European MP's Question
European Commission on Persecution of Vietnamese Degar-Montagnards
European
Parliament 'Watching Closely' Serious Abuses Of Human Rights In Vietnam
By
Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent,
ASSIST News Service
Jul 6, 2005
BRUSSELS (ANS) -- The European Commission "has been following with great
concern" the case of the Montagnard Christians in the Vietnam Highlands and will
continue to monitor the situation "very closely", according to a response to a
Parliamentary question from two members of the European Parliament. The
Commission also believes that recent allegations made by Human Rights Watch
concerning abuses by the Vietnamese Government "are serious and deserve the full
attention of the EU."
A parliamentary question to the European Commission was raised on the repression
of the Montagnards in Vietnam by Mr. Marco Pannella and Ms. Emma Bonino, members
of the European Parliament. They received a written reply from the EU
commissioner for External relations Mrs. Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Pannella and Bonino belong to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
(ALDE), which has in its portfolio promoting human rights throughout the world
regardless of nationality.
One of the top priorities for the Alliance of European Liberals and Democratsfor
Europe, accessible from its website (http://alde.europarl.eu.int), are
resolutions reflecting the scale of this effort, dealing respectively with human
rights abuses within the European Union, the risk of xenophobia, racism and
anti-Semitism in the candidate countries and the human rights situation in the
rest of the world.
The website says the European Union has now come to define itself in terms of
the promotion of these rights and democratic freedoms.
In their written question to the European Commisison, Pannella and Bonino state:
"According to the 16-page report published by Human Rights Watch on 12 May 2005,
the Vietnamese Government is continuing to force Montagnard Christians to change
their faith. According to Brad Adams, head of HRW's Asia Division, 'Montagnards
who attempt to practice their religion independently still face assaults and
live in fear.'
Pannella and Bonino state: "In March and April 2005, security forces in the
province of Gia Lai conducted search operations in the houses of women whose
husbands are in hiding in the jungle, during which some of the women were
beaten. Vietnam continues to refuse international inspectors free access to the
Central Highlands in order to ascertain the circumstances of the Montagnard
refugees repatriated by Cambodia.
"On 14 March 2005, local police summoned a villager from Ia Grai district in Gia
Lai Province, interrogated him and warned him not to practise religion without
the government's permission or he would be arrested again.
"In late March 2005, the Dak Lak police arrested a Montagnard pastor and six
relatives of another pastor. Two of those arrested were subsequently released,
but only after one of them had been forced to declare that he had worked as a
pastor without government approval, while there has been no news of the other
five.
"On 26 April 2005, the police in the Ia Grai district of Gia Lai Province
summoned three villagers, ordering them to report to the local municipal
buildings. The police officers interrogated them, accused them of 'heading the
separation of the believers' and ordered them to renounce their beliefs.
"In April 2005, a Montagnard from the Cu Se district of Gia Lai Province was
arrested and detained at the district police station, where he was beaten,
forced to drink alcohol, ordered to stop believing in Jesus and beaten
unconscious.
"On 25 February 2005, two police officers from Ia To commune in the Ia Grai
District summoned two men and a woman for interrogation. The two men were beaten
until one of them lost consciousness. They were threatened with arrest if they
continued to practise their religion."
Pannella and Bonino ask if, in view of the above, could the Commission indicate:
"whether it is aware of the events referred to above, and if so what action it
has taken; (and) whether, in the light of these continuing violations of human
rights, it intends to denounce the cooperation agreements signed with Vietnam?"
In a written answer given on behalf of the European Commission, Mrs
Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for External relations, says:
"The Commission has been following with great concern the case of the Montagnard
Christians in the Vietnam Highlands, and is aware of the report published by
Human Rights Watch on 12 May 2005. The situation in the Central Highlands has
been raised on several occasions with Vietnamese authorities, both at the level
of Headquarters, and through European Union (EU) missions in Hanoi. Moreover,
the EU has recently requested additional information about recent cases of
convictions of Montagnards charged with inciting riots or organising the flight
of Montagnards to Cambodia."
Ferrero-Waldner continues: "On a more general level, the EU consistently presses
the (Vietnamese) government for increased transparency in relation to human
rights issues. In this respect, the EU has called for unrestricted access by
independent monitoring missions by United Nations (UN) human rights rapporteurs,
notably the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom, as well as United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and reputable human rights
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the country in general, and the Central
Highlands in particular."
Ferrero-Waldner says the Commission is also paying close attention to new
legislation related to religious freedom, such as the Ordinance on Belief and
Religion, which was adopted by the National Assembly in June 2004, the
prime-ministerial instruction on Protestantism, issued in February 2005, as well
as the implementing decree for the 2004 Ordinance, promulgated in early March
2005.
She says: "While we see some positive new elements in these legal documents,
including provisions, which would allow the eventual 'legalisation' of religious
groups, which thus far have not been officially recognized by the Vietnamese
government, as well as an express prohibition of forced renunciations of faith,
much will depend on how these are translated into practice across the country.
The EU will therefore continue to monitor the implementation of the new
legislation carefully and has already asked Vietnam to provide further
information on its implementation across the country, especially in minority
areas. The registration and eventual recognition of new groups and
congregations, and the unhindered operation of house churches will be of
particular interest."
Ferrero-Waldner said the Commission "agrees that the allegations made in the
report by Human Rights Watch are serious and deserve the full attention of the
EU.
"However, the Commission is of the opinion that they do not justify suspending
the Vietnam Co-operation agreement which would put on hold the political
dialogue, through which these and other issues can be discussed, and interrupt
Community development programs to the detriment of the poor people, including
ethnic minorities, in Vietnam. The Commission and the Member States will
continue to follow the situation in Vietnam's Central Highlands and of the
Montagnard minorities there attentively. Related concerns are regularly raised
in EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue meetings in Hanoi. Both the Commission and
Member States will also continue their development aid activities in the Central
Highlands, which aim to improve the living conditions and promote the
socio-economic development of the ethnic minorities in the region.
She concludes: "The Commission will also continue to monitor developments on the
issue of refugees -- in particular the implementation of the tripartite
agreement between UNHCR, Vietnam and Cambodia in Vietnam, which included a
Vietnamese commitment not to punish or otherwise harass returnees -- very
closely."
**
Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former
reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST
News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in
1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children.
Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian
radio station.