Tag: Vietnam

Vietnam’s Religion Law

May 8, 2015 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Churches, Communism, Human rights, Minorities, Religion Law, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is drafting a “Law on Belief and Religion,” for passage in the National Assembly in 2016, and possibly this year. It is almost inevitable the new law will disappoint proponents of universal human rights.1 Diverse religions and religious practices flourish in communist Vietnam. Religious believers far . . . Read More

2014: A year of particular concern

April 30, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-balaka, Bashar al-Assad, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, Chibok girls, Chin, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, Kachin, Kano, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Potiskum, Rohingya, Saudi Arabia, Seleka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

If ever there were a year that made plain the importance of religious freedom, 2014 was it, according to the just-released annual report by an American government advisory group. “By any measure, the horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the . . . Read More

Vietnam harasses ‘released’ Christian lawyer

March 19, 2015 Vietnam Human rights, Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Vietnamese Christian Nguyen Van Dai says he is regularly intimidated by security officers, despite being recently freed from house arrest. The prominent human rights lawyer was put under house arrest in 2011 after spending four years in prison on a charge of “conducting propaganda against the State”. Recently Dai was . . . Read More

Vietnam still violates religious freedom

March 12, 2015 Vietnam Cambodia, Minorities, Montagnards, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

The message at the annual UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week was clear: Vietnam still struggles to ensure religious freedom for its citizens. ‘Whereas religious life and religious diversity are a reality in Vietnam today, autonomy and activities of independent religious or belief communities – that is, unrecognised . . . Read More

Freedom of religion an issue ‘whose time has come’

February 13, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Arab Spring, Barack Obama, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UN, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Freedom of religion and belief is an issue “whose time has come”, the vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said yesterday. During the presentation of two reports on religious freedom at the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 12, commission Vice Chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett said . . . Read More

Vietnamese police crush protests against Catholics’ imprisonment

September 13, 2013 Vietnam Catholics, Vietnam

Around 40 people have been injured in Vietnam during a protest against the 3-month detention of two Catholics on minor charges. The protest on September 4 in Nghi Phuong, south of Hanoi, was a response to the police refusal to release Nguyen Van Hai, 43, and Ngo Van Khoi, 53, . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Two steps back?

March 2, 2013 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Communism, Dien Bien, Hanoi, Hmong, Hoa Binh, Minorities, Nguyen Van Dai, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Vietnam

On Jan. 1, Vietnam updated its rules for enforcing its highest law regarding religion. Known as the Decree on Religion 92/2012 ND-CP, or simply ND-92, the new decree is meant to clarify rules written in 2005. On close inspection, ND-92 does appear to clarify one thing: Vietnam’s intent to control . . . Read More

Vietnamese officials destroy two new church buildings

June 27, 2012 Vietnam Churches, Dien Bien, Evangelical Church of Vietnam, Hmong, Vietnam

Vietnamese officials in Muong Cha district, Dien Bien Province, destroyed two new church buildings of ethnic minority Hmong Christians this month and threatened to tear down a third. The Ho He Church, erected in April by the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission, was demolished on June 17. The Phan Ho . . . Read More

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