OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR GRASSLEY & SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE:
 NO NEED TO FEEL GUILT – THE US SHOULD NOW FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ITS FORMER ALLIES – THE MONTAGNARDS

To the kind attention of:

The Honorable Senator Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate Finance Committee
Room 135 SH
Washington , DC 20510   

5 July 2006

Dear Senator Grassley:

I am writing you today concerning the United States granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Vietnam and a recent article of 28 June 2006 Reuters news article titled “Guilt helps Vietnam deal in Congress: Senator:” The article stated “ G uilty feelings about the U.S. war in Vietnam will help propel a trade pact” and “ There's always been a guilt feeling about Vietnam around here by some people and I think it's responding to that guilt feeling, as much as the economic advantages of it”.  

On behalf of the Montagnard Degar people inside Vietnam who suffer discrimination, religious and ethnic persecution by the Vietnamese communist government the Montagnard Foundation would like to convey to you and US Congress that there is no need to feel guilt for the past unless today there are less than honorable efforts being made to ensure that human rights for our people is being seriously considered.

As you may know the Montagnards of Vietnam's served as loyal allies to the United States during the Vietnam War and US veterans came to know our people like brothers. Today Vietnam continues to persecute our race. Over 350 of our people remain in brutal prisons and our entire homeland in Vietnam is under strict control by security forces who commit daily human rights violations against our people. We also note that the US State Department has continued to maintain Vietnam on the watch list of nations that are the worst violators of religious freedom. Human Rights Watch also stated on 14 June 2006 that, “ Vietnamese officials continue to force Montagnard Christians to sign pledges renouncing their religion “.

The Montagnard Degar boy pictured here is a victim of Vietnamese security forces. He now lives in the United States as a refugee, but three years ago he was tortured because his father was a Christian who was hiding from arrest. The Vietnamese police tortured him trying to find out where his father was and he suffers today a permanent forehead wound as result of the beating he received. We ask, how can the police in Vietnam continue to get away with such inhuman policies?

We would also like to stress that we do not harbor ill-feelings toward progress in Vietnam , but we now cry out to you, the Senate Finance Committee and every member of the US Congress to remember us in this crucial hour. On behalf of our people in Vietnam who have suffered torture, persecution for being Christian and for standing up for our basic human rights, we make this plea. Our people merely want freedom from decades of persecution. We would like to ask you to ensure all our 350 prisoners of conscience are released from prisons in Vietnam before PNTR is granted and that our people are protected from future human rights abuses.

Senator,

Before you and your colleagues decide on granting PNTR to Vietnam we ask you to consider the future of the Montagnard Degar people and the plight of the child above. We ask that basic human rights for our people (and all citizens of Vietnam ) are directly linked as a precondition to the US granting of PNTR to Vietnam , namely that:

    • Vietnam to release all of the estimated 350 Degar Prisoners from Vietnamese prisons. See Human Rights Watch report 14 June 2006 for prisoner list: http://hrw.org/reports/2006/vietnam0606/

    • Vietnam permits a permanent humanitarian presence in the Central Highlands to monitor the human rights situation by US, UN and international agencies and international NGOs.

We are not asking the United States to abandon relations with Vietnam and we do not want progress between US and Vietnam to be stifled however, we ask that our people's sacrifice during the Vietnam War be remembered. We know the world of politics and world trade is complex but we cry out in desperation to you in order that you may help our race of people.

Sincerely and God Bless,

Kok Ksor
President of the Montagnard Foundation