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Vietnam releases dissident from long house arrest

Vietnam has released a prominent Buddhist dissident from house arrest a week after it came under heavy international criticism for jailing a democracy advocate.

Thich Quang Do, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2001 and the second highest-ranking leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), was freed on Friday after two years of house arrest, the Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan (People) reported.

The decision to grant early release to Do, 74, was made because of "the party and state's humanitarian policies," the newspaper said.

Do had been placed on probation, equivalent to house arrest, at his temple in June 2001 after announcing plans to escort the patriarch of the church, Thich Huyen Quang, to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment. He was scheduled to be released in September.

It wasn't clear if his early release was tied to the strong criticism from abroad after a 35-year-old political dissident, Pham Hong Son, was sentenced to 13 years in jail for translating and distributing pro-democracy materials over the Internet.

Human rights groups denounced the sentence, saying it was an example of Hanoi's abuse of political and religious freedoms. The government maintains that it allows such freedoms and only punishes those who violate laws.

Yesterday, human rights advocates said they were hopeful that Do's release signaled a positive change in Vietnam's policies.

"I hope it's not just one move just to silence the international community, but I hope it's a genuine step," said Magda Kowalczuk, a spokeswoman for London-based Amnesty International. "It's a very positive sign, especially after last week's horrible sentencing of 13 years in prison."

Vo Van Ai, head of the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau, praised the lifting of Do's detention order but cautioned that "it is too early to say that he is free."

Ai said Do planned to continued his peaceful advocacy of religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam.

Vietnamese officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Carlyle Thayer, an expert on Vietnam from the Australian Defense Force Academy, said Do's release was an attempt by the government to deflect external criticism while continuing a trend of increased leniency toward religious dissidents.

He said religious dissidents are not as threatening to Vietnam's communist government as political dissidents because they are mostly concerned with freedom of worship and not with undermining the ruling Communist Party.

"The larger theme is there," Thayer said. "Thich Quang Do is tactical. They lose nothing, they gain some."

In April, Hanoi received international praise after Prime Minister Phan Van Khai held an unprecedented meeting with the UBCV's Quang, 86, who has been under house arrest in his remote temple in central Vietnam.

The UBCV has been outlawed since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 for refusing to accept communist control.

A separate Buddhist Church of Vietnam which recognizes communist authority is sanctioned by the state.

Quang and Do have spent more than 20 years in jail or under house arrest.
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