Vigil protests human rights violations

    San Diego youth activists, including UCSD’s Vietnamese Student Association and various community organizations, gathered behind Linda Vista library on Oct. 24 to protest recent human rights violations and oppression of religious leaders in Vietnam. The demonstration included petition-signing, speeches, a slide show and a candlelight vigil.

    David Ung/Guardian
    Vigilant: Members of the San Diego Vietnamese community, including UCSD’s Vietnamese Student Association, protested the imprisonment of monks.

    “”In the past two weeks, the Vietnamese government has begun a crackdown on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam,”” said Natalie Nguyen, an executive board member of the VSA, which branches out to nine colleges, including UCSD. “”The government outlawed it and put on a different Buddhist church that is government-sponsored and state-controlled.””

    David Nguyen, UCSD alumni and Vietnam Buddhist Youth Association member, said that the Vietnamese government was taking away human rights.

    “”The communist government in Vietnam took the freedom of religion away,”” he said.

    According to press releases, the leaders of the UBCV have been arrested and detained in isolation.

    “”The leaders of the UBCV are in two years of house arrest because they are seen as a threat to the government,”” Natalie Nguyen said. “”[The government] is afraid that they’re going to orchestrate and overthrow the government.””

    However, UCSD VSA member Aimee Vu said that she thinks “”the government has an agenda.””

    “”BBC news said that the monks were contriving against the government,”” she said. “”I think the Vietnamese government is trying to go after this radical church using different methods. It’s a way to silence anyone who opposes them. The UBCV has been under a watchful eye for years and now they’re being punished.””

    Some of the monks are on hunger strikes to protest their government’s actions.

    “”We have the candlelight vigil to pray for these monks that are going on hunger strike ‹ to pray for their well being,”” Natalie Nguyen said.

    The Vietnamese monks are not the only people that have gone on hunger strikes to protest the government’s actions. Last week in Orange County, five UCSD VSA members went on a 24-hour hunger strike to voice their opposition, according to UCSD VSA President Anthony Nguyen.

    “”This is an international effort that started in Australia,”” Natalie Nguyen said. “”The five biggest cities staged a 24-hour hunger strike in protest. It’s a campaign that is picking up steam.””

    This “”Faith Over Force”” campaign will last for two months, according to Natalie Nguyen. It started with the candlelight vigil and will end on International Human Rights day, Dec. 10.

    “”This is just the beginning to push congressmen to voice their opposition,”” she said.

    The main point of the campaign is to make the community “”aware of the violation of human rights and oppression in Vietnam,”” Nguyen said.

    “”We’re appealing to secretaries in Congress and President Bush to speak up about it,”” she said. “”The U.S. and Vietnam have a bilateral trade agreement and we are trying to get a human rights clause passed. It says that if [Vietnam] wants fair trade, they must give more religious freedom.””

    The human rights clause is currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate. Participants of the vigil also signed petitions to be sent to the United Nations.

    “”We want to let the Vietnamese community know [what’s occuring in Vietnam],”” UCSD VSA member Tri Nguyen said. “”I was surprised to find that a lot of people don’t know.””

    Natalie Nguyen said that people living in Vietnam don’t know about the oppression either.

    “”The Vietnamese government does a good job keeping info from people,”” she said. “”My cousin living there doesn’t know because the press in Vietnam is state-controlled. So we here have to let the world know. Vietnam is very sensitive about their human rights freedom, so they’ll release their constraints instead of persecuting these religious leaders. Awareness is the most important thing.””

    UCSD VSA is considering holding a vigil on campus.

    “”We’re hoping we can bring one here,”” UCSD VSA Vice President Internal Emilie Pham said. “”First, we have to introduce it [to the San Diego community]. Then, we can bring it to UCSD to have other students become aware of this.””

    Many youth at the vigil expressed their opinions about the situation in Vietnam.

    “”As a Vietnamese person, I feel very concerned that people are being deprived of their religious belief,”” UCSD VSA member Amy Le said. “”It’s very sad. This is a way to show that we care and that we want to make a difference.””

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