VIOLATION 1. VIETNAMESE OCCUPATION AND EXPROPRIATION OF THE MONTAGNARD STATE
Background – In 1946 France granted autonomy to the Montagnard
populations:
On 27 May 1946 the French Colonial Government granted autonomy to
the Montagnards and a Federal Ordinance was enacted, separating five Montagnard provinces (the
Central Highlands) from the rest of France’s Indochina colonies [Appendix A]. It was signed
by the representative of the French Government; High Commissioner George D’Argenlieu. This
ordinance was entitled:
Ordinance of the Federal Government, Federal Ordinance of 27 May
1946 Creating a Federal Government for the Montagnard Populations of South Indochina.
Notably Article 1 of this ordinance states that the five Montagnard
provinces “cease to be under the jurisdiction of the commissariat of the Republic of South
Annam”. South Annam was the French term for Indochina/Vietnam. Thus it is clear - this
Federal Ordinance granted autonomy specifically for “the Montagnard
Populations”.
However, in 1950 this Montagnard lands was given away by France without
consideration from the Montagnards themselves. These Montagnard homelands came under control of the
Emperor of Vietnam as an administrative region. However, on 21 May 1951 Emperor Bao Dai signed an
executive order creating a special statute for the Montagnards [Appendix B]. This executive
order included rights guaranteeing the protection of Montagnard lands and their continued access to
political affairs. Article 1 guarantees: “the Free Evolution of these Populations in Respect
of their Traditions and of their Customs.”
It is noted that the Anthropologist Gerald C. Hickey stated in his
book, Sons of the Mountains, “At no point did the Vietnamese in the pre-twentieth century
establish hegemony over the highlands.” Today the indigenous Montagnards have no land rights, no
political representation and are under direct control of a government intent on assimilating their
culture and expropriating their lands.
The Expropriation and Occupation - Evidence:
-
In 1975 after US withdrawal from South Vietnam the Montagnard homelands was
invaded by the communist government and fully expropriated into the SRV.
-
Since 1975 all autonomous zones in the SRV for its indigenous peoples have been
abolished.
-
Since 1975 the SRV began enacting extensive assimilation
policies and genocidal practices upon the Montagnard peoples.
Customary International Law
It is customary international law today that “all peoples” have a right to
self-determination. The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples (DGICCP) proclaims the end to colonialism and the right of peoples to
self-determination. Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR) are identically worded and state:
Article 1
--- All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they
freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development.
Remedial measures: DGICCP and Article 1 of both the ICCPR and
ICESCR.
We the indigenous Montagnard peoples however, have inhabited the
Central Highlands for 2,000 years. Today we have no political voice and request these homelands be
returned to the Montagnard Peoples.
Since the country of France was the first nation to colonize our
lands - We request the United Nations to apply the Declaration on the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples and Article 1 of the ICCPR and ICESCR to our situation and;
mandate to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the proper return of our Montagnard autonomy.
VIOLATION 2: REPRESSION OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
The indigenous Montagnard populations are denied the individual
right of access to political representation and have no political voice. (Note: while the Chairman
of Vietnam’s National Assembly is a ethnic Tay, it must be noted the Tay are a ethnic group from
the northern mountains of Vietnam and not ethnically or geographically related to the
Montagnards of the Central Highlands.)
The Evidence:
-
In 1975 the SRV abolished all autonomous zones for the indigenous peoples and
ethnic minorities within the country’s borders.
-
It was reported in 1992 that most civil servants in hill tribe
areas of the SRV are still ethnic Vietnamese
[Heibert, “Dynamics of Despair: Poverty Condemns Minorities to Margins of Society”
23 April (1992) Far Eastern Economic Review at 26-32].
-
Montagnards have no say in government decisions regarding rights to land or to
their traditional culture and are facing forced assimilation and genocidal practices.
-
It was reported in 1997 that Montagnards are suffering from,
“de facto discrimination” caused by the inability to participate in “national life, particularly
the economic sphere.”
[Lundberg, Vietnam, in Stokke, Suhrke, Tostensen, Human Rights in
Developing Countries Yearbook 1997, Nordic Rights Publications The Hague/London/Boston at
369.]
Remedial measures:
We the indigenous Montagnard peoples are denied access of political
expression. This as a violation of the principals held in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. As per ‘Remedial Measures’ in Violation 1 we request a mandate to the SRV as to the
proper return of Montagnard autonomy which was granted in 1946. We further recognize that regional
autonomy be granted to the Montagnard peoples immediately and Montagnard political representatives
be appointed at national and local levels.
