XI. INCREASING THE PRESSURE
Beginning in March 2001, Vietnamese authorities launched a second wave of arrests and increased the pressure on suspected sympathizers of the movement. Their actions were based on information gathered from police interrogation sessions conducted in February, as well as photographs and video footage of the demonstrations. On March 10, police arrested more than twenty ethnic Jarai in Chu Se district, Gia Lai after a confrontation between villagers and security forces at Plei Lao.312 On March 26, the state newspaper Lao Dong (Labor) reported that provincial authorities in Kontum had uncovered an underground separatist network, consisting of a "string of clandestine bases each several people strong." Some forty ethnic minority "troublemakers" had surrendered to local authorities, the paper said, and documents confiscated from the group had enabled local authorities to compile a "blacklist" of the leaders of the underground network.313
Travel Restrictions and Increased Surveillance After the demonstrations and refugee exodus to Cambodia, the government began to tightly restrict freedom of movement throughout the Central Highlands. Montagnards arriving at the UNHCR sites in Cambodia reported that strict travel bans had been instituted throughout the highlands with police posted on the roads to stop movement of people and in the hamlets to prevent travel and communication between villages.317 Highlanders interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported stricter implementation of household registry regulations. In the wake of the protests, authorities required highlanders to register with the police several days in advance of leaving their homes to work in their fields or to visit another village or district.318 In many areas, only women were allowed to freely leave the villages. Christian pastors and evangelists were barred from traveling in many localities, making it impossible for them to perform baptisms, marriages, and funerals as they had in the past.319 Police wrote up charges and often imposed fines on pastors who were caught performing such ceremonies.
"My family is watched and followed everywhere," said a Jarai who fled from Ia Grai district, Gia Lai in February. "They are not allowed to travel outside the village. Letters to my family are opened and read."322
Restrictions on Diplomatic and Media Access During and after the demonstrations, foreign journalists were denied access to the Central Highlands, other than a tightly-controlled press tour in mid-March 2001 and another timed to coincide with the first repatriation of refugees in February 2002. Diplomatic access was also restricted, although representatives of the Danish Embassy flew to Dak Lak in early February 2001 as part of a pre-arranged trip to visit aid projects there. Other European diplomats based in Hanoi were able to briefly visit Gia Lai as part of a four-day tour to five provinces and Ho Chi Minh City conducted at the end of May 2001. However a request by the U.S. ambassador in March to visit the highlands was not granted until July 2001.326
There was no mention in the state-controlled media about the unrest for several days following the protests. One February 7, the lead story on state television was a piece praising economic development policies in the Central Highlands. It featured footage of beaming minorities working in coffee plantations in Gia Lai.328 Such coverage was to continue for months.
Also interviewed was Ksor Kroih, who had been arrested on February 6:
On March 16, 2001, after several delays, the Hanoi-based foreign press corps was taken on a four-day guided tour of Dak Lak and Gia Lai. Reporters were not granted promised interviews with highlanders who had participated in the demonstrations but instead were taken to a coffee factory, a highlander cultural show, Yak Don National Park, and an ethnic Lao village where no one had participated in the protests.334 In Pleiku the journalists were brought to a large stadium to witness a Vietnamese military parade in commemoration of the twenty-sixth anniversary of Pleiku's liberation, a ceremony that is not usually observed in Pleiku.335 In Pleiku, Provincial People's Committee chairman Nguyen Vy Ha told the journalists that the demonstrations were caused by misinformation and agitation by outside "reactionaries."
It was not until late March 2001 that the first video footage of the demonstrations appeared on Vietnam Television (VTV), the state-controlled national television network. A two-part series on March 27-28 showed large crowds standing in front of the Provincial People's Committee buildings in Pleiku and Buon Ma Thuot, with fleeting glimpses of young men using slingshots in Buon Ma Thuot. The fifteen-minute program featured interviews with four protesters and Kok Ksor's brother, all expressing contrition for their involvement with Kok Ksor, and an interview in a Buon Ma Thuot church with one of the minority pastors who had addressed the crowd in Buon Ma Thuot at the government's request. The VTV narrator said: "Life has returned to normal in the Central Highlands, but the situation remains complicated...It's necessary to expose the wicked schemes of hostile forces in exile headed by Kok Ksor, aimed at sowing divisions in national unity." 337 Intensified Repression of Christians
In some cases the penalties imposed on Christians who refused to denounce their religion were an attempt to humiliate. In one incident in March 2001, police in Kontum forced a Jarai Christian to stand with his hands raised above his head for an entire morning. They had summoned him to the police station for several days in a row to press him to sign a pledge renouncing Christianity. When he continued to refuse to sign, the police made him stand with his hands raised from 8:15 a.m. until noon. He was ordered to stand looking into the eyes of a picture of Ho Chi Minh in order to "see the real Jesus." Afterwards the man was allowed to go home, despite not signing the pledge. He described the sessions:
Other actions taken by Vietnamese authorities to break up religious gatherings or close Protestant churches included the following: · An official citation prepared in Dak Lak on March 18, 2001 recorded the "illegal meeting to engage in Protestant religious activities," when a group of fifty-six people from two hamlets gathered to pray at a private home.341 A similar citation prepared by commune police in Dak Lak documented an illegal, "large meeting" on April 15, when fifteen people gathered at a private home. The citation referred to Vietnam's 1999 Religion Decree and Vietnam's Constitution and warned the homeowner that if he continued to hold illegal meetings he would be punished in accordance with the law. It stated that advance government permission was required in order to conduct any meetings.342
Reports were received of interrogation and threats of church leaders in Buon Drie, Buon Ea Mohar, Buon Ko Dung, and Buon Nieng in Dak Lak. After a number of church elders from Buon Mohar filed a complaint to the Provincial Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Provincial Security Police, the pressure on them lightened somewhat.347
Official police records and citizen complaint petitions obtained by Human Rights Watch document other instances of official pressure on whole villages or large groups of people to renounce Christianity. On August 24, 2001, police and village officials disrupted a church service in Buon Don district, photographing the church and the people inside. The officials organized a meeting to order the community to renounce Protestantism. They placed the entire village under surveillance and searched the homes of suspected Christians. A citizen complaint about the incident stated:
In August 2001, twenty households comprising eighty-nine people in two villages in Dak Lak were forced to sign a pledge to the village People's Committee that they would cease being Protestants or face legal action. A written police decision dated August 27, signed by the village police chief, ordered all households to turn in all Protestant religious materials in the two villages.350
The Trials
In April, the government's Tin Tuc news agency announced that eleven "troublemakers" would be prosecuted in Dak Lak province. Provincial VCP official Y Luyen Niec Dan was quoted as saying that strong measures needed to be taken against people exploiting Protestantism to "bend the truth and sabotage the revolution." "We have to unmask the local and international reactionaries who have created this bad situation...and at the same time practice clemency towards all those who have strayed and repented," he said.355
· On September 26, 2001, the People's Courts in Dak Lak and Gia Lai sentenced fourteen highlanders to prison sentences ranging from six to twelve years on charges of undermining public security (most likely under article 89 of the Penal Code.)357 According to the official state press, the men were accused of forming a "reactionary organization" in order to establish an independent state and a separate religion in the Central Highlands. One defendant was also charged with illegal possession of military weapons. State media said that Nay D'Ruk (Y Drut Nie) and Y Phen Ksor from Ea H'leo had raided local government offices and destroyed public property.358 In addition, Bom Jena-identified as the "mastermind" of the unrest-was found to have chaired a founding ceremony of an "illegal organization" at co-defendant Ksor Kroih's house in September 2000.359
None of the trial dates were announced in advance, and no diplomats or foreign correspondents were allowed to attend. It is doubtful that the defendants were allowed access to any legal representation, which is in contravention of article 132 of the Vietnamese constitution.364 The only official press coverage, if any, was the announcements of the verdicts after the trials were over. After the September 26 trial in Dak Lak, the government radio station stated that all the people present at the trial and in Dak Lak province supported the sentences: "The trial has not only punished the criminals but also educated the entire society."365 Vietnam's Penal Code, as amended in 1999, lists numerous "crimes against national security," some of which contain provisions, which are contrary to international law or are so vaguely worded that they invite abusive application.366 For example, article 88, "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," criminalizes the mere act of expressing a disfavored political opinion, or possessing or circulating material that does the same. It carries sentences of between three and twenty years of imprisonment. Article 87, "Undermining the unity policy," criminalizes "sowing divisions" between the people and the government or the military, between religious and non-religious people, and between religious followers and the government. Offenders are to be sentenced to between two and fifteen years of imprisonment.
312 See Case Study XV, "The Church Burning and Killing by Security Forces in Plei Lao," p. 150. 313 Agence France-Presse, "Vietnam says it has dismantled separatist network," March 26, 2001. 314 Agence France-Presse, "Vietnam arranges meeting to build `awareness' among minorities," March 29, 2001. 315 The plan called for the resettlement of close to 100,000 soldiers, militia and their families, who would clear up to 230,000 hectares of land to plant rubber, cashews, cotton, coffee and pepper. Cited in Agence France Presse, "Vietnam settling soldiers, militiamen in restive Central Highlands," April 27, 2001. 316 Reuters, "Vietnam to Send Extra Police to Troubled Highlands," July 17, 2001. 317 Seth Meixner, "Montagnard Numbers Rise In Mondolkiri," Cambodia Daily, May 22, 2001. 318 In Vietnam, inscription on a household registry document (ho khau) is essential not only to legally reside in one's home, but to legally hold a job, collect grain rations, attend public school, receive public health care (which includes all forms of hospitalization), travel, vote, or formally challenge administrative abuses. 319 "Report on the Situation of Christian Believers in Dak Lak Province," July 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 320 "Report on the Protestants' Situation in Dak Lak Province," September 3, 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. 321 Human Rights Watch interview with Ede woman from Dak Lak, July 13, 2001. 322 Human Rights Watch interview with Jarai man from Ia Grai, Gia Lai, August 8, 2001. 323 "Report on the Situation of Christian Believers in Dak Lak Province," July 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. Translation of Vietnamese-language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 324 Ibid. 325 Human Rights Watch interview with Montagnard from Lam Dong, October 30, 2001. 326 Associated Press, "U.S. Urges Vietnam to Grant Access to Central Highlands," March 24, 2001. VNA, Diplomats Make Fact-finding Tour of Viet Nam," May 31, 2001. Reuters, "U.S. ambassador to visit troubled Vietnam highlands," July 3, 2001. Reuters, "U.S. Envoy says obstructed in Vietnam highland tour," July 11, 2001. 327 Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Expats stay put in Vietnam's highlands despite unrest," February 12, 2001. 328 Agence France-Presse, "Vietnam closes off strife-torn highlands as it sends in the army," February 8, 2001. 329 Reuters, "Vietnam media acknowledges widespread unrest," February 8, 2001. 330 Agence France-Presse, "Vietnam Admits to More Unrest Among Minorities in Highlands," New York Times, February 9, 2001. 331 Quan Doi Nhan Dan, Hanoi (People's Army Daily), March 15, 2001, translated by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, March 23, 2001. 332 Ibid. 333 Ibid. 334 Human Rights Watch telephone interviews with Hanoi-based western journalists, June 2001. David Brunnstrom, "Officials differ over religion in Vietnam unrest," Reuters, March 16, 2001. 335 David Brunnstrom, "Media access limited in troubled Vietnam highlands," Reuters, March 16, 2001. Agence France-Presse, "Official whitewash cannot hide depth of crisis in Vietnam highlands," March 17, 2001. 336 David Brunnstrom, "Officials differ over religion in Vietnam unrest," Reuters, March 16, 2001. 337 Videotape and English-language translation of VTV program on file at Human Rights Watch. See also Tini Tran, "Vietnam airs first footage of Central Highlands protests," March 28, 2001. 338 "Report on the Protestants' Situation in Dak Lak Province," September 3, 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. Vietnamese language document and English translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 339 Ibid. 340 Interview with Jarai man from Kontum, October 31, 2001. 341 "Proces Verbal (writ), Concerning illegal religious activities," signed and witnessed by the leader of the religious gathering, two government officials, and two policemen, March 18, 2001. Vietnamese language document and English translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 342 "Proces Verbal," signed by Commune Police Chief and Deputy Chief and [name withheld] head of household, April 25, 2001. Vietnamese language document and English translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 343 "Proces Verbal," April 6, 2001, signed by "perpetrator" [name withheld], Commune Chief and policeman. Vietnamese language document and English translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 344 "Report on the Situation of Christian Believers in Dak Lak Province," July 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 345 "Central Highlands Christian Workers' Situation Reports, December 2001 through February 2002," written by Protestant church leaders who asked to remain anonymous. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 346 David Brunnstrom, "Pastors say some curbs eased in Vietnam highlands," Reuters, February 18, 2002; Clare Arthurs, "First Vietnamese refugees return home," BBC News Online, February 19, 2002; David Brunnstrom, "Tearful minority women defy Vietnamese officials," Reuters, February 9, 2002. 347 "Report on the Situation of Christian Believers in Dak Lak Province," July 2001, written by a Protestant church leader in the Central Highlands who asked to remain anonymous. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 348 "Signed Citizen Report," Addressed to General Assembly of the Vietnam Protestant Church, Bureau of Religious Affairs, Dak Lak Province, Governing Body of the Vietnam Protestant Church in Dak Lak, dated July 29, 2001. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 349 See Appendix D, page 182, for entire petition, "Written Complaint to Dak Lak Bureau of Religious Affairs sent by villagers in Buon Don District, Dak Lak," August 2001. Vietnamese-language document and translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 350 Written Decision signed by Commune Police Chief [name withheld], dated August 27, 2001. "Record of Pledge to Abandon Protestantism," August 7, 2001. Vietnamese-language document and translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 351 See, for example: "Plea for Help" to Bureau of Religious Affairs, Phu Yen Province, from resident of Song Hinh District, July 25, 2001; Complaint to Religious Affairs Bureau, Phu Yen Province, from Members of the Church of [name withheld] village, Song Hinh District, Phu Yen Province, August 22, 2001. Vietnamese-language document and translation on file at Human Rights Watch. 352 "Massive Crackdown Against Vietnam's Highland Christians," Vietnam Observer, April 30, 2001. 353 "Complaint to Religious Affairs Bureau, Phu Yen Province," (Commune name withheld), August 22, 2001. English translation of Vietnamese language document on file at Human Rights Watch. 354 Reuters, "After unrest, Vietnam paper publishes riot code," March 29, 2001. 355 Cited in BBC News Online, "Vietnam `troublemakers' face prosecution," April 18, 2001. 356 Agence France-Presse, "Vietnam to hold mass trial of 41 people over highlands unrest," June 16, 2001. Associated Press, "Vietnam to place 41 people on trial for highlands unrest," June 18, 2001. 357 Viet Nam News Service, "Gia Lai provocateurs dealt hefty prison terms for crimes," Viet Nam News, September 28, 2001. VNS, "Stiff jail terms mandated for saboteurs of public security," September 28, 2001. 358 VNS, "Stiff jail terms mandated for saboteurs of public security," September 28, 2001. 359 Vietnam News Agency, "Seven Sentences for Security Destablizers in Central Highlands Province," September 26, 2001. Vietnam News Agency, "Central Highlands Unrest Mastermind Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison," September 27, 2001. 360 "Dac Lac court concludes trial of six ethnic minority dissidents," October 19, 2001, translation of Vietnamese media by BBC Monitoring Service. 361 Associated Press, "Vietnamese court sentences five more people in Central Highlands unrest," November 7, 2001. 362 Human Rights Watch interview with Jarai people from Ia Grai District, November 6, 2001. 363 Nhan Dan (The People), Four receive jail terms for organizing illegal migrations," January 28, 2002. Associated Press, "Four sentenced in Vietnam for organizing border crossings into Cambodia," January 28, 2002. 364 Reuters, "No defense lawyers for most Vietnam trials, "December 27, 2001. 365 Voice of Vietnam, Hanoi, in Vietnamese, 26 September 2001, BBC Monitoring. 366 Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, cited in A Selection of Fundamental Laws of Vietnam, the Gioi Publishers, Hanoi, 2001. 367 Human Rights Watch/Asia, "Vietnam: Human Rights in a Season of Transition: Law and Dissent in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," A Human Rights Watch Report, vol. 7, no. 12, August 1995. 368 Commission on Human Rights, Question of the Human Rights of All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Visit to Vietnam, E/CN.4/1995/31/Add.4, January 18, 1995. |