PRESS
RELEASE & STATEMENT BY KOK KSOR:
RE:
BRUTAL AND COWARDLY EXECUTION OF CHRISTIAN MONTAGNARDS
Spartanburg, December 4, 2002.
The Montagnard Foundation openly accuses Hanoi
of lying about executing Christian Montagnards in their state
controlled newspaper “the Nhan Dan” article titled “Highlanders
Reject False Reports” on 3 December 2002. We clearly restate once
again that 3 Montagnard Christians were executed in a brutal and
cowardly manner.
The Montagnards named 1)Y-Suon Mlo, from Buon
Kuang village in Daklak province, 2) Y-Het Nie Kdam, from Buon Ea
Tieo in Daklak province and 3) Y-Wan Ayun, Buon Gram village in
Daklak province, have been murdered with lethal injections by the
Vietnamese security forces on October 29 of this year in their cells
in Buonmathuot’s prison. Reports from the region indicate other
killings have occurred and Montagnard families fear the government
has executed their loved ones like they did to our three Christian
brothers above.
President of the Montagnard Foundation- Mr. Kok Ksor further states:
-
It is common knowledge that
Vietnam’s State Controlled Press such as the Nhan Dan newspaper is
recognized as a farce by respected international media, and the Nhan
Dan article represents a gross distortion of the truth and is
blatant lies regarding the executions of our people.
-
That while Vietnam claims to
have located one of the executed Montagnards the Vietnamese
authorities admit that two are still missing. This is because these
Montagnards Christians really are already dead and reliable sources
within Vietnam’s own government know of the executions and they
themselves feel ashamed of their government’s cowardly actions.
-
The Nhan Dan article also
states the Montagnards “were arrested on the charge of regular phone
contact with Y-Mut Mlo”. I hereby ask what decent government would
imprison someone for having phone contact with other Christians
-
I also completely refute the
Vietnamese Government’s propaganda that I am FULRO and we are trying
to create a separate state. The Montagnard Foundation is solely
dedicated to preserving our race from persecution and desire that
our human rights are protected according to international law and
Christian principals of non-violence.
-
If the Vietnamese Government
is so sure they are not committing human rights violations then
I challenge them to allow an international monitor team to
investigate the executions and that they cease martial law in our
homelands.
On behalf of the prisoners’ families, the
Montagnard Foundation urges the International Community to urgently
investigate the situation and stop the killing of innocent
Montagnards.
For
more information, see
http://hrw.org/reports/2002/vietnam/
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