Lời Giới Thiệu Đại lão HT Thích Quảng Độ kêu gọi đồng bào biểu tình tại gia suốt tháng 5 để yêu sách bãi bỏ khai thác quặng bô-xít Tây nguyên ************************************************************************************ GIÁO HỘI PHẬT GIÁO VIỆT NAM THỐNG NHẤT VIỆN HÓA ĐẠO Thanh Minh Thiền Viện, 90 Trần Huy Liệu, Phường 15, Quận Phú Nhuận, TP Saigon ---------------------------------------- Phật lịch 2552 Số 03 /VHĐ/VT ********************************************************************************* LỜI KÊU GỌI MỘT THÁNG BIỂU TÌNH TẠI GIA để chống việc lấy Vàng dân tộc đổi Nhôm nước ngoài Bất chấp những lời báo động hiểm nguy của các chuyên gia, trí thức về việc khai thác quặng bô-xit ở Tây nguyên, ông Thủ tướng Nguyễn Tấn Dủng vẫn một mực tiến hành việc lựa chọn nhà thầu Trung quốc vào Tây nguyên khi khẳng định : "Khai thác bô-xít Tây nguyên là chủ trương của Đảng nêu trong Nghị quyết Đại hội Đảng lần thứ X", nghĩa là từ năm 2006. Toàn dân thông qua ý kiến của các giới chuyên gia, trí thức, học giả đưa lên báo chí, truyền thông, Internet đều báo động rằng khai thác bô-xít sẽ hủy diệt mầu xanh rừng Tây nguyên, làm thay đổi thổ nhưỡng của vùng đất đỏ bazan, làm tăng thêm nguy cơ về hạn hán kéo dài, lủ ống, lủ quét sẽ xẩy ra nhiều hơn, đồng thời ô nhiễm nghiêm trọng nguồn nước ngọt để phát triển kinh tế cho các tỉnh vùng hạ lưu ở miền Nam Trung bộ, Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, thành phố Saigon. Từ nghìn xưa, mầu xanh rừng Tây nguyên bảo vệ cho việc tích trữ nước trong lòng đất, lọc không khí và điều hòa nhiệt độ toàn vùng. Phá hủy mầu xanh còn là phá hủy nghiêm trọng không những cảnh quan mà sắc thái văn hóa và quyền sống của hàng chục dân tộc ít người trên vùng cao. OPEN FOR FULL ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE   more »

Letter from The Reverend Phan Van Loi to The Reverend Nguyen Van Ly, in prison, March 25, 2009. Original in Vietnamese, translated into English for VietAm Review by a Faithful Follower on March 30, 2009. Dear Brother Lý, Well, you are heading into the 17th year as a prisoner following the 4th capture! Your fellow defendants Nguyen Phong and Nguyen Binh Thanh, are beginning their third year of imprisonment [after sentencing on March 30 2007]. As for yourself, it marks half your life cycle as a priest. What a “fool” you are! Be wisely silent, or politely reasonable, humbly begging or secretly cooperative. If you were “a good priest” instead of “a political activist”, following the principle of “doing the things right” instead of “doing the right things”, you would have lived an easy life, built numerous works, held various ceremonies, gone abroad countless times to “glorify God, save souls, be a good religious citizen”!?! Contrarily, you have continuously raised your voice to advocate for miserable people. As a consequence, you have repeatedly and continuously been jailed which destroyed your youthful life!!. Some people say that you and your friends together with Father Nguyen Kim Đien have reaped calamity due to your sowing of words! You have shared the same fate with Our Highest Sacred Teacher, John the Baptist, Christ’s Disciples and all the Prophets of God. Should Jesus have not called the wickedly cruel king Herod a fox (Luke 13,32), not called religious leaders such as Pharisees and teachers of law “hypocrites”, “whitewashed tombs”, “blind guides”, “those devour widows’ houses” (Matthew 23,13-27)? Should Jesus have not announced his mission provocatively such as “ The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed...” ( Luke 4, 18), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness...”(Matthew 5, 10)? .John Baptist called Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3,7); reprimanded soldiers: “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely” (Luke,14); warned King Herod of marrying his sister in law: “it’s not lawful for you to have her.” (Matthew 14,4). If those two gentlemen had not criticized authorities who were in power, they would not have been chased, captured and executed. If prophets had not condemned powerful employers who did not pay their employees fairly (Jeremiah 22,13; Malachi 3,5), dishonest traders (Amos 8,5; Hosea 12,8), self-interested judges (Micheas 3,11, Isaiah 1,23), leaders who “marred the faces of the innocents” (Isaiah 3, 15)..., they would have not been persecuted and executed. Those people have sown their words but does the Holy Bible call them “political activists”? You have understood that God’s remark: “My son, you will be named as the prophet of the Almighty” which every priest or clergyman has to say in every morning prayer, is truly compelling and demanding. You are aware that living in a society where the authority, the party leadership covers up reality, tramples on the truth, corrupts, exploits, and persecutes people, requires God’s witnesses, or prophets of truth, to go beyond the peaceful chapel with courage. Anyone who would become the soldier of people’s dignity, people’s right of religious freedom, or simply of righteous lives has to accept hardship and persecution. You are aware that it is poor people who need more mercy and help than any other (it is the duty of the Church and priest as well). It is not material poor but the poor of human rights. Those who are poor in wealth are unhappy only but those who are poor in human rights are both unhappy and dishonored and suffer from many miseries. You are not satisfied with relieving charity (which has got applause from the tyrannical regime), instead proceeding to liberating charity (which is always prohibited by the tyrant), considering it the most important and urgent priority, the grassroots’ solution. You have not secretly sympathized, silently prayed, or unobtrusively supported victims of injustice. Instead, you devoted yourself to the life stream, proudly stood beside your poor brethren, your country mate, the religion, the country and publicly raised your voice. You have denounced the root cause of any unjustifiable misery: the inhumane, dictatorial party and totalitarian regime. Thank you for your straightforward words and courageous acts. You have a profound view of the society, and right strategy for struggle (such as co-founding of Bloc 8406, the Manifesto 2006 on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, with peaceful and non-violent method of struggle). In addition, your example of sacrifice in prison is inspiring a great campaign of requiring religious freedom and democracy in our fatherland. Especially, there is an increasing trend of participation of other priests. Most importantly, the issue of human rights has expanded into the issue of the national threat of being invaded, which would result in national loss, house dismantled and religion disappeared! It is the boiling point, when people of both religious and non-religious communities are expecting spiritual leaders to raise their voices. If not, who will listen to them when the country would regain its peace, dismantle communism, or dismiss invaders? It is the bitter experience of spiritual leaders in Eastern Europe who have kept silent or compromised with devils! Thank you for being the enthusiastic pioneer. You have shot the signal gun (particularly by issuing Nine Appeals from Dec 2000 to Feb 2001) for the great venture of reclaiming material and spiritual properties. The campaigns, which have been conducted by both civil and religious communities, are firmly increasing day by day. They are activities of victims of injustice and churches reclaiming their land; workers reclaiming fair treatment, religions reclaiming independence; activists reclaiming human rights, involvement of rights in national issues and patriots reclaiming ancestors’ land. It is due to those inspiring words that you have suffered so much pain and several imprisonments. It is the misery which comes from outside as well as stems from within any pioneer -- isn’t it! Recently, when asked why he was not supporting you, a responsible person has replied (in general) that: “Because Father Ly did not behave properly as a priest in front of the judge. He has kicked the bar with his foot and raised his fist upward shouting “Down with communism”! Such behavior is like that of a believer who is shouting in the church!” My Goodness, such a bar (and previous series of suspect inquiries) is full of unjustice, coercion, out of law, without attorney, without witness, without relative, no self-defense rights. It is the bar where the defendant has been muzzled. It means the bar of pirates. How dare it been compared with a solemn cathedral? I wonder how such behavior could be considered indefensible sins and unable to be supported? Setting aside those surprisingly irresponsible attitudes, most people, both native and abroad, and international communities of democracy are upholding, supporting and following you... The proof is that the books of “The Case of Rev. Nguyen Van Ly and Catholic Conscience” (2007) and “Rev. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, the Life for Religious Freedom and Democratic Human Rights” (2008) have been widely published. The proof is that the picture of you being muzzled by tyrants in the shameful bar on March 30, 2007 has been flying all around the world, printed into millions of copies, presented whenever there are Vietnamese patriots’ demonstrations, exhibitions or seminars... Dozens of billboards of this unique event have been posted up in the USA and Australia. The picture has been given to politicians and media of several countries as well as pressed on the faces of Vietnamese communist officials abroad... It is the symbol of present-day Vietnam. It is the amulet which gives the Vietnam Communist gang a dressing-down. It is the appeal to all countrymen. The proof is that for many years since then, several international bodies (both in Vietnam and abroad) have been continuously demanding freedom for yourself as well as other imprisoned democracy activists... The proof is that the people’s organization and media of which you are a co-founder, Bloc 8406 and “Tu Do Ngon Luan” biweekly magazine, are still firmly existing despite raids and despicable acts of revenge. Dear Brother Ly, Brother Phong, Brother Thanh and distinguished warriors of democracy, prisoners of conscience, National Heroes, set your mind at rest! The sacrifice of yourselves and your families is fueling the flame of struggle and driving the whole nation to shut down and drive away the cruel totalitarian party in a near future! God and the nation are watching over you as beloved sons and daughters! Written in Hue City on the second anniversary of the ignoble bar, Mar 25, 2009! Priest Peter Phan Van Loi.   more »

Asia Times March 16, 2009 Vietnam bauxite plan opens pit of concern By Duy Hoang One of Vietnam's most verdant regions faces severe ecological damage if the government moves ahead with its multi-billion dollar plans to mine and process bauxite. The perceived risk has sparked a rare public outcry in Vietnam's government-controlled society, with residents, scientists, state media, bloggers and even military officers lodging vocal protests. Though apparently not coordinated, their collective dissent is part of a budding Vietnamese environmental movement, notable for challenging the state's traditionally unquestioned authority in implementing large-scale economic development projects. In recent months, a number of local scientists have written thoroughly researched articles, some published in state-controlled media, exposing weaknesses in the government's mining plans. A state-sanctioned domestic news site, vietnamweek.net, has been at the forefront of probing the issue, while bloggers have provided even more critical analysis. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called bauxite exploitation "a major policy of the party and the state", and he has approved several big mining projects for the country's central highlands. The government's master plan calls for investments of around US$15 billion by 2025 to tap Vietnam's rich bauxite reserves, estimated to be the third-largest in the world. Over the past decade, Vietnam's rise as an agricultural exporter has come in large part from increased cultivation of coffee and other cash crops in the central highland's fertile plateau. It is an area of stunning beauty with rich eco-tourism potential. Thus many Vietnamese question the economic rationale and environmental wisdom of converting what is already an economically productive area into an open pit mine. Bauxite is converted through a toxic process to alumina, the raw material for making aluminum. Known by environmentalists as "red sludge", the waste product, if not properly managed, can contaminate water supplies and choke off vegetation. For every ton of alumina produced, three tons of red sludge is given off, according to international experts. Australia, a world leader in aluminum production, addresses the problem by disposing of its red sludge in remote outback areas with little rainfall, thus mitigating the risk of waterway contamination. Vietnam, which has a comparatively wet climate and is densely populated, does not have the luxury of vast tracts of unused land. Nor is the country recognized for its expertise in managing hazardous industrial waste. Vietnam's emerging environmental movement fears the toxic residue from processing bauxite could run off into rivers that flow into heavily populated areas, including the Mekong Delta in the country's southern region. To be commercially viable, bauxite processing usually requires access to cheap electricity. Because Vietnam faces mounting power shortages, the economics of bauxite mining and its low-margin exports are in doubt and will likely require heavy state subsidies just to cover costs. The government has already announced plans to build a dedicated rail line to transport the produced alumina 250 kilometers to the Pacific coast. There a yet-to-be-built port will be installed to serve exclusively the bauxite projects. Those plans, too, have underscored environmental concerns that the government's alumina export plans are an ill-begotten scheme devised simply for the sake of state-led industrialization. Other critics have questioned whether officials close to Prime Minister Dung and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai have personal stakes in the big-ticket ventures. China factor There is also a touchy strategic dimension to the ventures. Chinese interest and cooperation in Vietnam's bauxite industry was established through a joint statement issued after a meeting last June between Communist Party secretary general Nong Duc Manh and China's President Hu Jintao. In subsequent agreements between the Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd and state-owned Vietnam Coal and Mining Industry Group, it has become clear that China will be the primary market for Vietnamese alumina exports. As part of those arrangements, thousands of Chinese workers are to be stationed permanently in Vietnam to assist in the production, according to local Vietnamese authorities. According to a recent fact-finding trip in Lam Dong province organized by the pro-democracy Viet Tan party, Chinese guest workers are appearing in growing numbers in the central highlands. Pictures obtained by Viet Tan show rows of newly constructed housing for Chinese workers and roadside restaurants with signs in the Chinese language. Vietnamese bloggers, many critical of China's encroachment on the Paracel and Spratly Islands and perceptions that Beijing bullied Hanoi into accepting an inequitable border treaty this year, have questioned why Chinese guest workers are required in a country with a labor surplus and growing unemployment. Bloggers have also expressed concerns that undercover Chinese military and intelligence agents could mix in with the workers. Vo Nguyen Giap, the famed communist military leader and later sometimes government critic, sounded the same alarm about the potential strategic threat of unregulated Chinese workers in an open letter in January to communist party's politburo. The 97-year-old Giap referred to the central highlands as the strategic gateway to Vietnam, where previous wars have been won and lost through gaining control of the region's high ground. A month after Giap's warning, which only one newspaper in Vietnam was willing to publish, a second retired general issued a similar letter calling on the party leadership to reconsider allowing a permanent Chinese presence in the middle of the country. Most of Vietnam's ethnic minorities live in the central highlands and they are the people likely to bear the environmental brunt of the government's bauxite scheme. They risk losing their lands with little or no compensation and subsequent exposure to mismanaged industrial waste. Nor is it clear that the jobs created by bauxite production, even if they went to local Vietnamese rather than imported Chinese workers, would be enough to replace those lost with the forced elimination of pre-existing coffee, tea and cashew fields. It's from these ill-conceived government plans that Vietnam's grassroots environmental movement and calls for more sustainable development are being heard. Duy Hoang is a US-based leader of Viet Tan, an unsanctioned pro-democracy political party active in Vietnam. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KC17Ae01.html -- Trang Angelina Do www.viettan.org Viet Tan is a pro-democracy group. In Vietnamese, the union of " Viet Nam" and "Canh Tan " means wide-ranging reform and development. Our ultimate goal is to rebuild Vietnam which has suffered so much political and economic backwardness. Viet Tan holds that the Vietnamese people must solve the problems of Vietnam. Change, therefore, must come through the power of the people in the way of grassroots, peaceful means. Viet Tan has a network of members around the world and underground in Vietnam. Our members come from all walks of life. Most of the elected-leadership of Viet Tan came to age after the war. Viet Tan relies on an underground newspaper, the internet, and a nightly one-hour AM broadcast (Radio New Horizon) to spread its message in Vietnam.   more »