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Montagnard Degars feared killed in custody as prisoners tortured and denied medical treatment - Prior to visits by US and UN inspectors to Vietnam's notorious Ha Nam Prison
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BACKGROUND: The indigenous Montagnards
(Degar) Peoples have suffered decades of persecution by the communist
government of Vietnam , namely; confiscation of their ancestral lands,
religious repression, torture, killings and unjust imprisonment.
O n 20 July 2005, numerous news agencies reported Cambodian authorities
forcibly deported approximately 100 Degar Montagnard Christians back to
Vietnam who had fled the crackdown in Vietnam . Various human rights groups
denounced the move and US State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam
Ereli stated on 20 July 2005, "We
have raised U.S. objections to this involuntary repatriation
with both the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam . We
are disappointed that these individuals were repatriated
before an internationally-staffed monitoring program was in place in the
Central Highlands of Vietnam and before other solutions could be considered
for these individuals." Currently
there are an estimated 200 Montagnards Christians in Vietnamese
communist prisons who have received harsh prison sentences
of up to thirteen years since 2001 for their Christian
religious activities, participation in peaceful protests, or for attempting
to flee to Cambodia . Despite two recent religious agreements signed between
the United States and Vietnam the repression against the Montagnards continues
unabated and Montagnard Degar Prisoners face brutal inhumane conditions.
Montagnard Foundation sources received the information
below from sources inside the prison facility at Ba Sao commune, Kim Bang
District, Ha Nam Province, Hanoi.
TORTURED AND DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT
On or about the 18th of July 2005 prison authorities and guards told
the Montagnard Degar prisoners that United Nations and
United States delegations will soon inspect the prison. All of the Degar
prisoners were then forced to sign documents confessing crimes against
the state. The guards told the prisoners that they must tell the delegations
exactly what we want you to tell them or you will be
tortured and beaten
to death when they leave. The guards then gave the prisoners documents
to sign stating “I
ask the government of Vietnam to forgive all of my crimes
of protesting against the government, my crimes of making the national
security instable and my crimes of sabotaging national unity”. Almost
all of the Degar Montagnard prisoners signed the documents for fear of
being tortured.
URGENT ACTION
NEEDED |
Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard
Foundation states, "the conditions inside Vietnam
's prisons is medieval and so many of our people
have been brutally tortured there."
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However, Nine (9) of the prisoners refused to sign the
documents stating they had done nothing wrong. These
prisoners stated words to the effect they had only asked
the government of Vietnam to stop its inhuman treatment towards the Montagnard
Degar people so that we can co-exist with ethnic Vietnamese in peace and
freedom. The authorities and guards then tortured the nine prisoners until
they became unconscious by repeated beating them and using electric shock.
The guards and police had to eventually hold the prisoners
upright in order to continue beating them. After-words the guards and
police refused to take them to the hospital. It
is greatly feared these 9 prisoners will not live long
and of the 9 victims we currently know only the names of two as follows:
- Y-Thomas, from the village of Buon Bu
Dak , district of Dak Mil, province of Daklak
- Y-Soan Mlo, from the village of Buon Ale “A”, city of Buonmathuot,
province of Daklak
PRISONERS CHAINED IN LATRINES AND FORCED TO REMAIN IN TRASH CONTAINERS
WHEN FOREIGN DELEGATIONS VISIT
Sources inside prisons have stated to the Montagnard Foundation that
every time foreign delegations visit the prison, the police
guards and authorities round up Montagnard Degar prisoners and keep them
hidden from view. Especially Montagnard Degars that have been tortured
and who have visible wounds. Many Montagnard Degars are chained or handcuffed
in the latrines, others are forced to remain in trash bins or kept in
other inaccessible areas of the prison in order to keep them from being
interviewed by foreign inspectors.
TWO DEGAR PRISONERS FEARED KILLED IN CUSTODY
In June 2005, the wife of Degar prisoner Y-Jon Enuol visited her husband
at Ha Nam prison. Approximately one month later on 18 July 2005, Y-Jon's
wife and the wife of Y-Bri Enuol, another Degar prisoner, went again to
visit their husbands at the same prison camp. This time however, the authorities
told the women that their husbands have not been in the prison since July
17, 2005 and then sent the two women away. These two women became extremely
distressed as they believe that their husbands have been murdered by the
guards or have died from being severely tortured in Ha Nam Prison. The
three prisoners, whose whereabouts and welfare in unknown are listed below.
- Y-Jon Enuol, from the village of Buon Kdun , Buonmathuot
City , Daklak Province
- Y-Bri Enuol, from the village of Buon Dha Ea Bong , Buonmathuot
City , Daklak Province
- Y-Hoang Buon Krong, from the village of Buon Cuor Knia ,
district of Buon Don, Daklak Province
THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION URGENTLY CALLS ON: ON:
The United States Government, the European Union, the United
Nations and all other peaceful nations to insist these
prisoners receive urgent medical treatment and that all
Montagnard Degar political prisoners are fully accounted
for and released from Vietnamese Prisons before Vietnam be granted entry
into the World Trade Organization.
- The United States Government, the
European Union, the United Nations, and all other
peaceful nations insist Vietnam abide by the 2002 Concluding Observations
of the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the “serious
violations” facing the Montagnard peoples (UN doc: CCPR/C/SR.2031)
and allow human rights monitors access to the central highlands
as a precondition to Vietnam gaining entry into
the World Trade Organization.
