UN: VIETNAM
CONTINUES TO ACCUSE THE TRP OF COLLABORATING WITH A TERRORIST GROUP.
FRANCE AND GERMANY STAND UP FOR THE TRP
New York-Brussels, 21 January 2003.
On
Monday 20 January, the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations
discussed the Special Report produced by the Transnational Radical
Party, requested last May by Vietnam, on its decision to give a
platform to Kok Ksor at the 58th session of the Commission on Human
Rights. In November 2002, Kok Ksor, Chairman of the Montagnard
Foundation, was also elected to the General Council of the TRP. In
April 2002 he spoke at the Commission on Human Rights, on behalf of
the TRP, to denounce the systematic repression of the fundamental
liberties of the Montagnards by the Vietnamese Communist regime.
Hanoi accuses Kok Ksor of being a terrorist sponsored by the CIA, and
of attacking the territorial sovereignty of Vietnam. In reality,
since the beginning of the 1990s Kok Ksor and the Montagnard
Foundation have been conducting a courageous and non-violent
political battle in numerous national and international forums in
defence of the fundamental rights of the native Montagnard peoples:
he has, moreover, been recognised as the legitimate representative of
the Montagnards by the United Nations itself.
During the debate in the NGO Committee, Vietnam repeated its claim
that Kok Ksor is a terrorist and asked the TRP to present a formal
apology, as well as to guarantee that neither Kok Ksor nor any other
member of the Montagnard Foundation will ever be given the floor
during the proceedings of the United Nations. During the debate
China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan and Russia backed Vietnam’s request,
while Germany and France opposed it firmly on the grounds that the
charge of terrorism directed at Kok Ksor is unfounded. France and
Germany also reiterated the importance of the principle of the
presumption of innocence, adding that as long as there is no proof
for charges NGOs cannot be held either to apologise or to suspend
their activities. The NGO Committee subsequently asked the TRP to
present a further Special Report for the next session; the official
communication will be formulated in the next few hours.
The alliance of countries which want to call into question the
freedom of expression within the organs of the United Nations is
growing and becoming organised. The request for sanctions against the
TRP will be one of the battle-grounds of this conflict in the coming
months. A fundamental factor in this battle will be the support of
the democratic governments, beginning with those of Europe, for the
principles of the freedom of expression and the defence of human
rights at the United Nations.
www.radicalparty.org
Read more from Human Rights Watch
Report:
New Assault on Rights in Central Highlands
Crackdown on Indigenous Montagnards Intensifies
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