Buddhist Youth Leader Arrested
In business, the bigger the projects you handle, the more challenges you will face. Similarly, the bigger the projects you handle with the purpose of benefiting others, the bigger the obstacles you will face.
Below is an article about the house arrest of Mr Le Cong Cau in Vietnam. Mr Cau is the head of the Buddhist Youth Movement (BYM)… an educational organization affiliated to the UBCV (Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam), with about 500,000 members.
He was stopped by the authorities before boarding a flight to visit an elderly monk, and then interrogated for 13 hours. They then placed him under house arrest and seized two laptops, two flash drives, two mobile phones, and various documents…
Apparently, he hasn’t been the only one who has had to face the authorities after voicing their rights to practice their religion freely. It is truly very disappointing to witness politics being mixed with religion… and am quite surprised to see how Buddhist practitioners are suppressed in a Buddhist country like Vietnam.
I found Mr Cau’s reply powerful when the authorities questioned why he keeps continuing being part of the church/temple. They pointed out how he’s of poor health, and has barely enough to eat, and Mr Cau replied:
“The UBCV was a legal organization long before you came here. Its existence does not depend on any political regime. When the Republic of (South) Vietnam fell, the UBCV did not fall with it. I don’t support the UBCV to oppose the Communist regime. I only speak the truth. You stripped the UBCV of its legitimate status, and I demand that you restore it. What do I get out if this? I do what I do because of my ideals. I am nobody’s lackey. I am on nobody’s payroll. I am a beggar who lives according his conscience and with the help of Buddhist masters and friends.”
Do read the article and tell me what you think.
Larry G.
Vietnam Places Buddhist Youth Leader Under House Arrest
Le Cong Cau (standing, right) addresses a UBCV meeting in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2012.
A youth leader affiliated to the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) said Thursday that he has been placed under house arrest after he was detained and interrogated for 13 hours, in the latest religious crackdown in the one-party Communist state.
Le Cong Cau, head of the UBCV’s Buddhist Youth Movement and an active coordinator of human rights issues in the North Central Coast province of Thua Thien-Hue, said he was detained on New Year’s Day before he could take a flight to Ho Chi Minh City to meet with UBCV leader and prominent dissident Thich Quang Do.
He said security officers whisked him away from a plane at Phu Bai Airport near Hue, the provincial capital, and seized from him Do’s laptop computer and UBCV documents, which they deemed as illegal.
From the airport, he was driven to the Truong An district police station in Hue where he was interrogated for 13 hours and accused of breaching various laws before he was placed under house arrest.
“Before they let me go, they told me, ‘Now you know you have violated laws and so from now on, we’ll follow you very closely,'” Cau told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “They said I was not allowed to leave my house and can’t meet anybody.”
Police outside his home
He said there were 15 to 20 policemen guarding him from outside his home.
“I can’t go out,” he said, speaking from his residence. “There are many policemen outside. They sit in the cafe across the street. Sometimes they enter the house. Some wear uniforms, some don’t.”
Cau said during his interrogations, police told him that the UBCV was not recognized by the government and “by working with the church I violated the law.”
“I said I did not violate any law because our church is legal but that [the authorities] had deprived us of our right and legal status.”
Arrest condemned
Cau’s arrest has been condemned by rights groups.
Paris-based group, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and its member organization, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), expressed serious concern over the arrest and detention.
“Arresting Le Cong Cau for simply attempting to visit to an elderly monk is a serious violation of the right to religious freedom,” said VCHR President Vo Van Ai.
“Vietnam will host the UN International Vesak Day [Buddha’s Birth] in May this year and the Vietnamese government claims to respect the rights of Buddhists. It should demonstrate its commitment by immediately releasing Le Cong Cau and Thich Quang Do from house arrest,” he said.
VCHR said police had seized two laptop computers, two flash drives, and two mobile phones as well as various documents from Cau.
“The ongoing repression of human rights defenders shows that Vietnam still has a long way to go in respecting and promoting fundamental human rights.” said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.
“Arbitrary arrests and detention targeting independent Buddhist groups and other religious communities must cease and their members must be immediately and unconditionally released,” he said.
Educational group
The Buddhist Youth Movement (BYM) headed by Cau is an educational organization affiliated to the UBCV with about 500,000 members in Vietnam.
Although the UBCV is banned by the Communist authorities, BYM has a semi-official status because of its widespread social, humanitarian, and educational activities, which are tolerated by government.
This is not the first time Cau had been arrested.
He was held in March 2013 and interrogated for three days because he posted articles on the Internet calling on the Vietnamese government to restore UBCV’s legal status and cease repression against UBCV members.
Police accused him of “undermining the unity policy” and “circulating anti-state propaganda” under Articles 87 and 88 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code. Those offenses carry prison sentences of up to 15 and 20 years respectively.
Authorities have arrested, charged, detained, or imprisoned hundreds of dissenting voices over the years Vietnam. This includes bloggers, labor and land rights activists, human rights defenders, and those calling for peaceful democratic reform. Members of religious groups have also been targeted.
Since the beginning of 2012, at least 65 peaceful dissidents have been sentenced to long prison terms in some 20 trials that failed to meet international standards, rights group Amnesty International said.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
[Extracted from: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/buddhist-01022014201138.html]
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It is sad that government are mixing religion and politics in governing a country. Everyone has human right to choose what religion they want to practise. No one should be stopped from this but it is clear that due to selfish agenda people who uphold spiritual practise and fight for human rights are suppress. May Vietnam government practise fairness as all sorts of detention with false allegation will only create disharmony among the people.
A youth leader Le Cong Cau connected to the banned of Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has been arrested and placed under house arrest . Without any process of law he was detained and interrogated for 13 hours. Discrimination happens everywhere in the world. As long as politics and religion mixed there is always disunity, disharmony among the communities . Buddhist practitioners are restrained else where and not surprisingly in a Buddhist country like Vietnam . There are more countries as well where there is no religion freedom at all. May all religions and beliefs respected by all to create a harmonious and peaceful environment.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing .