The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do Secretary General, Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

Two tragic images stand out in the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do's memory: the cold-blooded murder of his religious master, Ven. Thich Duc Hai, on the same day the communists came to power in Vietnam, August 19, 1945; and the arrest and subsequent execution of his religious brother, Ven. Thich Dai Hai, in 1946 for belonging to a non-communist party, the Vietnam Nationalist Party. (Details given in a letter Ven. Thich Quang Do sent to the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Do Muoi, on August 19, 1994).

For that reason, this religious leader, born Dang Phuc Tue on November 27, 1928, in Thai Binh province, has devoted his life to achieving peace and freedom in Vietnam. When the communists came to power in Hanoi in 1954, he fled south and became a highly respected Buddhist leader known for his scholarship and vision. Eleven years later, Ven. Thich Quang Do was elevated to the post of Secretary General of the Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma--the executive office of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). After 1975, in this capacity, he protested against the revolutionary government's infringements on religious freedoms and confiscation of UBCV properties, such as the takeover of the Quach Thi Trang Orphanage in March 1977. For what was considered "obstructions" to the work of the government in religious matters, on April 6, 1977, he and five other prominent leaders of the UBCV were arrested. They were tortured and, in October of that year, asked to admit that they worked for the CIA.

On November 11, 1977, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong issued Resolution 297 severely restricting religious practices in Vietnam and allowing the government to confiscate church properties and to forbid the "spread of superstitions." Even then, when the monks were brought to trial on December 8, 1978, the government could not find them guilty of any crimes except "disturbing the peace and spreading misinformation." Ven. Thich Quang Do was released.

To undermine the UBCV influence in the population, in 1981 the government created its own Buddhist Church of Vietnam. In 1981, this state-run church tried to incorporate the UBCV into its structure. The attempt ran into the fierce opposition of Ven. Thich Quang Do, who was overwhelmingly supported by all the leaders present. One month later, Ven. Thich Quang Do and various other Buddhist leaders were detained for 24 hours so that the incorporation could proceed.

The government then announced the unification of the Buddhist Church had been "complete" and the UBCV was banned. That was how the government justified its arrest on Feb. 25, 1982 of Ven. Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang, the two most prominent figures of the "recalcitrant opposition UBCV." They were subsequently exiled to separate locations. Ven. Thich Quang Do was sent to his birth place of Vu Doai in Thai Binh province. His mother, then in her 90s, was also exiled with him and died of freezing three years later in the winter of 1985.

In March 1992, after more than ten years in exile, Ven. Thich Quang Do took it upon himself to return to Saigon. He continued to struggle for religious freedom. In August 1994, he wrote a 44-page document addressed to party general secretary Do Muoi detailing the persecution of the UBCV since the communists came to power in Vietnam. For this writing, he was arrested on January 4, 1995.

On August 15, 1995, Ven. Thich Quang Do and five other monks and laity were tried by the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City and convicted of "sabotaging government policies and damaging the interests of the state." The chief evidence, presented by the prosecutors, was the defendants' attempt to organize a convoy bringing emergency food to flood victims and the distribution of letters written by the patriarch of the UBCV, Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, currently under house arrest. Ven. Thich Quang Do received a prison term of five years.

His detainment was widely protested by human rights groups. Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience. In January 1996, the Dalai Lama wrote: "It therefore gives me pain to learn that eminent leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam have been punished with imprisonment for doing no more than their Buddhist vocation demands. These Buddhists have been prosecuted for organizing a humanitarian mission to distribute relief aid to 500,000 victims of flooding in the Mekong Delta and for proclaiming the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam’s rights to exist. Such acts are simply the legitimate expressions of the fundamental rights to freedom of religion." In May 1998, four Nobel prize-winners publicly called for his release along with other Buddhist leaders.

In August 30, 1998, Ven. Thich Quang Do was released from prison as part of a general amnesty of what the government called "common criminals". He returned to the Thien Minh Zen Center in Ho Chi Minh City to worship, but was closely watched by security officials. According to Abdelfattah Amor, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance, he was "physically" barred from meeting with Ven. Thich Quang Do on his visit to Vietnam in October 1998.

Ven. Thich Quang Do, however, has continued to peacefully insist on religious freedom in Vietnam. On March 23, 1999, he was detained and interrogated for six hours after travelling to Quang Ngai province to meet with the 80-year old patriarch of the UBCV. He was then forcibly escorted back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Ven. Thich Quang Do currently resides at the Thanh Minh Zen Center, 90 Tran Huy Lieu Street, District Phu Nhuan, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.