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MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION REJECTS VIETNAMESE PROPAGANDA AS
MORE MONTAGNARD CHRISTIANS SENTENCED TO PRISON
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MORE MONTAGNARD CHRISTIANS SENTENCED TO PRISON: On
22 June 2006 Radio Australia ABC broadcasted reports that
Vietnam jailed six Montagnard Degar men for "violating
solidarity policies and organising illegal migration." Quoting
an official from Dak Nong province the ABC reported these
Montagnards were sentenced to between five and seven years
in prison and were arrested with 16 others who tried to
cross the Cambodian border in October 2005. The Vietnamese
officials claim the six planned to set up an independent
state or "flee to Cambodia in groups with accusation
that the Vietnamese state violated human rights and repressed
religions."
THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION RESPONDS BELOW TO THESE
ALLEGATIONS:
Vietnam 's repeated allegations
that Montagnard Degar people are seeking an independent
state are baseless and the Montagnard Foundation hereby
states that MFI's goal is the implementation of human
rights and democratic standards recognized at the international
level. The indigenous Montagnard Degar Peoples have
suffered decades of persecution by the government of Vietnam
, namely; confiscation of their ancestral lands, Christian
religious repression, torture, killings and imprisonment.
We also note that in June 2006, the US State Department
has continued to maintain Vietnam on the “watch
list” of countries that are the worst violators of religious
freedom. To date over 350 Degar prisoners remain in Vietnamese
prisons for charges involving merely standing up for
human rights, for spreading Christianity or for fleeing
to Cambodia . As part of the Vietnamese Government's
policy Vietnamese soldiers continue with a campaign of
brutal repression and religious persecution of Montagnards.
The Montagnard Foundation hereby calls on the international
community to reject the unfounded allegations made by Vietnam
in order to justify its repressive policy against the Montagnards.
The Montagnard people who advocate for the respect of their
fundamental rights use non-violent advocacy methods. Finally,
in the Montagnard language there is no word for “independence”,
and that Vietnamese authorities are falsely claiming calls
for freedom as if they were claims for independence.
• The Vietnamese government to stop
circulating false propaganda about Montagnard claims
for independence and to give the Degar Montagnard people
equal rights and cease religious and ethnic persecution
against our race.
• The United States Congress to ensure
that the respect of human rights, the release of all
Montagnard Degar prisoners and allowing a permanent monitoring
presence of independent NGOs in the Central Highlands,
are conditions directly linked to any granting of Permanent
Normal Trade Relations to Vietnam.
