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OPEN LETTER:
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, SECRETARY OF STATE,
MEMBERS OF US SENATE AND CONGRESS
Attached: Story of Huu - a 5 year old Montagnard Christian boy, who was left to
die in the jungle after being forced to watch his father being tortured by
Vietnamese authorities.
Dear …….:
I write to you now with the utmost respect. While I was born in the central
highlands of Vietnam many miles away from the United States I however, am today
not only a person who served alongside as a ally to America during the Vietnam
War but I am also a citizen of our great country. I convey this letter from my
heart and more importantly to try to make heard the voices of thousands of our
people who reside in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. We the Montagnard people
of which so many US Veterans who served with us can testify are grateful for
the democratic values and spirit of justice that America shares. I however,
desire to make this plea to you and to the American Government in order to only
help our people – the indigenous hill tribe peoples of Central Vietnam (Degar
people) also known under the French name of “Montagnards”.
In anticipation of Hanoi’s past accusations I would like to state firstly that
the Montagnard Foundation Inc. is a non-violent organization with no intention
of seeking independence or, as Hanoi says an independent Degar State. We are
not as Hanoi has officially charged us a terrorist group and not are we of the
FULRO movement. The issue of FULRO and such legacies from the Vietnam War
cannot be permitted to cloud the desire of what the Montagnard people really
desire today. True while some of our people have been members of FULRO years
ago this does not mean we are now. The leader of FULRO, Mr. Y-Bham Enuol was
executed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and while he still evokes a historic spirit
of hope for our people this does not mean at all there is a revival of FULRO
today. Nor does it mean that I am a terrorist as claimed by Hanoi. I must also
convey that this accusation that I am a terrorist is nothing more that a
political stunt contrived by Hanoi to keep me from speaking out at the United
Nations. Currently Vietnam is engaged in a process within the United Nations to
get me permanently kicked out of the UN and is taking action at the UN
Committee on NGOs against a leading international NGO for the promotion of
Human Rights called the Transnational Radical Party. But I say to Hanoi - Where
is my army? Where are my weapons? Where are my prison camps? Of course I have
none of these and it is actually the Vietnamese government that is committing
such actions to repress the requests of political and freedom emerging from the
Montagnard people. I quote from Human Rights Watch, which stated in its April
2002 report “Repression of Montagnards” on page 9,
“While many MFI’s members, and highlanders in general, are former FULRO
supporters, there is no indication that there ever was any armed component to
MFI’s efforts, and to Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, MFI has never advocated
the use of violence as a means of achieving independence.”
I say this out of the spirit of Christianity that our only goal is simply the
guarantee of human rights and to live on our ancestral lands without fear of
repression. We are an indigenous people (recognized by the UN Working Group on
Indigenous Populations) who desire only to preserve our ancestral villages and
customs as we did for thousands of years. At the end of this letter I have also
attached one recent example of how the Vietnamese government treats our people
– the story of a 5-year old Montagnard boy who was left to die by Vietnamese
police last year after he witnessed his father being tortured.
As you may be aware, our peoples have suffered greatly over the years and I
refer to the famous anthropologist Dr. Gerald Hickey who identified that over
200,000 of our people died in the Vietnam War and that 85% of our villages were
destroyed. That was about one quarter of our entire population.
Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 we have further faced a systematic
policy by the communist government involving widespread violations of our basic
human rights. In April 2002 Human Rights Watch produced a comprehensive 194
page report about us titled “Repression of Montagnards” where the opening press
release stated;
“The Montagnards have been repressed by Vietnam for decades. This has got to
stop.”
Part of the reason for this repression is that over 40,000 of our people served
as allies to the United States during the Vietnam War and that Hanoi wanted
revenge against us after the war. Another reason for persecuting us is the
Vietnamese government wants to exploit our ancestral homelands in the same
manner as indigenous people all over the world have found their land and
culture stolen from them. As for our once great forests it is too late as they
have been logged by the Vietnamese military. The confiscation of our ancestral
lands for government coffee plantations and development has also been a
cornerstone of Hanoi’s repressive policies. The Vietnamese government has
demonstrated clearly they have little regard for us - particularly those of us
who are Christians.
I can only describe with great sadness how these people cry to us for help. And
so to protest these years of repression in February 2001 thousands of our
people staged peaceful demonstrations in the central highlands of Vietnam.
Hanoi responded with military force and ever since our homelands have been
sealed off from the world. I can assure you that the demonstrations were
conducted with absolute intention of using non-violence and that only upon
attacks by Vietnamese police did some Montagnards react and defend them-selves.
I also clearly state that no intention is and was ever made to use violence.
Today however, our villages are under martial law where Vietnamese security
forces conduct rampant human rights abuses and a policy of Christian religious
persecution. Every week we receive reports direct from Vietnam where our people
describe beatings, electric shock torture, arrests, and even murders conducted
by Vietnamese authorities. Over 1000 Montagnard women have reported to us they
have been surgically or chemically sterilized and we have hundred of villages
yet to be accounted for. We believe these human rights abuses are part of a
sophisticated form of genocide directed against our race.
To escape this unbearable situation thousands of our people have fled to
refugee camps in neighboring Cambodia. These camps have since been
unfortunately closed down and now hundreds of our peoples are in hiding while
both Vietnamese and Cambodian police hunt them down. In a public letter on 21
July, 2003 Mr Son Chhay a Member of the Cambodian Parliament of the Sam Rainsy
Party called on the President of the National Assembly, Cambodian Prince
Norodom Ranariddh to investigate and put an end to these human rights
violations. Mr. Son Chhay also confirmed the Vietnamese government is offering
Cambodian authorities bounties of $66 each for turning over our refugees to
Vietnamese authorities; He also received reports that Montagnard corpses were
found floating with their hands tied in the Se-San River in June 2003. I also
note that Human Rights Watch also reported Montagnard refugees being shot and
that one was killed after having his skull crushed after being arrested by
Vietnamese police this year.
Thanks to the support of the Transnational Radical Party – an NGO with
consultative Status to the UN of which I am a member of the General Council,
and which, over the years, has distinguished itself for its courageous stances
inside the UN system - we have represented our people at the UN Human Rights
Commission by exposing these serious human rights abuses. In July 2002 the 75th
session Human Rights Committee responded with its Concluding Observations on
Vietnam (UN doc:CCPR/C/SR.2031) and recommended human rights monitors be
allowed into the central highlands. Point 19 states:
“19. While noting that the State party denies any violation of the Covenant
rights in this respect, the Committee remains concerned at the abundance of
information regarding the treatment of the Degar (Montagnard) indicating
serious violations of article 7 and 27 of the Covenant. The Committee is
concerned at the lack of specific information concerning indigenous peoples,
especially the Degar (Montagnard), and about measures taken to ensure that
their rights under article 27 to enjoy their cultural traditions, including
their religion and language, as well as their agricultural activities, are
respected. The State party should take immediate measures to ensure that the
rights of members of indigenous communities are respected. Non-governmental
organizations and other human rights monitors should be granted access to the
central highlands.”
However, the Government of Vietnam continues persecuting our people and keeps
the region sealed off from independent monitors. In April 2003 Human Rights
Watch reported an “escalation of repression”, and released “secret” Vietnamese
government documents ordering this crackdown. In May 2003, the US International
Commission for Religious Freedom stated, “the increased repression of religious
freedom has been reportedly sanctioned at the highest levels of the Vietnamese
government.” In December 2002 Amnesty International also reported on the
persecution of our refugees in a report “No Sanctuary: Plight of the Montagnard
Minority” ASA 41/011/2002.
So I appeal now to the kindness of your heart and I ask if you can please help
our people in further discussions with Vietnam?
Our ancestral villages are under occupation with security forces actually
stationed in each village. Our refugees are hiding along the Cambodian border
with soldiers hunting them down. The refugee camps in Cambodia are closed and
our people have no where to go. So this situation is terrible for these people.
As President of the Montagnard Foundation, I would like to extend a formal
invitation to meet with you but also to publicly clarify that we have thousands
of supporters inside Vietnam who would welcome further support for our human
rights. I would also like to clarify again that we are an organization based on
the non-violent principals espoused by Ghandi and Christianity. There is no
word for “independence” in our languages and we only have a word for “freedom”.
Contrary to the propaganda by the Vietnamese government we are not advocating
independence but only seeking the freedom to live on our ancestral lands as
indigenous people and to worship Christ in peace. In the spirit of Christianity
I also extend our prayers to you and even to the Vietnamese authorities, hoping
they may show some compassion for our people.
We understand the world is complicated and politics is difficult but we just
want to see that our people’s voice is raised so that we are not forgotten.
Thank you and on behalf of the Montagnard Degar people I extend our gratitude
for any assistance you may provide our people.
Sincerely,
Kok Ksor,
President Montagnard Foundation
THE STORY OF A DEGAR FAMILY WHO ESCAPED
THE PERSECUTION OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT BY FLEEING TO CAMBODIA AND ARE NOW LIVING IN THE
UNITED STATES
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