Category: Religious Freedom

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Groups Praise Vietnam’s Religious Freedom Roundtable, Call for Governments’ Support

    19 April 2016 Contact: bpsos@bpsos.org The recently established Vietnam Freedom of Religion or Belief Roundtable(VFRoB) has just received resounding support from a diverse collection of NGOs and faith-based organizations. In a joint letter, with nearly 50 endorsements as of 19 April 2016, signatories sent a congratulatory message to the roundtable, and, in light of the…

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Taiwan Conference Calls for Greater Religious Freedom in Asia

    22 February 2016 – Taoyuan, Taiwan A collection of international organizations, religious leaders, parliamentarians, journalists, government officials, and civil society organizes gathered in Taoyuan, Taiwan to hold the Asia Pacific Religious Freedom Forum (APRFF) to strategize to defend and protect religious freedom in the region.  The forum emphasized collaborations between its diverse stakeholders and culminated…

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Collective concern grows on Vietnam’s draft law on religion

    VIETNAM – 26 November 2015 On 3 November 2015 a diverse collection of international, regional, and local organizations, both religious and secular, released a joint statement of concern regarding Vietnam’s draft law on religion prior to the law’s debate in the National Assembly. Since the joint statement’s initial release, additional organizations, including ASEAN Parliamentarians for…

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Vietnam’s Draft Law Threatens Religious Freedom

    Rights organizations call for comprehensive revision of Vietnamese government’s draft law on religion Bangkok, November 3, 2015 Citing a series of inconsistencies with international law protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief,  27  organizations, including international NGOs and regional civil society organizations today issued a joint statement criticizing Vietnam’s draft law on religion…

  • Vietnam’s Law on Belief and Religion – English Language Resources

    USCIRF’s Vietnam Country Update – Nov 2019 UPDATE: On 3 November, 2015 a collection of religious organizations, civil society organizations and international NGOs released a joint statement of concern on Vietnam’s draft law on religion. [Click here for link to PDF] English Language Translations of the Draft Law on Religion Law on Religion – Draft…

  • Faith-based and other groups commit to strengthen freedom of religion or belief in Southeast Asia

    Bangkok, Thailand – For the first time, approximately 70 human rights defenders, members of religious groups, rights groups, UN agencies and representatives from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Women and Children, National Human Rights Institutions and other government agencies from across the region…

  • UN Official: Vietnam Violates Religious Freedom

    HANOI, Vietnam — Jul 31, 2014, 1:24 PM ET A U.N. official who went to Vietnam to assess religious freedom in this Southeast Asian country said Thursday that security agents closely monitored his visit and people he wanted to meet were harassed and intimidated. Heiner Bielefeldt, the U.N. special rapporteur, told journalists he concluded that…

  • U.N. religion expert concerned over ‘interrupted’ Vietnam visit

    Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:50am GMT By Martin Petty HANOI (Reuters) – A U.N. expert expressed worry on Thursday over “serious violations” of religious freedom in Vietnam following a fact-finding mission he said was interrupted by surveillance, harassment and intimidation. Heiner Bielefeldt, U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said parts of his…

  • UN Envoy Accuses Vietnam of ‘Serious Violations’ of Religious Freedom

    RFA 2014-07-31 A special U.N. envoy on a mission to Vietnam has accused the authoritarian government of “serious violations” of religious freedom and said the country’s police harassed and intimidated people he had wanted to meet in the course of his investigations. Heiner Bielefeldt, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion, acknowledged that…

  • Viet Nam land grabbing case needs to be urgently addressed – UN human rights experts

    GENEVA (26 March 2014) – A group of United Nations independent human rights experts on Wednesday called on the Vietnamese Government to intervene urgently in a case of forced eviction of the last remaining residents of Con Dau, a small village located on the outskirts of Da Nang city in central Viet Nam. “This appears…