HRW blasts Vietnam Buddhist harassment

HANOI, Vietnam, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Vietnam has demonstrated contempt for human rights with its treatment of the followers of reformist Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, Human Rights Watch says.

In a release Wednesday, the international rights group said that for three days starting Dec. 9, the Vietnamese government orchestrated mobs that included undercover police and local Communist Party officials who allegedly terrorized and assaulted several hundred monks and nuns at Phuoc Hue pagoda in central Lam Dong province.

Advocates said Phuoc Hue's abbot has provided sanctuary to the Thich Nhat Hanh monastics since late September, when police and civilian mobs violently expelled them from their own monastery in the same commune.

Human Rights Watch officials said that during last week's attack, mobs targeted Phuoc Hue's abbot, threatening and haranguing him until they finally forced his consent to a Dec. 31 deadline for the Bat Nha monastics to vacate the pagoda.

"Vietnam's international donors should insist that the government halt the attacks on the monks and nuns in Lam Dong, allow them to practice their religion, and prevent any further violent expulsions," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "And they should make clear they will keep close tabs on the situation."