Appendix E: Human Rights Watch Letter to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
September 15, 2008
His Excellency Pham Gia Khiem
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
VIA FACSIMILE
Your Excellency,
Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization based in New York that monitors violations of human rights by states and non-state actors in more than 80 countries around the world.
Human Rights Watch is preparing a report regarding the ethnic Khmer minority in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, known as Khmer Krom. Our report, which explores issues of religious freedom, land rights, and freedom of assembly and expression for the Khmer minority in Vietnam, is based in part on in-depth interviews conducted with ethnic Khmer in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the United States.
We are writing to ensure that our report properly reflects the views, policies, and practices of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam regarding the ethnic Khmer minority in Vietnam.
Human Rights Watch is committed to producing material that is well-informed and objective. We hope you or your staff will respond to the attached questions so that your views are accurately reflected in our reporting. In order for us to take your answers into account in our forthcoming report, we would appreciate a written response by October 1, 2008. We are also happy to provide you with an advance copy of our report, once it is finalized.
Please do not hesitate to include any other materials, statistics, and government actions regarding the ethnic Khmer minority in Vietnam that you think might be relevant.
We look forward to strengthening our dialogue with the Vietnamese government, especially as we consider sending a formal delegation to Vietnam in the future in response to requests from the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington DC.
We also look forward to receiving your input on our previous research and advocacy recommendations regarding human rights issues in Vietnam, including our November 2006 report on Street Children in Hanoi and the listing of Montagnard political and religious prisoners provided to officials from the Bureau of Religious Affairs at their request, during their visit to Washington, DC in November of last year.
Thank you in advance for your time in addressing these urgent matters.
Sincerely,
Elaine Pearson
Deputy Director
Asia Division
cc:
His Excellency Le Luong Minh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations
His Excellency Hoang Chi Trung, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations
His Excellency Le Cong Phung, Ambassador and of Vietnam to the United States
His Excellency Giang Seo Phu, Minister, Chairman of Ethnic Minority Committee
Questions:
1. What is the status of former Khmer Krom Buddhist monk Tim Sakhorn, who was released from An Giang provincial prison in June 2008? Is he currently under house arrest or administrative probation in Vietnam? Is he free to return to Cambodia, should he choose to do so?
2. Why were five ethnic Khmer monks imprisoned after participating in a peaceful protest in Soc Trang Province on February 8, 2007? Has the government taken any steps to investigate reports that some of the monks have been mistreated and beaten while in Soc Trang provincial prison?
3. How many ethnic Khmer Buddhist monks were defrocked, arrested, detained, or dismissed from the Pali Middle School in Soc Trang as a result of having participated in the February 8, 2007 protest in Soc Trang? What is the status of these monks now? Can you provide us with a listing of all monks who were defrocked, arrested, detained, or dismissed from the Pali Middle School during 2007; their current status (re-ordained, or lay person) and present location; and whether they are under house arrest or administrative detention?
4. How many ethnic Khmer land rights protesters are currently in prison, pre-trial detention, police custody, or house arrest/administrative probation? Can you provide any names of these ethnic Khmer detainees, their present location, and under what charges they are being held?
5. Did police use dogs and electric batons to break up a protest in An Hao village, Tinh Bien district, An Giang Province, on February 26, injuring several protesters? What is the current status of Neang Yanh and Neang Yonh who were subsequently arrested because of their involvement in the protest? We understand that they remain in detention in An Giang prison, awaiting trial on charges of causing public disorder under article 245 of Vietnam's Penal Code. Can you tell us the expected date of their trial, whether they have access to defense lawyers of their choosing, whether members of their families have been allowed to visit them in prison, and whether their trials will be open to journalists and members of the public?
6. Are government or other officials authorized to take action against those who read, distribute or publish materials that are published originally or exclusively in Khmer? If so, on what basis does this authorization rest? Are government or other officials authorized to take actions against persons who use such unapproved materials to teach ethnic Khmer in Vietnam about their history, culture, geography and language? Again, if so, please clarify the basis for such authority.
7. 7. What is the Vietnamese government doing to address increasing landlessness of ethnic Khmer farmers in the Mekong Delta? What sort of compensation is provided to ethnic Khmer farmers whose land has been confiscated by the government? Is the government working to address longstanding land conflicts caused by forced relocation of Khmer Krom communities from their farmland, particularly in present-day An Giang Province, during cross-border fighting between Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge troops in 1978-79? Is the government considering ways to return confiscated land to ethnic Khmer communities, or offer compensation or alternative plots of arable land?
8. Would the Vietnamese government consider recognizing as legitimate all Khmer Buddhist pagodas that do not choose to join or affiliate with the officially-authorized Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha, as long as their religious activities were conducted peacefully and in accordance with international legal standards?
9. Ethnic Khmer Buddhists in Vietnam have complained that government authorities restrict the number of days they are allow to celebrate and observe certain religious holidays, such as the Kathin celebration. Do government and religious authorities currently allow ethnic Khmer Buddhists to celebrate Kathin for the traditional period of 29 days, rather than three? If so, what prompted the change in policy?
10. Are any restrictions placed on travel by ethnic Khmer Buddhist monks in Vietnam? For example, can Khmer Krom monks freely travel within Vietnam and visit other pagodas, transfer from one pagoda to another, or change their place of study without obtaining official approval from government authorities? If not, what is the reasoning and legal basis for such restrictions?
11.Would the Vietnamese government consider increasing Khmer-language primary and secondary education in the Mekong Delta?