THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION REJECTS THE ALLEGATIONS OF WORKING FOR THE CREATION OF AN INDEPENDENT DEGAR STATE IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM

In reference to an article recently published in the Vietnamese state-controlled newspaper “Lao Dong”, which referred to five Jarai men from Lei Jo Wat village in KonTum, the capital of Kon Tum province, who recently allegedly renounced their association with the outlawed Degar movement, and which has been quoted by several news agency international media, I would like to state the following:

• “It is almost a certainty these five Montagnards were tortured or threatened by Vietnamese security forces like the situation of my own 80 year old mother, who upon refusing to denounce MFI on Vietnamese television was physically beaten by Vietnamese police in May 2001 and hospitalized with broken ribs”.

• “The Vietnamese Government has oftentimes distorted the true situation faced by our indigenous people deliberately falsifying the claim that we are advocating for "independence". In our Montagnard languages there is no word for "independence" but only a word for "freedom". While we have expressed the desire for "freedom" and used this word ("engie" in our language), we have not, however, used this word seeking "independence". We only wish that our people are granted human rights under internationally accepted standards.”

• Since February 2001, when, after decades of repression, dozens of thousands of Montagnards peacefully protested against the Vietnamese government's continued disrespect of their basic human, civil and political rights (including the persecution of Montagnard Christians and the right of Montagnards to own their ancestral lands), the Vietnamese Government has been organizing a major crackdown on the Montagnard people who dared to speak out for their rights.”

• “Since February 2001, as it has been documented by important international Human Rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, hundreds of Montagnards have been arrested, thousands of Montagnards forced to flee to Cambodia, and hundreds have been sold back to the Vietnamese authorities by the Cambodian police, in patent violation of all major international treaties on human rights ratified both by Vietnam and Cambodia.”

• “On several occasions I have stated that I do not advocate, neither personally, nor as President of the Montagnard Foundation Inc., the creation of an independent Dega.

• My advocacy and the nonviolent struggle of the Montagnard people who support MFI, are for the respect of our basic human rights, such as the right to religious freedom and the right to own and farm our ancestral land.”

• “The Vietnamese Government has been engaged in trying to portrait myself and the MFI as a “terrorist” and “secessionist” entities. For these reasons, this December 2003 Vietnam will ask the United Nations to sanction the Transnational Radical Party (an NGO in Consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC) for accrediting me to speak before the UN Commission on Human Rights.”

• “All the allegations presented are false: I am not a terrorist; in fact, I am a Christian and I believe in nonviolence as the only means that can solve disputes and conflicts at national and internationals levels.”

• “I do not believe that the creation of an independent Dega will solve the problems of my people, which can be addressed if and when the international Community and the UN will take action to stop the repression by the Vietnamese Government.”

Related article:

PRESIDENT OF MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION'S STATEMENT AT ROME JUNE 2003