SPR_03-1012

PERSECUTION OF DEGAR (MONTAGNARD) CHRISTIANS IN VIETNAM’S CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: MORE TORTURE, BEATINGS AND ARRESTS

The US State Department, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Transnational Radical Party and numerous non-governmental organizations have all recently confirmed human rights violations directed against hill tribe Montagnards, many of whom are Christians. In May 2003 the US International Commission For Religious Freedom stated,

“the increased repression of religious freedom has been reportedly sanctioned at the highest levels of the Vietnamese government.”

The situation facing the Degar Montagnard population inside Vietnam is at a crisis point as Vietnamesesecurity forces place Montagnard villages under martial law and persecute them for practicingChristianity and expressing their freedom of expression. Untold numbers of Montagnards have beenbeaten, tortured and others murdered in what appears a sophisticated form of ethnic cleansing by theVietnamese authorities who view Christianity and freedom of expression. On the Cambodian borderDegar refugees who try fleeing the region are hunted down by Vietnamese soldiers. The Vietnamesegovernment is forcing the Degar people to reject Christianity and worship under a governmentcontrolled religion that was strategically organized to repress the Montagnard Degar population and theirfreedom of expression. Examples of persecution include the following.

Cong An use chemical sprays: 29 September 2003 around 7:00 am.

Poverty stricken and without land to farm, four Degar Christian men had to find work at a nearby rubber plantation to bring food to their table. After they had been hired to work for the plantation for two days, they asked the owner to pay them for their work so that they could buy food for their family, but the owner of the plantation refused to pay them. With sadness and hopelessness, the men returned to their village without doing or saying anything to the owner of the plantation. On their return home, the men were followed by Vietnamese Cong An officers (police) and other employees of the plantation. The pack following the men on their way home carried with them a poisonous chemical compound. As soon as they got to their village, the Vietnamese officers and the employees of the plantation sprayed them in their eyes and on their bodies. They became paralyzed and blinded because the spray was toxic. The fathers of the victims saw what was happening and ran over to help. They tried to carry their sons to the hospital, but they too became blind and paralyzed even though they were not directly sprayed, but only inhaled the fumes. When the villagers saw what was happening, they were confused, frightened and upset and walked to the rubber plantation to complain, but they too became victims because the employees of the plantation sprayed this same toxic chemical compound on their eyes and bodies as well.
All of the victims were reported in critical condition and they were admitted to hospital for treatment. They were all from Plei Ba Tih village, Adok commune, Dak Doa District, Gia Lai province and the names of the first four victims are:

Hlum, born 1980
Than, born 1981
Dun, born 1984
Nuc, born 1981

The twenty two villagers also from Plei Bia tih, who went to the commune office and the rubber plantation to try to find out why their friends were sprayed with a deadly chemical, were also brought to the hospital for treatment. Their names are:

Ngum, born in 1984
Byu, born in 1984
Nglu, born in 1987
Khun, born in 1984
Wung, born in 1983
Wan, born in 1987
Tan, born in 1984
Tui, born in 1986
Byum, born in 1981
Yum, born in 1981
Lum, born in1977
Amu, born in 1987
Phum, born in 1987
Tung, born in 1986
Byung, born in 1983
Khin, born in 1986
Khom, born in 1985
Hop, born in 1984
Grum, born in 1987
Grin, born in 1978
Grac, born in 1980
Wu, born in 1986

The five men who participated in the assault against the 22 Degar villagers and the four Degar workers are as listed below:

Hung, police officer of Dak Doa district {Vietnamese}
Tho, employee of the rubber plantation {Vietnamese}
Long, guard who protects the rubber plantation (Vietnamese}
Byui, chief of the Adok commune {Degar}
Thin, guard who protect the rubber plantation {Vietnamese}

Threats and theft.
On September 17, 2003 Hung, a commune policeman (Vietnamese), Din a commune policeman (Degar), Mui a commune undercover policeman (Degar), Loi commune secretary (Degar), and Khuuc a chairman of Adok commune. These men went to search the house of the families of Degar Montagnards named Bum, Angli and Anglok, who have been hiding in the jungles fearing arrest and torture of the Vietnamese government police, at the village of Plei Djrong, commune of Adok, district of Dak Doa, Gia Lai province. The police could not find any information or documents in order to accuse their families nevertheless, they stole six cows that belonged to Bum’s wife and brought the cows back with them to their commune. They told Bum’s wife “Tell your husband to come back and if your husband doesn’t come back home and present himself to the authorities, we will surely keep these 6 cows.”

Beatings and Electric shock torture:

On September 15th, 2003 at around 10:00 am Vietnamese police, in two jeeps from Mang Yang district arrested and tortured 8 Degar Christians during a prayer meeting at Oai’s house in the village of Bong Mor, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai. All eight church members who were at the prayer meeting were arrested and taken to the government office at the district of Mang Yang. The names of the eight congregation members are listed below:

Oai, who was born in 1962 from the village of Plei Bong Mor, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Pral, who was born in 1957 from the village of Plei De Kop, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Pet, who was born in 1960 from the village of Plei Bong Hiot, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Djip, who was born in 1963 from the village of Plei Bong Hiot, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Ruk, who was born in 1958 from the village of Plei Kon Brung, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Dun, who was born in 1962 from the village of Plei Kon Brung, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
Jak, who was born in 1959 from the village of Plei Kon Brung, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.
H’Nip, who was born in1964 from the village of Plei Kon Brung, commune of Ayun, district of Mang Yang, province of Gia Lai.

The 8 church members above were beaten along the journey to the jail house. The owner of the house where the prayer meeting took place was severely beaten and battered. He became unconscious, and every time he would try to get back up to walk another strike brought him to the floor until he finally fell into a “deep sleep”. The other Christians were kicked, struck and shocked into unconsciousness by electric batons. They were finally released on 17 September 2003 and are still in suffering pain from their beatings and some are immobile, unable to walk or work.

Beatings: On September 11, 2003, at around 4:00 pm

Two Vietnamese cong an (police) from the district of Dak Doa, Doan Van Tuan and Hung, went to the village of Plei Krec, Commune K’Dang, district of Dak Doa, province of Gia Lai went to arrest three Degar Christians:

Yak, who was born in 1962
Pom, who was born in 1975
Kren, who was born in 1968

They took them to their office in the district of Dak Doa and imprisoned them there. Here, they beat and kicked them until they were unconscious because their Christian beliefs. After 2 days of torture, the police took them back to their village but they couldn’t stand up or walk because of the pain from the beatings. So, the villagers from the Krec village got together and went to protest at the K’Dang Commune. Because of this protest, the officials at the commune took the 3 persons who were hurt and treated them at the commune health center.

Arrests and Disappearences:

	On September the 13th of 2003, at around 8:00 am, the Vietnamese police from Cu Se district abducted our Christian Brother, Rmah Kuet, who was born in 1954 from the village of Plei Tao Cor, commune Ia Hru, district of Cu Se, Province of Gia Lai. His family searched for him but was not able to locate him. The family asked the police station about the situation but the police refused to answer.
	On September the 2nd of 2003, Vietnamese police arrested Y-Bem Nie who was born in 1972 because he is a Christian and supports MFI. Y-Bem is from the village of Buon Sut Hluot, district of Cu Mgar, Dak Lak province at around 12:00 mid night. The location of where he was taken to is unknown.
	On September the 3rd of 2003, Y-Mai Nie who was born in 1973 from the village of Buon Blang, Cu Mgar district of Dak Lak province was arrested. The police wanted to kill him but instead they drugged him and took him with them. The location of where he was taken to is unknown.
	On September the 3rd of 2003, Vietnamese police accused Y-Khiem Nie who was born in 1971, from the village of Buon Map, Cu Mgar district of Dak Lak province, of being Christians and helping the Degar refugees who are hiding from police in the area. His whereabouts is unknown.
	On September the 9th of 2003, Vietnamese government ordered the police to arrest our four Christians Brothers from Buon Hwing village of Cu Mgar district in Dak Lak Province. The four men whose names are listed below were arrested because they were Christians and suspected of helping the Degars who are hiding in the area. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Y-Ki Nie, who was born in 1976

Y-Rieng Kboh, who was born in 1968

Y-Muh Rcam, who was born in 1968

Y-Bli Rcam, who was born in 1978

Arrest and Beatings of refugee’s wives who have escaped to the US.

At around 7:00 o’clock in the morning on September 3, 2003, the same police arrested H’Pun Mlo, who was born in 1970, from the village of Buon Cuor Knia, district of Buon Don, province of Daklak, and whose husband is Y-Rit Hdok, a Degar refugee living now in the US. H’Pun Mlo has two children, Y-Toni Mlo, who was born on December 12, 1996 and H’Bon Mlo, who was born on October 10, 1998. Because her children have been crying day and night looking for their mother, H’Pun’s relative took her children to go see their mother at the prison. But, the police refused to allow H’Pun to see her children. They would not even allow her children to see her face from afar. Her children keep crying; they never stop because they are by themselves at home. On September 11, 2003, the police released their mother, but are watching her closely and they have promised to come back and arrest her again. She lives in perpetual fear. Again, the punishment was not because of her wrong doing but because her husband escaped to the US.

At around 7:30 am on September 16, 2003, Lt. Col. Pham Huu Nhac, the police chief, Major Nguyen Thanh That, the police chief assistant and Major Nguyen Van Phuc, the police interrogator, sent a Degar policeman Y-Khem Adrong to arrest H’Luc Ayun who was born in 1963, from the village of Buon Cuor Knia, district of Buon Don, province of Daklak at her house. They claimed that she was helping Degars who were hiding in the area and also bringing food to Degar prisoners at the prison camp. So, Y-Khem Adrong, the policeman, arrested her on the same day and took her to a prison facility at the district of Buon Don. H’Luc Ayun’s husband is Y-Brot Hmok, a Degar refugee who is now living in the US. On October 3, 2003, the police moved her to the prison facility in Buonmathuot. Her relatives went to see her at the prison but the police did not let them see her face. The Degar people believe that the reason the police did not allow the relatives of prisoners to see their faces is because the prisoners have been tortured so heavily and the police don’t want their relatives to see their bruised bodies and faces. Again, the punishment of H’Luc Ayun was not because of her wrong doing but because her husband is in the US.

Arrest and imprisonment for owning a cellular phone:

On August 18, 2003, the Vietnamese police arrested our Christian Brother Y-Rin Nie who was born in 1979, from the village of Buon Poc, district of Cu Mgar, province of Daklak, for no reason just simply because he owns a cellular phone. The police imprisoned him at the facility in Cu Mgar district. On September 2, 2003, he was transferred to the prison in Buonmathuot.

Confiscation of Montagnard lands without compensation
The government wanted to expend its rubber plantation in the area of Cu Prong district, so, on July 27, 2003, they unlawfully confiscated the rice field belonging to Puih Jao -- 5,000 square meters. They also took the rice field belonging to Rahlan Khuc -- 1,000 meter square. They offered no compensation. The rice in the field was almost to the time of harvest, but the government took bulldozers and bulldozed it all without any kind of compensation. The Degar people believe this is part of their genocidal plan to force our people into poverty.

Military Sweeping Operation and occupation of villages
At the present time and taking the advantage of the fact that the Cambodia/Vietnam borders are closed to fleeing refugees - the Vietnamese government has begun carrying out an extensive sweeping operation in the Central Highlands starting from September this year. The Vietnamese government has brought more troops into the Central Highlands, which is increasing the human rights abuses toward the Degar people in the region.
In the commune of Habau in the province of Gia Lai the Vietnamese government has placed 13 soldiers.

At H’Noi’s house in the village of Plei Kueng Grai, 7 soldiers.
At Prui house in the village of Plei Sao, 6 soldiers

In the commune of Cu A, in the province of Gia Lai, the Vietnamese government has placed 9 soldiers.

At Blit’s house in the village of Plei Bong Ngol, 3 soldiers.
At H’Thoih’s house in the village of Plei Bong Ngol, 3 soldiers
At Ril’s house in the village of Plei Bong Ngol, 3 soldiers.

In the commune of Ia Pet in the province of Gia Lai the Vietnamese government has placed 44 soldiers.

In the village of Plei Al Hmoi, 13 soldiers.
In the village of Plei Bia Bre, 7 soldiers.
In the village of Plei Brong Goai, 10 soldiers.
In the village of Plei O Dot, 7 soldiers.
In the village of Plei Nglom Thung, 7 soldiers.

In the commune of Ia Bang in the province of Gia Lai the Vietnamese government has placed 60 soldiers.

In the village of Plei Het, 30 soldiers.
In the village of Plei Bong Lar, 30 soldiers.

In the commune of Bo Ngong in the province of Gia Lai the Vietnamese government has placed 100 soldiers.

In the commune of Bo Ngong itself, 50 soldiers.
In the village of Plei To Drah, 50 soldiers.

It is unknown exactly how many villages have been occupied throughout the central highlands as the Vietnamese police and army are using repressive measures to restrict communication from leaving the central highlands. Therefore, we appeal to the world to please help us and stop the inhumane actions and the scheme of genocide that the Vietnamese government intends to carry out against our indigenous people.
The Montagnard Foundation urgently requests the International community, the United Nations, democratic Governments and foreign donors:

	Pressure Vietnam to cease this persecution and to stop defying the concluding observations issued by the 2002 UN Human Rights Committee by refusing international monitors access to the Central Highlands where our people are suffering.
	To carefully consider how foreign aid and assistance is being used in Vietnam is order to pressure Vietnam to stop persecuting indigenous people and Christians.

Unless urgent protection is taken these and other Montagnards are going to suffer and may even be killed.