits to Vietnam.

His return took place at a time when the government wanted to present a less-repressive stance toward religion in the hope that the United States would remove Vietnam from its blacklist of countries violating religious freedom, a stepping stone for its entry into the World Trade Organization in 2007.

During Thich Nhat Hanh’s second visit to Vietnam in 2007, Thich Duc Nghi, the abbot of Bat Nha monastery and a VBC member, invited him to open a Buddhist center at the monastery. Thich Duc Nghi donated the monastery to Thich Nhat Hanh, whose followers and supporters invested money to rebuild it.

During that trip, Thich Nhat Hanh presented a 10-point proposal for religious reforms in his meeting with Triet. “Please separate religion from politics and politics from religious affairs,” Thich Nhat Hanh said. “Please stop all surveillance by the government on religious activities, disband the Government Department for Religious Affairs, but first of all disband the Religious Police. All religious associations should be able to operate freely in accordance to laws and regulations, just like any cultural, commercial, industrial and social associations.”

Tensions with the authorities over his calls for religious reforms, as well as the growing popularity of his meditation center, surfaced in 2008. His public support for the Dalai Lama and Tibet, which likely caused China to put pressure on Hanoi, may also have played a role.

In October 2008, the central government’s Religious Affairs Committee stated that Thich Nhat Hanh had distorted Vietnam’s religious policies and that some of his followers lacked legal rights to live at Bat Nha monastery. The abbot of Bat Nha – reportedly under pressure from his superiors – ordered Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers to leave.

In June 2009, water, electricity, and telephone lines were shut off in an effort to force the monks and nuns to leave. Local civilians overran the monastery in June and July, shouting and threatening the monks and nuns, and confiscating food, furniture, and other property. The forced expulsions followed in September.

“The ousting of Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers is clearly linked to his call for religious reforms, rather than the alleged failure of his followers to fulfill local residency and registration requirements,” said Pearson. “Religious groups should be allowed to conduct religious activities freely, organize and manage themselves, and engage in peaceful expression.”

The government accuses Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers of conducting “illegal activities” and “abusing the religious regulations of the Communist Party and the government, to sabotage the government and oppose the VBC,” according to a confidential memo from the District People’s Committee in Lam Dong, dated September 17, 2009, obtained by Human Rights Watch. The directive instructs government officials to pressure Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers to relocate to other pagodas under VBC management or return to their home villages.

Buddhists in Vietnam and around the world, as well as foreign embassies in Hanoi, condemned the harassment and eviction of Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers. On October 5, 180 Vietnamese academics, poets, teachers, and scientists, including some Vietnamese Communist Party members, sent a petition to the government requesting an investigation into the incident. Even the VBC management board in Lam Dong deplored the crackdown in a confidential report to the VBC executive management council dated October 6, 2009.

Human Rights Watch called on the Vietnamese government to release everyone imprisoned for peaceful religious or political activities, and to end restrictions on religious groups, regardless of whether they affiliate with the officially authorized religious organizations. Human Rights Watch also urged the United States to reinstate Vietnam on its blacklist of countries violating freedom of religion.

“Vietnam’s respect for human rights and religious freedom has sharply deteriorated since the US removed it from its blacklist and Vietnam was accepted into the World Trade Organization,” said Pearson. “The Vietnamese government should stop treating freedom of religion as a privilege to be granted by the government rather than an inalienable right.”

Background on Religious Freedom

Vietnam’s 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions affirms the right to freedom of religion. However, it requires that all religious groups register with the government, and bans any religious activity deemed to cause public disorder, harm national security, or “sow divisions.” Adherents of some religious groups that are not officially recognized by the government are persecuted. Security officials disperse their religious gatherings, confiscate religious literature, and summon religious leaders to police stations for interrogation. In some instances, police destroy churches of unauthorized religious groups and detain or imprison their members on charges of violating national security.

Members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), once the largest organization of Buddhists in southern and central Vietnam, have been threatened, detained, put under pagoda arrest, imprisoned, and placed under strict travel restrictions for many years. In July 2009, for example, police surrounded many UBCV pagodas in southern and central Vietnam to prevent monks – including the current Patriarch, Thich Quang Do – from attending a memorial ceremony for the UBCV patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, who died in 2008.

While Hoa Hao Buddhism and the Cao Dai religion are officially recognized religions, many members strongly resist official pressure to affiliate with the government-appointed committees that oversees their religious affairs. Two Hoa Hao Buddhists immolated themselves in 2005 to protest religious repression and imprisonment of their leaders. In 2005, nine Cao Dai members were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison on national security charges after they tried to deliver a petition calling for religious freedom to delegates attending an international conference in Cambodia.

The government persecutes other unsanctioned religious groups, such as members of Christian churches not registered with the government-authorized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN), including independent Mennonite congregations affiliated with Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, a former prisoner of conscience; and ethnic minority Christians in the northern and central Vietnam.

Christian members of indigenous ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, commonly referred to as Montagnards, face ongoing persecution and restrictions, particularly in villages where people refuse to join the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, or are suspected of following “Tin Lanh Dega” (Dega Christianity), an unauthorized religion the government considers subversive.

During 2009, at least 40 Montagnard Christians have been arrested in Gia Lai province alone for participating in unregistered “Tin Lanh Dega” house churches. On August 14, for example, police raided a prayer meeting in a home in Chu Se district, badly beating eight Montagnard Christians, including one who had to be hospitalized. In another raid in February, the police arrested 11 Montagnard Christians from several villages, beating and shocking them with electric batons when they refused to sign documents pledging to join the Evangelical Church of Vietnam. During the last year, authorities destroyed at least two churches in Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands.

Hundreds of people are currently imprisoned in Vietnam for their religious or political beliefs, or a combination of the two. They include at least 300 Montagnard Christians; Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest; Nguyen Thi Hong, a Mennonite pastor; members of the Cao Dai faith, and at least five Hoa Hao Buddhists.

In some cases, church leaders who have emerged as civil rights campaigners are charged with national security crimes and sent to prison. This was the case with Father Nguyen Van Ly, who peacefully called for the government to show greater respect and tolerance for human rights, religious freedom and democratic principles. Arrested in 2006, he is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence.

Other prominent religious figures who advocate religious freedom and democratic reforms, such as the UBCV Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do and another Catholic priest, Phan Van Loi, have been held under pagoda or house arrest for years.

“In a country such as Vietnam, where the government bans independent human rights organizations, church leaders are often the leading voices advocating for fundamental rights to free speech and religious freedom,” said Pearson. “While the Vietnamese government loves to tour visiting dignitaries around crowded churches and model pagodas, it tries to deny the repression of believers that takes place every day.”

Conflicts over government confiscation of church properties often go hand-in-hand with increased repression of certain denominations, for example the violent crackdown by police and government-hired thugs in 2008 on peaceful prayer vigils conducted by Catholics calling for the return of church properties in Hanoi. In July 2009, as many as 200,000 Catholics peacefully protested in Quang Binh province after police destroyed a temporary church structure erected near the ruins of the historic Tam Toa Church in Vinh Diocese. Police used tear gas and electric batons to beat parishioners who resisted, arresting 19, of whom seven were charged with disturbing public order.

US Lifting of Restrictions

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights covenants, Vietnam is obligated to respect freedom of expression, religious belief, and worship.

In 2004, the US State Department designated Vietnam a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) because of what it called “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” In 2006, the State Department removed Vietnam from the list, citing the release of religious prisoners and less-restrictive legislation governing religion. Two months later, the US granted Vietnam permanent normal trade status, which led to Vietnam’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The lifting of Vietnam’s CPC status by the US was deemed premature by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and many international human rights and religious freedom groups. After a visit to Vietnam in May 2009, the commission recommended once again that the US reinstate Vietnam on the list, stating that “Vietnam’s overall human rights record remains poor, and has deteriorated since Vietnam joined WTO in January 2007.”

February – Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam with the government’s blessing, aged 80 after 39 years of exile. He had been banned from returning to Vietnam in 1966 after visiting the U.S. and Europe on a peace mission to call for an end the Vietnam war. That same year he was nominated for the Nobel peace prize by Martin Luther King. During his time in exile Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh became one of the most well-known Buddhist teachers in the West, and a best-selling author of over 80 books. He has been credited with bringing Buddhism to a new audience through his accessible teachings on mindfulness, his engaged Buddhism, eloquent writings and public retreats in the US, Europe and many countries in Asia. In 1982 he founded Plum Village, a practice center in South West France, as a haven for Vietnamese refugees, and base for his continued work to support political prisoners and hungry families in Vietnam. This has now grown to become one of the biggest and most active Buddhist meditation centers in the West.

His return visit to Vietnam, January -April 2005, raised hopes for a new era of religious freedom in the country. Thousands came to meet him on his arrival at the airport; thousands attended his dharma talks and retreats in the North, Centre and South. And during the visit a new wave of young people were inspired to become monastics and to practice meditation according to the Plum Village tradition.

During this trip Ven. Duc Nghi, before a crowd of thousands of people, offered his Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong Province to Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh and his followers. At the time there were about 80 young aspirants wishing to ordain as monks and nuns in Nhat Hanh’s tradition.

Immediately 2005 large donations began to be made from Plum Village and foreign followers of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh to fund the development of the Bat Nha site and the living expenses of the young monks, nuns and aspirants. It is estimated that their investment in Bat Nha monastery and its sangha between 2005-9 totalled approximately one million dollars. Money was invested in buying additional lands and constructing new residential and service buildings, including a large meditation hall (capacity 1,800).

These works were driven simply by the sheer numbers of young people flocking to Bat Nha. The new monastery attracted mainly young people, between 18-25, many of whom had university diplomas and successful careers before choosing a path of meditation and service. Many of them had to endure cramped and challenging living conditions in the years it took for the basic infastructure to be built around them.

2007

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh meets President Minh Triet

Spring – Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh visited Vietnam for the second time, and met with the President of Vietnam.

During the meeting, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh made some suggestions that he thought would help improve the relations of the country domestically and diplomatically. He prepared a ten-point proposal that included a suggestion to dissolve the religious police and the religious affairs bureau over a five or six years’ period.

During this visit the Plum Village Delegation organized three large requiem masses to be held in the North, Centre and South of Vietnam, to bring healing to the suffering of the war. And Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh presided over great ordination ceremonies for novices, bhiksus and bhiksunis, and Dharma Teachers.

Several months after his return to France, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh published in the Plum Village newsletter the 10-point proposal he had made to the President in the Spring. This apparently upset the Vietnamese government [see internal memo: 1329 – Document F].

2008

March – The Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh and his delegation led a retreat in Italy. In an interview with the press, The Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh publicly stated his support for the Dalai Lama and Tibet. This caused a strong reaction from the Chinese government.  They, in turn, pressured the Vietnamese government not to allow TNH to return to Vietnam.

May – Nevertheless, The Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh was invited to Vietnam for a third time, at the invitation of the organizers of the UNESCO Vesak conference held in Vietnam.

August - Claiming they represented the abbot Ven. Duc Nghi, local police issued a statement, that was not based on any kind of legal process, demanding all 379 monks and nuns living in Bat Nha leave. The monks and nuns refused, maintaining they were legally resident, and that the police had no right to demand they leave. They continued to practice and organize retreats, but police began to harass them. They visited frequently to check identification papers and demanded they sign a paper declaring that they were living there illegally. The monastics refused to sign the papers and maintained their calm.

From this time, the immigration service of Vietnam refused to grant visas to Vietnamese-born Plum Village Dharma Teachers of non-Vietnamese citizenship. These Dharma teachers were thus unable to return to teach the now-hundreds of monks and nuns ordained at Bat Nha Monastery since 2005. The visa service office at the Vietnamese Embassy in France even canceled the five-year visas previously given to two Plum Village sisters to visit Vietnam.

September -Venerable Duc Nghi, the abbot of Bat Nha, was recorded as saying, in the presence of many high monks during two separate formal meetings, that the authorities had pressured him to stop sponsoring the Plum Village monks and nuns.

September 22- three monastic disciples of Ven. Duc Nghi, the abbot of Bat Nha, led a group of 20 men to Bat Nha to ransack one of the five residences of monks and aspirant-monks and throw their belongings outside. The executive committee of the Lam Dong Province branch of the Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (BCVN) came to the scene and reprimanded the attackers.

October 13 - the Executive Committee of the Lam Dong Province BCVN met and agreed to sponsor and permit the 379 monastic and lay practitioners to stay and practice at the monastery [see 188BTS – Document H].

October 29 – the central government’s Religious Affairs Committee issued a document accusing Thich Nhat Hanh of distorting Vietnam’s religious policies, and stated that the monastic and lay practitioners at Bat Nha no longer had any legal rights to stay at Bat Nha and must leave. [see 1329-TGCP-PG - Document F]

Since then, the ‘religious police’ have used unpleasant tactics to harass the monastic and lay practitioners in order to pressure them to leave. For example: trying to persuade parents of monastics to call their sons and daughters back home; offering incentives for monks and nuns to go to practice at other temples; performing frequent searches at the monastery, treating the residents like “illegal residents”; accusing them of involvement in political activities; pressuring them to stop holding retreats or monthly public meditation days at the monastery; and trying to prevent members of the public from coming to the monastery.

2009

June 23 – Thich Dong Hanh, a disciple of Thich Duc Nghi, burned and destroyed several huts that belong to the nuns.

June 27 - all electricity, water, and telephone services to the residential buildings were cut. The monastics had to collect rain water for drinking and to use the water from the stream for bathing and washing clothes, etc.  The polluted water gave many of them infections.  Many people in local areas and adjacent cities brought in water and food supplies.

June 28 – 29 - First Attack: a mob of about 200 people attacked the monastery. Local police, both in uniform and in civilian clothes, were there but did not intervene; yet they video-taped the scene. The executive committee of the Buddhist Church of Lam Dong came to assess the situation and was also attacked. Ven. Thich Thai Thuan, official Buddhist representative of Bảo Lộc and a vice-director of the BCVN’s executive committee, had to be hospitalized. People were prohibited from coming to help – a delegation of 5 buses was stopped and attacked with rocks and the excrement of animals and humans.

July 5 - about 400 people arrived at the monastery, having been told that they were being brought to a retreat.  Upon arrival they were presented with sickles and metal bars, and told to attack the resident monks and nuns.  The monks and nuns, who had been warned of this attack, gathered in their respective meditation halls, began to practice sitting meditation and invoking the name of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara of Compassion and Deep Listening.  In fact, only about 20 people did carry hostile banners, shout, and threaten the monastics.  The others were shocked by the turn of events, bowed, cried, and refused to comply with the order.

August 13 - Mr. Le Dung, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, announced that the 379 monastics must leave Bat Nha Monastery by September 2, 2009.

September 7 – The Office of the People’s Committee in Bảo Lộc Province issued a memo ordering all police, officials, associations and co-operatves to act against the monks and nuns of Plum Village [see 789 UBND – Document D].

September 27 – Eviction: About 150 people armed with sticks and hammers descended on Bat Nha Monastery, breaking down doors and forcing entry. Plain-clothes police were known to be amongst the mob; uniformed police blocked all roads of access. The mob violently evicted the 379 monastics.

When the attack started, the brothers immediately sat down and started to chant, wearing their sanghatis (formal saffron robes) as a non violent response. They made no attempt to defend themselves. The mob attacked the monks, beating them up. Some women approached the monks, touching their genitals, forcing them to move to avoid the contact.

The mob singled out the two most senior monks, Phap Hoi and Phap Sy, dragging them in their sanghatis, across the concrete into the torrential rain outside. They were beaten and abducted. They were detained by police without proper charges, and their official documents confiscated. They are now under house arrest in Hanoi and Nha Trang respectively.

The mob violently forced all monks and aspirants from the building. Each was body-searched and all cameras and mobile phones confiscated – depriving them of the only means of contact with the world outside (phone lines to the monastery having been cut since June). The monks’ few possessions were flung from all three floors into the courtyard below. Some were marched up to 15 kilometers away from the monastery towards Bảo Lộc town, being subjected to kicks and blows if they fell.

The remaining 50 monks were forcefully herded into the back of a construction truck and 3 taxis. One young monk was throttled; another young aspirant was bleeding from blows inflicted. They were then dumped in various locations around the town of Bảo Lộc.

The violent mob then moved onto the sisters’quarters, smashing down the doors and violently evicting all residents from one of the buildings. These sisters were force-marched down hill out of the monastery; some slipped in the rain and were beaten where they fell. The mob was unable to enter the second sisters’ building; and at nightfall left, threatening to return the next day with greater force. The sisters all left early the next morning.

After being evicted and scattered around the locality, the brothers and sisters were offered sanctuary by the abbot of Chùa Phước Huệ in the town of Bảo Lộc, and reassembled there. This is where they are now.

September 28 – About a 100 police surrounded the temple and threatened Venerable Thai Thuan, abbot of Phước Huệ temple, claiming he had no right to offer sanctuary to the Bat Nha monks and nuns. They demanded he surrender them. The abbot resisted.

September 29 – Police presence increased to approx. 200 uniformed and plain-clothes officers. Threats against the abbot intensified. They attacked his reputation in thousands of flyers distributed throughout the town, and denounced him in looped broadcasted transmitted on local radio and throughout the loud-speakers on town-centre streets and in the schools. Officers even threatened to repeat at Chùa Phước Huệ temple the violence and destruction they inflicted at Bat Nha if they did not comply. This campaign of intimidation culminated in a demand that he surrender 15 monks and nuns. Under this extreme pressure, the abbot surrendered 15 monks and nuns. They were given into police custody at midnight, and were taken 200 kilometers away to Saigon.

September 30 – Under continued pressure from police, a further 10 monks and nuns were given into police custody

THE CURRENT SITUATION

The Bat Nha monks and nuns have become religious refugees within their own country. They continue to be crowded into the small town-centre temple, Phước Huệ. There they peacefully assert their fundamental human right to stay together as a community.

But the conditions there are unsustainable. Police persecution continues. Plainclothed police are swarming the temple, monitoring all movements of the monks, nuns and visitors. The 15 or so most senior monastics are being shadowed in every movement by one or even two informants. Police continue to harass and obstruct those bringing food and clothing to the temple. Anyone who stops in the vicinity of the temple is being stopped and questioned.

Living conditions in Phước Huệ are difficult to bear. Sanitary facilities are minimal (normally only 4 or 5 people reside at the temple); many are already sickening. These monks and nuns are subjected to unrelenting psychological pressure with the specific intention of breaking them down and thus disbanding them.

Religious Rights in Vietnam

– Alison L. Boden

I recently returned from a trip to Vietnam with a group of University of Chicago faculty and students to study first-hand the state of human rights there. Concerning religious rights and freedoms, our conversations with representatives from the government’s Department of Religion in Hanoi and with several religious communities were illuminating, as was a meeting with researchers at the Vietnamese Institute for Human Rights at the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy. Both the U.S. Department of State and the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch have strongly criticized the Vietnamese government’s policies toward — and participation in — the internal workings of that country’s religious communities. My visit convinced me that their concerns are indeed warranted.

Broadly, these concerns are as follows: that the Vietnamese government (specifically, the Department of Religion) reserves the right to authorize which religious communities may exist in the country; that the government effectively chooses and then trains leaders for each religious community; that the communities that criticize the government, or whose teachings or practices are thought to undermine government control, are censored, restricted, or closed; that ethnic-minority Christians are being forced to recant their faith; and that the evangelical Protestant Montagnards of the Central Highlands border with Cambodia are being denied the freedom to assemble, are subjected to physical abuse, and are fleeing into Cambodia.

Our conversation at the Department of Religion revolved around the Ordinance on Belief and Religion, ratified by the government last year. As its introduction states, “its promulgation aims at protecting the right of all citizens to freedom of belief and religion while improving the effectiveness and efficiency of State governance over religious activities.”

Our dialogue on the text revealed significant differences between American and Vietnamese ideas of how governments adequately promote religious freedom. The self-understanding in the United States is that government best protects religious freedom by leaving people alone to practice their faith, intervening only in cases where the law is broken or human well-being is in danger.

The Vietnamese government says the same of itself, but also intervenes in groups’ daily affairs to ensure that all religious activity meets its own criteria for “morality” and “order.” At the Human Rights Center, one researcher challenged what he views as American negligence in the matter. Referring to group suicides by religious communities, he suggested that the American government fails to ensure religious freedom because it allows citizens to do whatever they want in the name of religious belief and practice. Certainly the American government must recognize its responsibility to enforce certain moral guidelines in religious communities for the safety of the public? Tragedy may strike if it doesn’t.

The Department of Religion scheduled formal visits for us to two religious communities, both in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The first was the recently sanctioned Evangelical Church of Vietnam, a denomination that, according to Human Rights Watch, the government is trying to coerce other Protestant groups, especially Mennonites, to affiliate with. The leaders with whom we met were women who lamented the sexism in their church that prevents their ordination (they currently serve only as licensed preachers).

They stated that their biggest challenge is the inability to provide biblical and theological education to create future leaders of the church. Foreigners are forbidden to teach in such academies, while the funds to study abroad are usually beyond the means of Vietnamese citizens. They testified also to government restrictions that, they feel, are significantly slowing their growth, such as a prohibition on missionary activity and roadblocks on acquiring property for church buildings.

When asked about ecumenical cooperation with Catholics, their responses suggested that there is none. When asked about relationships with international Christian organizations such as the World Council of Churches, they drew a complete blank. Nationally and internationally they would seem to be quite isolated.

Meanwhile, our visit to the largest Buddhist pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City was aesthetically wonderful but politically without substance. Our venerable hosts gently declined every invitation to speak about relations with the government.

I was left with the impression that the Vietnamese government strives to neutralize the organizing potential of these religious communities. The potential for mass movements of reformers who are fueled by divine imperatives is not a welcome thought to the government, which is therefore doing its best to ensure that the contents of people’s religious faiths and observances are under its control.

Our delegation concluded that the model of religious freedom in the United States — notwithstanding threats of violence or illegal behavior by religious groups — is preferable to one in which the state domesticates faith and practices to support its own political objectives.

Alison Boden is Dean of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Senior Lecturer in the Divinity School and the College, and co-chair of the board of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago.

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Sightings comes from the <http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/>Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Submissions policy Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society. <http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/index.shtml>Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues related to religion and public life.

Attribution Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Dear Honorable Minister of the Public Security Ministry:

(We respectfully request Mr. Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to forward this letter.)

We were very grateful that Mr. Minister has compassionately listened to the voice of the people and helped them.  Indeed, thanks to Mr. Minister’s directives, Security Police stopped a violent mob wanting to climb upstairs where the nuns were praying on 5 July, 2009.  After that, a Security Police told the nuns not to worry because there would be no violence.

However, please extend your compassion to restoring water and electricity for the monks and nuns to use.  Today is the 15^th day they have to do without electricity, drinking water and running water to cook, wash, and clean.  On 2 July, 2009, the aggressors came to dig out underground water pipes of all the three residences of 210 nuns .  When the nuns installed a new water pipe, the aggressors came with machetes to smash it to pieces right before the eyes of the Security Police.

When our 7 July 2009 appeal for help sent to Mr. Minister, the Security Police had already left the Monastery.  But they refused to come back when the nuns appealed to them for help against the armed mob, saying: “That’s your internal affairs. We only intervene when there’s homicide!”

 Today is 11 July, 2009.  The nuns were having some people dig a well when the aggressors came holding sticks and machetes and ordered them to stop their well digging immediately.  Mr Minister, please order the Security Police to stop the aggressors and allow the nuns to dig a well for water.

Mr. Minister, please have compassion for 400 monks and nuns who are young enough to be your children.  They have maintained their good Buddhist behavior before such unjust violence.  Today is the 15^th day that they have lived without electricity, drinking water and water to wash vegetables for food.

 Respectfully yours,

Sister Thich Nu Chan Khong

Honorable Minister of the Public Security Ministry

Respectfully request Mr. Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to forward

We were very grateful that Mr. Minister has compassionately listened to the voice of the people and helped them.  Indeed, thanks to Mr. Minister’s directives, Security Police stopped a violent group wanting to climb upstairs where the nuns were praying.  After that, a Security Police told the nuns not to worry because there would be no violence.

However, please extend your compassion to restoring water and electricity for the monks and nuns to use.  Today is the 10^th day they have to do without electricity, drinking water and running water.  On 2 July, 2009, the aggressors came to dig out underground water pipes of all the three nuns’ dormitories and stuffed them with rocks and sand.  They also smashed the water pipes of Mountaintop Cloud Residence, Green Willow Residence, and Flame Tree Residence.  In the afternoon, the monks helped dig out two old pipes in the nuns’quarter and replaced them with new ones.  But soon after the new pipes were replaced, the aggressors defiantly came to smash them to pieces right before the eyes of the Security Police.

Mr. Minister, please intervene and order the Dambri and Bao Loc Security Police to stop and prevent such destructions.  Security police are supposed to bring security to the public, not to witness and do nothing at the scene of hoodlums destroying water pipes of the nuns’ Red Flame Kitchen Hamlet.

Mr. Minister, please have compassion for 400 monks and nuns who are young enough to be your children.  They have maintained their good Buddhist behavior before such unjust violence.  Today is the 10^th day that they have lived without electricity, drinking water and water to wash vegetables.

Respectfully yours,

Sister Thich Nu Chan Khong

An Appeal for Help and Relief

To Mr. Minister of the Public Security Ministry of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,

To Mr. Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,

To Distinguished Members of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Government who have directly or indirectly helped and supported 400 Vietnamese monks and nuns practicing Plum Village Dharma teaching at Bat Nha Monastery

Respected Gentlemen:

Today is 3 July, 2009.  It is the 6^th day without food and drink for 400 young practicing monks and nuns at Bat Nha Monasterỵ.

We received news from Bao Loc residents that Master Dong Tam, Master Duc Nghi’s monk brother, sent a letter to local Buddhists saying that we have powerful international influence and want to take away the pagoda that was built with sweat and tears of the poor folks when they first immigrated there.  But we have never touched their pagoda.  We only stay within the residences that we built.  Yet on Sunday, 5 July, 2009, the locals were told to invade Bat Nha Monastery and recapture it by all means. It would have been fine if the hard-working local Buddhists came.  But we were afraid that Master Dong Hanh and Master Duc Nghi hired aboriginals to come with iron bars to strike and wound the Venerable Thai Thuan.

About 5 kilometers from Bat Nha Monastery is a hamlet by the name of Buong Dang Dung, where, upon Master Duc Nghi’s order, we the practicing monks and nuns built a school with two kindergarten classes for the aboriginal children.  In the name of Master Duc Nghi, we took care of them, cleaned and washed kids from 20 months to 5 years old, taught them songs, words and fed them lunches.  We paid for their food and for their teachers’ wages with the money contributed by our friends in the West, but we let the local folks think that the money came from Master Duc Nghi.  Now they have been indoctrinated that we seized the Monastery from Master Duc Nghi and sent him away.  So they invaded the Monastery with spears and, together with the gang that he hired on 28 June 2009, they beat up the practicing monks and nuns who are young enough to be Mr. Minister’s children.  So very pitiful!

We respectfully request Mr. Minister to send Security Police from the city, some to guard the entrance to Bat Nha, some to guard around the different residences to stop aggressors from killing and spearing people.  Local Security Police allowed the aggressors to throw rocks and human waste on 29 June, and let them storm through the doors of the practicing monks’ quarter.

We respectfully request the Central Public Security Department to send police to stop aggressions from the hired hoodlums.  Please send Security Police to prevent the invasion of hundreds of Buong Dang Dung aboriginals who had been brainwashed and ordered to arm themselves with spears to attack and kill “those who captured the pagoda,” meaning the 400 practicing monks and nuns (in the attached photo) who are young enough to be Mr. Minister’s children.  These young folks only sit in meditation, chant sutras, and advise their parents to treat each other kindly and lovingly.  They had nothing to do with politics nor did they seize the Monastery from Master Duc Nghi.  The Plum Village Venerable was the one who advised Master Duc Nghi to come to Bat Nha and be their master.  There is something deeper beneath this situation that we don’t quite understand.  But please Mr. Minister, help prevent future bloodshed.

Respectable Minister, please have compassion and help us!

Respectable Minister, please have compassion and save us!

Respectable Minister, please have compassion and emancipate us!

Respectfully yours,

Sister Thich Nu Chan Khong

Dear Honorable Minister of the Foreign Affairs Ministry,

Dear Honorable Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,

Dear Resected Vietnamese Governmental Leaders who have directly or indirectly helped and supported 400 Vietnamese monks and nuns practicing  Plum Village Dharma teaching at Bat Nha Monastery

Respected Gentlemen:

Today is July 2, 2009.  It is the 5^th day without electricity, food and water for 400 young Vietnamese Buddhist monks and nuns at Bat Nha Monasterỵ.  They are kept prisoners in their own residences and cannot walk around freely even within the Monastery compound.  On June 28, 2009, about 200 aggressors armed with machetes, iron bars, spades ad human waste came and threw out all the furniture and personal belongings of 400 Bat Nha monastics.  These are young Buddhist monks and nuns aged 16 to 35 living in 5 residences in Bat Nha Monastery in Hamlet 13, Dam Bri Village, Lam Dong Province.  The violent mob came and robbed them of their dining hall, kitchen, and all the perishable and non-perishable foods from the pantry. The aggressors also occupied the large meditation hall and a residence called Beginning Heart.  They all carried machetes, axes, iron bars and spears to butcher and wreck everywhere they went.  They chased out a number of young practicing Buddhists from Beginning Heart Residence, and hit those still lingering outside or those trying to stop them.  They also smashed the generator. Under the directive of the Lam Dong Province government, Bao Loc Power Company refused to reconnect the power line and deprived the monatics from electricity since June 27, 2009.

On June 30, 2009, when the Lam Dong Province Vietnamese Buddhist Association Leaders came to visit those 400 monastics, they were attacked with human waste, rocks, iron bars.  The Venerable of the Bao Loc County Buddhist Leadership was wounded. A report has been sent out to different government agencies. (See attached.)  At the same time, Giac Ngo (Enlightenment) Magazine, the government official voice, was allowed to publish this news; so was the Vietnamese Buddhist website in Hanoi.  We are very grateful that Respected Ministers of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Public Security Ministry and the Interior Ministry have kindly listened and sent for investigations.  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, spread the good news around and thanked the Lam Dong Province Buddhist Association leadership.  It seemed the whole world who cared and worried about those 400 young monastics could sleep well on the nights of  July 1 and July 2, 2009.

But dear respected gentlemen, we have followed the news all day today and the situation did not get better.  In fact it is getting worse.  In spite of promises, the power is still out, the water pipes continues to be demolished before the eyes of the Security Police.  Small buses carrying food for the monastics run by Buddhist sympathizers have been stopped  by Dam Bri Village Police and Bao Loc County Police.  The Lam Dong Province administrators promised that Bao Loc Power Company would restore electricity on June 30.  Today it is July 2 and the power is still out. All the pipelines have been destroyed gradually by the aggressors and witnessed by the Security Police.  This morning the last pipeline was destroyed too.

Dear Respected Gentlemen, please have compassion and save us!

Dear Respected Gentlemen,  please have pity and help protect us through this difficult time. 

Dear Respected Gentlemen, please avoid the kind of intervention like the one on November 11, 2008:  Have a meeting, make a decision to support without issuing an official order (just an empty promise), and surreptitiously send out henchmen to sabotage and countermine what was agreed upon in the meeting.

Respectfully yours,

Sister Thich Nu Chan Khong

Plum Village Dharma Teacher