E/CN.4/1995/91 page 105 forces. His last assistants are said to have been expelled from the Hoi Phuoc pagoda to which he had been restricted since 1982. He is allegedly forbidden to travel, communicate with the outside world or even see a doctor, despite being in poor health, on the pretext that his residence permit is not valid. In response to the demands of the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang who, in numerous letters to the authorities, has requested the return of the pagodas and other religious centres confiscated or unwillingly handed over to the State when the regime changed, as well as freedom of worship for the members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, Mr. Vu Quang, Director of the Department of Religious Affairs is reported to have adopted increasingly repressive measures, and Very Venerable Thich Huyen Quang has been forbidden to use his title of Chairman of the Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma of the Unified Buddhist Church, to use the official seal of the Unified Buddhist Church or to make contact with the outside world. Venerable Thick Giac Duong is said to have been found hanging from a tree on 18 March 1994 in the village of Dap Da, Binh Dinh province. From the information received, the victim’s facial expression and the marks on his body indicated that he had died before he was hanged. Venerable Thich Giac Duong was allegedly killed by the security police on account of his active support for Venerable Thich Huyen Quang. Four dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church, Thich Tri Tuu, Hai Tang, Hai Chanh and Hai Thinh, who were sentenced to between three and four years’ imprisonment on 15 November 1993, are said to have been transferred to the Nam Ha re-education camp (also called Ba Sao) in the Phu Ly district of Nam Ha province, in the north of the country. Venerable Thich Hai Tang is said to be suffering from severe migraines and not to be receiving proper medical treatment. It is reported that the appeal which the four priests lodged against their sentences under article 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was rejected. According to some accounts, despite the authorization which the local office for religious affairs of Dong Ni province had given Venerable Thich Nhat Ban in 1994 to restore a Buddhist statue, the local police have threatened him and confiscated his equipment. Although religious freedom is recognized by article 70 of the 1992 Constitution and article 1 of Council of Ministers Decree 69 of 1991, a new document, dated 4 December 1993, with reference number 500 HD/TGCP, allegedly orders local authorities strictly to apply the specific guidelines on religious policy contained in Order No. 379/TTg of the Head of Government, published on 23 July 1993. This document is alleged to place dangerous limits on freedom of expression by stipulating that religious books may be printed and published only by Government publishing houses and that printing on any other premises is regarded as illegal. As for the training of monks, it is said to state that ’the main criterion for the choice of candidates is that they fulfil