HANOI ACCUSES THE
TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY, MR. KOK KSOR AND THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION
AT THE UN OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES
On Thursday May 22, the Committee on NGOs
of the UN took into consideration the allegations of the supposed abuse
of the Consultative Status that Transnational Radical Party (TRP)
enjoys with the UN Economic and Social Council. The accusations were
originally presented by the Vietnamese Government following the
accreditation by the TRP of Mr. Kok Ksor, Member of its General
Council, and President of the Montagnard Foundation, to the 2002 and
2003 sessions of the Commission on Human Rights.
Quoting documents unknown and unpublished after one year after the
first complaint lodged before the UN Committee on NGOs, the Vietnamese
Government reaffirmed the allegation that Kok Ksor and his organization
are carrying out terrorist activities in support of the creation of a
secessionist Dega state.
If, on the one hand China, Cuba, Sudan, Iran, the Russian Federation
and Pakistan supported Vietnam’s request to mandate the TRP to issue a
letter of apology and the assurances of not accrediting Mr. Kok Ksor on
its behalf at the UN in the future, on the other, it must be noted that
Germany, France, the United States and Italy firmly rejected such
allegations on the basis, among other reasons, that the complaint
introduced by Vietnam does not provide evidence to support such a
request for sanction:
The Montagnard Foundation is not included in any of the internationally
recognized lists of terrorist organizations compiled by
inter-governmental organizations, such as for example the list of the
European Union or the one of the UN;
The Montagnard Foundation has been accredited to the UN to attend the
Working Group on Indigenous peoples before the beginning of its
cooperation with the TRP, which is dates back to April 2001.
The current reality of the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where the
indigenous Montagnards live, is far more different than that presented
by the Vietnamese Ambassador to the UN. In fact, since February 2001,
when a series of peaceful demonstrations were staged by dozens of
thousands of Montagnards to call on the Vietnamese Government and
international institutions to respect indigenous rights on the land
confiscated by the Government, and to respect fundamental human rights
- starting with religious freedom - Hanoi has imposed a regime of
martial law in the region, forcing thousands of people to flee to
Cambodia, arresting dozens of Montagnards. Over the last couple of
years these facts have been documented by various organizations among
which Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Recent information also says that some Montagnards have been summarily
executed by the Vietnamese security forces. As a result of the closure
of the Central Highlands, all the above accusations cannot be
investigated by independent entities. The result is impunity for those
that committed such criminal acts. In July 2002, the gravity of the
human rights situation in the Central Highlands, led the UN Committee
on Human Rights to issue clear recommendations to the Government of
Vietnam, the most important of which being a call to open the region to
independent international monitoring institutions - including
independent NGOs. As of today, Such a request has been not fulfilled.
Also thanks to the cooperation with the TRP, Mr. Kok Ksor and the
Montagnard Foundation have proven to be a reliable source of
information, at the international level, on the situation of the
Montagnards people, providing over the years accurate reports that
document the climate of terror imposed on the indigenous people of
Vietnam who suffer from a repression that has decimated them bringing
the number of Montagnards from more than 3 million people during the
French colonial period, to a current figure of 600.000/800.000.
In December 2003, the TRP will be up for review before the UN Committee
on NGOs to reply to Vietnam’s new allegations. In his intervention
before the Committee the Vietnamese Ambassador announced that his
country will eventually require sanctions for the TRP, if it does not
apologize.
In view of the December debate, it will be necessary that all
democratic countries members of the UN Committee on NGOs take a firm
stance in favor of freedom of expression and of the right to defense
for NGOs that are accused by Governments.
RELATED ARTICLE:
(1062003)
Statement
by Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation, Inc. in response
to Hanoi’s allegations and distorted propaganda |
