14
November 2006
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WHY
DID THE STATE DEPARTMENT REMOVE VIETNAM
FROM THE RELIGIOUS WATCH LIST AHEAD OF BUSH'S
VISIT TO HANOI? IS TRADE MORE IMPORTANT
THAN HUMAN RIGHTS?
TROOPS SURROUND VILLAGES,
MONTAGNARD HOUSE CHURCH CHRISTIANS ARRESTED,
TORTURED, ONE HOUSE CHRISTIAN KILLED AND
HANGED |
BACKGROUND: The indigenous
Montagnard Degar Peoples have suffered decades
of persecution by the Vietnamese communist government,
namely; confiscation of their ancestral lands,
Christian religious repression, torture, killings
and imprisonment. To date over 350 Degar prisoners
remain in Vietnamese prisons for merely standing
up for their human rights, for spreading Christianity
or for fleeing to Cambodia repression inside the
Central Highlands is continuing at an alarming
rate ahead of President Bush’s visit to the APEC
summit in Hanoi.
President George Bush is scheduled
to attend the Asian Economic Cooperation Forum
(APEC) summit this week from 17 November 2006
in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Montagnard Foundation has
received information from its people inside the
Central Highlands of Vietnam over the last few
weeks that Vietnamese authorities have increased
the mobilization of soldiers to the region. Hundreds
of villagers report soldiers stationed at their
villages. Further, in the last few weeks and months,
the Vietnamese security police have confiscated
mobile cell phones from numerous Montagnard Degar
people, often beating and torturing these people.
Arrests, torture and one reported killing have
occurred in the last few weeks. Some villages
report that troops occupy the village while others
report soldiers stationed surrounding the village.
In some cases smaller groups of soldiers have
been stationed at the village who are prepared
to radio for reinforcements. The villagers report
the soldiers and security police have threatened
to shoot any Montagnards who attempt to leave
these villages or speak to foreigners about what
is happening.
VILLAGES OCCUPIED BY SOLDIERS
& POLICE IN DAK LAK PROVINCE
On 5 November 2006 the Vietnamese
government sent soldiers to occupy the following
Degar villages in Daklak province where they remain
to this day:
1. Buon Sut Hluot village, district Cu Mgar has
stationed 20 police and 20 soldiers.
2. Buon Tring village, district Krong Buk, has
stationed 20 police and 30 soldiers.
3. Buon Ea Hmlai village, district Mdrak, has
stationed 10 police and 30 soldiers.
4. Buon Moak village, district Mdrak, has stationed
10 police and 30 soldiers.
5. Buon Cuoi village, district Krong Ana, has
stationed 20 police and 30 soldiers.
6. Buon Cam village, district Krong Ana, has stationed
20 police and 30 soldiers.
7. Buon Ea Tieu village district Krong Ana, has
stationed 20 police.
8. Buon Drec village, district Buon Don, has stationed
30 police.
9. Buon Cuor Knia village, district Buon Don,
has stationed 20 police & 30 soldiers.
10. Buon Emap village, district Cu Mgar, has stationed
30 police.
11. Buon Cuor Hdang village, district Cu Mgar,
has stationed 30 police & 30 soldiers.
12. Buon Ea Khit village, district Krong Ana,
has stationed 20 police.
13. Buon Cu Mblim village, district Krong Ana,
has stationed 20 police.
14. Buon Tong Ju village, district Krong Ana,
has stationed 20 police.
15. Buon Sup village, district Ea Sup, has stationed
30 police.
16. Buon Don village, district Buon Don, has stationed
30 police.
HOUSE CHURCH CHRISTIAN ABDUCTED, MURDERED &
HANGED
On October 22, 2006 at around
8pm a Montagnard Christian named Moi went to the
latrine outside of his village. He failed to return.
The entire village searched for him but could
not find him. Later that next morning two Vietnamese
police named Can and Thai, came to the village
and told the villagers Moi was dead and hanging
from a tree about 1km from the village. The whole
village rushed to where the police said his body
was and found Moi hanging on a tree tied up with
Vietnamese military issue shoestrings. Moi’s skull
was cracked, both arms broken and his body was
covered in bruises and cutmarks. People from his
village reported that Vietnamese officials had
long hated Moi because he was a Christian who
refused to join the official church.
ARRESTED BY POLICE: WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN:
On October 15, 2006 police from
Dak Mil district, Dak Nong province arrested three
of our Christian Brothers from their village of
Buon Jun Yuh because they are Christians who refused
to join the government church. Their current whereabouts
and state of health remain unknown. Their names
are as follows:
-
Y-Tai, age 27 from Buon Jun Yuh village, commune
Duc Minh, district Dak Mil, province Dak Nong.
-
Y-
Huyen, age 28 from Buon Jun Yuh village, commune
Duc Minh, district Dak Mil, province Dak Nong.
-
Y-Nhat,
age 23 from Buon Jun Yuh village, commune Duc
Minh, district Dak Mil, province Dak Nong.
ARRESTED BY POLICE:
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN:
On October 13, 2006 police
from Dak Mil district, Dak Nong province arrested
two of our Christian Brothers from Buon Jun
Yuh village because they refused to join the
government church. Their whereabouts and state
of health remain unknown. Their names are as
follows:
-
Chuan, age 26 from Buon Jun Yuh village, commune
Duc Minh, district Dak Mil, province Dak Nong.
-
Y-
Ntun, age 24 from Buon Jun Yuh village, commune
Duc Minh, district Dak Mil, province Dak Nong.
TORTURED BY POLICE NAMED
NGUYEN VAN THANG AND LAM
On October 9, 2006 two Vietnamese
police, named Nguyen Van Thang, Duc and Lam
arrested our Christian Brother named Y-Leng
Ya while he was riding his tractor to join his
relatives for rice harvest at his farm. The
police tortured him by beating him with their
fists and kicking him until he passed out. Witnesses
said blood was coming out of his mouth, nose,
ears and the police threw him on their jeep
and took him to the prison in Cu Jut district.
The police accused him of wanting to escape
to Cambodia. He remains in police custody and
the condition of his health remains unknown.
ARRESTED BY POLICE:
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN:
On September 30, 2006 the police
from Dak Mil district, Dak Nong province arrested
Montagnard Christian Brother from his village
of Buon Dak Mler because he is a Christian who
refused to join the government church. His whereabouts
and state of his health, remains unknown. His
name is as follows.
• Ngram, age 46 from Buon Dak
Mler village, Duc Minh commune, Dak Mil district.
Dak Nong province.
THE
MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION CALLS ON THE US PRESIDENT,
THE US STATE DEPARTMENT AND ALL THE PARTICPANTS
OF APEC:
- To urgently raise the ongoing
human rights violations of the Montagnard People
with the Vietnamese government in order to create
a permanent solution to this issue.
- Concerned Embassies and the
international community to urgently demand Vietnam
release all 350 Degar Prisoners identified in
the Human Rights Watch report of 14 June 2006.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/14/vietna13542.htm
- To urgently demand that Vietnam permits a
permanent humanitarian presence in the Central
Highlands by US, UN and international NGOs.
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