These hours leading to the Easter
celebration in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - there is
taking place a brutal repression of the Christian Montagnard
peoples. Starting tomorrow more than 150,000 Montagnards will
begin a collective public prayer all over the Central Highlands
of Vietnam to call on the international community to establish
a monitoring presence in the Central Highlands - AS ALREADY
REQUESTED BY THE UN COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN 2002, where
for more than three years the repression against the Montagnard
people has been without mercy and with no control, with thousands
of beatings and torture, hundreds of disappearances in the
jungle and arrests, extrajudicial executions, rapes and occupation
of land which represents the only means of subsistence for
the Montagnard populations.
It has been documented by the US Commission on International
Religious freedom, by the US State Department and the European
Parliament that the Vietnamese Government does not allow the
free exercise of religious freedom and religious activities
of the indigenous Montagnard people have been especially harsh.
With the beginning of their prayers the Montagnard will ask
the immediate intervention in the region of the international
community to protect them from the human, civil and cultural
repression that the Vietnamese regime has been carrying out
since 1975.
IN PARTICULAR THE TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY AND THE MONTAGNARD
FOUNDATION APPEAL TO THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL, TO THE HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, TO THE UN COMMISSIONER FOR
REFUGEES, TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE US STATE
DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, TO THE PRESIDENT
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND TO THE EU COMMISSIONER FOR
EXTERNAL RELATIONS, TO THE HEAD OF GOVERNMENTS AND FOREIGN
MINISTERS OF THE EU COUNTRIES - TO ASK THE VIETNAMESE
GOVERNMENT
TO RESPECT THE CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMITTEE OF JULY 2002 ALLOWING THE PERMANENT AND PERVASIVE
ESTABLISHMENT IN THE REGION OF INTERNATIONAL AND INDEPENDENT
OFFICES TO MONITOR THE COMPLIANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
During the current session of the UN Commission on Human
Rights, the Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions,
on Torture and the Special Representative for human rights
defenders have denounced to the Commission the existence of
reports related to the killing of some Montagnards also for
their support to the Montagnard Foundation and the Transnational
Radical Party, in the context of the growing campaign of repression
put in place by the Vietnamese Government against the diffusion
of the Christian religion and of the peaceful movement to
obtain the restitution of lands.
Currently the Vietnamese government has maintained tight
security measures over the central highlands trying to prevent
word of abuses from reaching the international media and human
rights groups. Reports of executions, shootings and rapes
have leaked out and while we have received numerous reports
of such abuses, we are only able to report on those we have
confirmed. The US State Department’s recent Religious Freedom
Report of 18 December 2003 also stated, “There were unverifiable
reports that between one and seven ethnic minority Protestants
died in police custody or died as result of beatings during
the period covered by this report.”
The Montagnard Foundation has confirmed Montagnard Christians
being executed by lethal injection and literally hundreds
of incidents of beatings/torture of Montagnards by Vietnamese
authorities. It is highly likely that many more Montagnards
have been killed through torture or outright, by summary executions
though these reports of executions taking place in the remote
jungle areas cannot be confirmed. These reports may explain
the numerous reports of disappearances (of Montagnards) and
is likely another reason the Vietnamese government refuses
international monitors from having access to the region. The
US State Department stated in 2004, “There were credible reports
that some members of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands
and Northwest Highlands who were either arrested or detained
did not return to their families.
Human Rights Watch has however, confirmed some recent killings
noting the quote below from its 21 April 2003 report when
soldiers fired on fleeing refugees.
“On March 26, 2003 security police and soldiers shot at a
group of Jarai men who had gone into hiding in the Dak Doa
district, Gia Lai. Five people escaped, but two men were wounded
and taken to the commune center, where one of the men, Suoc
later died. When his body was returned to his family, his
skull had been severely crushed, apparently from additional
beatings by security officers at the commune center. The whereabouts
of the other man taken into custody, Hwi (Huy) are unknown.
A third Jarai man named Ly was arrested and beaten on March
27, but allowed to return to his village.” (See also below
at 26 March 2003).
We have however, confirmed the reports below of killings,
shootings, rapes and executions received direct from the Central
Highlands. It is noted that in some cases the names and rank
of the police or military officers that perpetrated these
crimes are identified.
13 DECEMBER 2003 - THROAT CUT - ARRESTED AND EXECUTED BY
“MAJOR TUAN”: At 7:00 pm in the evening, a group of paramilitary
police officers from Dak Dao District surrounded the village
of Plei O Dot in the Commune of Ia Bang, Dak Dao District,
Gia Lai Province and arrested 2 villagers named “Nih” (41
years old) and “So” (44 years old). They both were Christians
and had registered themselves as supporters of MFI and the
Transnational Radical Party (TRP), an NGO in consultative
status with ECOSOC, which the Vietnamese Government is trying
to expel from the UN for its support to the Montagnard people
and to the Montagnard Foundation. “Nih” was number 338 and
“So” was number 373 on this list. Both of them were taken
to the prison in the district of Dak Doa and tortured by beatings,
kicking and electric shock. “Nih” refused to answer questions
or renounce Christ and Major Tuan from Dak Doa police took
a knife and stabbed him in his chest and then cut his throat.
The recorded data of these two peoples as supporters of MFI
and the TRP are available for national and international authorities
willing to investigate the case. On December 15, 2003, the
police took the body of Nih to his family at Plei O Dot but
refused to allow the family to perform the funeral and stated
they wanted the villagers to see what happens to those who
the government does not like. “Nih” was a Christian and had
been helping to feed refugees who were hiding in the area.
We have since been unable to find out if the dead body has
been properly buried or not.
16 OCTOBER 2003 – SHOT FEARED DEAD:
at around 12:00 noon,
the Cong An (security police) and soldiers went into the village
of Buon Cuor Knia, district of Buon Don, province of Daklak,
and opened fire at our Christian brother, Y-Hoang Buon Krong,
with an automatic AK 47 rifle. He was wounded with four bullets
and was hospitalized at Buonmathuot Hospital. It is unknown
whether he survived the shooting.
10 OCTOBER 2003 – SHOT FEARED DEAD:
at around 2 pm, a group
of 12 policemen from the district of Krong Ana, province of
Daklak, opened fire at Y-Pho Eban in his house and in front
of his wife and children with automatic AK 47 rifle. His wife
and children cried out to neighbors for help but the police
tied his pregnant wife to a house pole, beat her and stuffed
a cloth in her mouth. Y-Phon Eban was wounded with three bullets
in his abdomen and he was hospitalized at Buonmathuot Hospital.
Before the police shot him the Vietnamese government had sent
2 battalions of soldiers (excluding the Cong An police) to
surround his village (Buon Cuoi village, district of Krong
Ana, province of Daklak). It is unknown if he survived the
shooting.
18 AUGUST 2003 – WOMAN RAPED BY POLICE OFFICER NAMED MAJOR
NGUYEN VINH CHINH: Major Nguyen Vinh Chinh, a police officer,
with 100 Vietnamese soldiers from Daklak province went to
the village of Buon Yang Reh, district Krong Bong, province
of Daklak to harass Christians in this area. They forced their
way into H’Duen Buondap’s house and searched her house thoroughly.
They confiscated the Bibles and hymn books found there and
stole 150,000 VND. This was not enough and Major Nguyen Vinh
Chinh forced H’Duen Buondap in her room and raped her while
his soldiers were with him in the house and also were the
family members of H’Duen. After that the officers searched
each and every house in the village and beat up villagers
who resisted their cruel and inhuman actions.
26 MARCH 2003 SHOT AND BEATEN TO DEATH – CONFIRMED BY HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH: approximately 50 Vietnamese soldiers and security
forces conducted a sweeping operation in the area of Dir Tok,
Ia Pet commune, Dak Doa district, Gia Lai province. At 7:00
am just West of Plei Bia Bre about 700 meters they encountered
a group of Degar people who were walking to the Ia Tor river
for bathing. The soldiers opened fire at these unarmed civilian
Degar people and wounded two of them but the other 7 ran away.
The soldiers took the wounded to the commune office. One of
the two wounded died and they took his body to his family
at the hamlet of Plei Nglom Thung for burial. The family of
the dead examined the body and they found out that his skull
had been crushed. They concluded he died not because of the
bullet wound but because of being severely beaten after he
was wounded. The name of the dead Montagnard person is Suoc
who was born in 1962, from the hamlet of Plei Nglom Thung,
Ia Pet commune, Dak Doa district, Gia Lai province. The name
of the other Degar Montagnard who was wounded and captured
is R’com Hui who was born in 1962, from the hamlet of Plei
Khun, Tra Ba commune, Pleiku city, Gia Lai province. His whereabouts
is unknown. Human Rights Watch confirmed this killing and
stated in its 21 April 2003 report that, “When his body was
returned to his family, his skull had been severely crushed,
apparently from additional beatings by security officers at
the commune center.
18 MARCH 2003 – WOMAN RAPED BY POLICE OFFICER NAMED “NGUYEN
VAN LINH”: Vietnamese government security officer named Nguyen
Van Linh in search of Montagnard Christians and land rights
activists entered the house of a Montagnard woman and stationed
himself there. While he was waiting for her husband to return
home so that he could arrest him, Nguyen Van Linh raped the
woman named “H’Nui “ with a gun pointed to her head. H’Nui
was born in 1962, from the village of Buon Krang, district
of Krong Ana, province of Daklak. She has suffered extreme
physical and mental trauma from this ordeal.
FEBRUARY 2003 – BODIES OF 3 MONTAGNARDS MUTILATED - EYES
CUT OUT AFTER EXECUTION: At the ‘secret’ military camp at Buon Cu Mblim, Krong Ana district, Dak Lac province Vietnamese
soldiers executed 3 Montagnards whose names are unknown on
27 February 2003. The soldiers summoned approximately 100
villagers to look at them telling the villagers “this is how
you are going to end up if you follow Kok Ksor and the Montagnard
Foundation”. The soldiers also told the villages not to believe
in Christ as it was against the teachings of Ho Chi Minh.
The villagers stated that the eyes of the 3 victims had been
cut out. The soldiers then buried the dead bodies outside
the camp with their feet protruding from the ground warning
the villagers not to approach them.
31 JANUARY 2003 – TORTURED AND EXECUTED:
Vietnamese authorities
tortured and executed
Y-Su Nie (pictured here) a Degar Montagnard
Christian after injecting him with lethal chemicals on 31
January 2003. He was from Buon Mbhao village, Mdrak district,
Dak Lak province and had been in prison since 15 November
2002 when soldiers arrested him for being a Christian. He
was taken to Buonmathuot prison and tortured by beatings and
electric shock. Eventually he was routinely taken out of prison
to publicly denounce Kok Ksor and Christianity in front of
Montagnard villagers. On January 30, 2003 they handcuffed
him and told him he “would soon die, but because the Vietnamese
government is merciful we will allow you to see your family
one last time”. They then injected him with a chemical and
released him. When Y-Su Nie saw his family he cried and told
them “the government let me come to see you for only a few
moments because the police had injected poison in my body”.
The next day on January 31, 2003, Y-Su Nie died at 10:00 PM.
He was buried on 2 February 2003.
29 OCTOBER 2002 – THREE EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION:
Vietnamese
Government Security Forces executed by lethal injection in
their prison cells 3 Montagnard Christians named: Y-Suon Mlo,
from Buon Kuang village, Y-Het Nie Kdam, from Buon Ea Tieo
and Y-Wan Ayun, Buon Gram village all from Daklak province.
These 3 Montagnards were executed for taking part in the peaceful
demonstrations of February 2001. They were injected by prison
authorities with an unknown drug and died in convulsing spasms
within minutes on 29 October 2002.
14 FEBRUARY 2002 –WOMAN RAPED BY SECURITY OFFICER NAMED “TUAN”:
Montagnard woman by the name of H’Cek was raped in front of
her children by a Vietnamese security official by the name
of Tuan in the hamlet of Plei Al Hmoi, in the district of
Dak Doa, in the province of Gia Lai. Her husband, Bler, participated
in the peaceful demonstrations in February of 2001 and was
involved with the Christmas celebration in December of 2001.
For these reasons, the Vietnamese government sent security
officials to arrest him. Unable to arrest Bler who had gone
into hiding the security official named Tuan then raped his
wife H’Cek in front of her children.
MARCH 2001 – SHOT AND KILLED AT CHURCH SERVICE: a Montagnard
Christian named Rmah Blim was shot and killed by police while
Vietnamese authorities were burning down a Christian church
at Plei Lao village. (See also photo on cover of this report).
Authorities burned down the village church and the BBC ran
a story “Fury at Vietnam Church Destruction” on 28 March 2001.
The US State Department confirmed his killing and reported
1- 5 Montagnard Christians killed. There are unconfirmed reports
other Montagnards were also killed and several wounded.
19 OCTOBER 2000 – ARRESTED AND NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN:
Four
years ago the Vietnamese government arrested Y Hong Nie a
Montagnard or Degar hill tribesman from Buon Cu Po hamlet
in the village of Cu Ewi in Dak Lak province, Central Highlands.
His crime was that he refused to give his ancestral lands
over to the communist authorities. The communist government's
police had previously threatened Y-Hong Nie and said they
would kill him. This time they came and carried out their
threats. Y-Hong Nie's wife stood by helplessly as her husband
was dragged from their longhouse. He has never been again
by his family and Y-Hong Nie's farm is now under the control
of the Vietnamese government
These are just some of the thousands of examples of persecution
our people have suffered. Unless urgent action is taken by
the international community the Montagnards will suffer a
human rights catastrophe. “Our people cannot continue suffering this way as the Vietnamese
government continues to arrest, electric shock torture, and
kill our peaceful hill tribe people for being Christian or
for trying to save our ancestral lands from being confiscated”
