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Distress, Harassment Continue for Vietnam’s Montagnards

U.N. relief workers airlift 198 refugees to Cambodian capital.

Special to Compass Direct

HO CHI MINH CITY, August 16 (Compass) -- Government authorities continue to apply unrelenting pressure on tribal Christians in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, while trying to convince the international community that all is back to normal in the troubled region.

The most recent outbreak in the long-standing tension commenced in April 2004, when thousands of Montagnards joined protests against the confiscation of tribal lands and the severe repression of the Christian faith that many of them profess.

Police and soldiers -- many disguised as local farmers -- were sent in to break up the demonstrations, resulting in deaths and injuries among the Montagnards. Due to a press blackout and intense measures taken by the government to cover up events of the April 10-11 clash, the full extent of what happened that Easter weekend and in the days immediately following may never be known.

Christian leaders in Vietnam close to the situation believe the number of deaths almost certainly exceeds the estimates given by some human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch, for example, initially reported only 10 deaths.

However, reports have recently surfaced of mysterious excavations at a military base near Buonmathuot following the April demonstrations. Some fear the bodies of people killed during the protests may have been buried here.

Montagnard sources told Compass that the people of the highlands desperately want their side of the story to be heard; they have supplied the names and addresses of three men in Dak Lak province who have offered to testify before any foreign investigators, regardless of the consequences to themselves.

Also provided to Compass were several lists totaling 123 names of people affected by the crackdown. The lists include dozens of highlanders sentenced to long prison terms. Others are in hiding, and still others have disappeared without a trace.

Time magazine’s Asia edition of August 2 carried an article entitled “Vietnam’s Tribal Injustice.” Time reporter Phil Zabriski is believed to be one of the first Westerners who managed to evade government minders and talk directly with some Montagnard sources.

Vietnam has clearly broken its promise to diplomats that it would only punish a handful of the leaders involved in the Easter protests. In early May, the Vietnamese government also promised to send a special “peace corps” to help raise the living standards of poverty-stricken tribal minorities. However, Montagnards report that the main function of this unit is to serve as “spies and guards” and to intercept all traffic and communication.

In Buon Poc, Dak Lak province, where people were active in the demonstrations, eight men were arrested and severely beaten before being allowed to return home. Between two and 12 members of the “peace corps” were subsequently assigned to watch over each of the men’s families, camping near their homes to watch and control all movement. Visitors are treated with suspicion.

Church sources report that in late June and early July eight men were killed in Plei B’Lang, Gia Lai province. Four died of gunshots and four were beaten to death. The body of one of the men beaten to death was returned to his home and hung from a rope. Officials then proclaimed he had hung himself. Exceptionally tight security has hindered attempts to verify this report.

On July 19, Christians in Plei Trap, Gia Lai province, were subjected to public humiliation and intense pressure to renounce their faith.

Vietnamese Christians familiar with the situation in the highlands say authorities have conveniently singled out Christianity as the scapegoat for serious social problems there. The greatest problem is the illegal seizure of tribal lands for use by ethnic Vietnamese. The government appropriates land for the newcomers ostensibly to alleviate land shortages elsewhere in Vietnam. But sources in the Central Highlands say the land grab is largely driven by the allure of lucrative cash crops.

Montagnard Christians who object to the loss of their lands are accused of supporting the Dega Protestant movement, which has sometimes promoted self-determination. In reality, the vast majority of Montagnards, both Christians and others, simply want equal access to development opportunities and the return of their tribal homes and lands.

Veteran Vietnam watchers say the authorities exaggerate the security threat of rapidly growing Christianity to keep attention away from their own misdeeds. The official propaganda campaigns against Christians helps divert attention from human rights crimes, which are the underlying cause of the dissatisfaction of Vietnam’s minority peoples.

The government has also refused to grant official status to many of the highland churches it has tried to disband in recent years. In Gia Lai province, for example, only 15,000 of the estimated 80,000 local Christians belong to the 11 government-sanctioned churches. Other churches remain unregistered and their members are still subjected to constant harassment to renounce their faith.

The crisis caught international attention again in July, when 198 Montagnard refugees were airlifted from the Cambodian border province of Ratanakiri to the capital, Phnom Penh. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had initially allowed forced repatriation of the refugees to Vietnam. However, he relented before international pressure to allow the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to rescue refugees from the malaria-infested jungles near the border and airlift them to Phnom Penh.

According to an August 9 report by Agence France Presse, Cambodia has authorized a second such rescue mission. In addition, 91 Montagnard refugees have found their own way to UNHCR safe houses in Phnom Penh. The majority of the exiles are Christian.

One Vietnamese source told Compass that he believed the successful rescue of Montagnards from the border region could encourage others to flee Vietnam.

“It’s hard to describe the desperation people are feeling,” he said. “Some of it comes from the lack of concern and action from the international community. Vietnamese authorities tell everyone that the highlands are a place of peace, happiness and ethnic equality.

“But in reality they make it a hell for the Montagnards.”

Copyright 2004 Compass Direct

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CAA-August 15, 04(Philadelphia)
CAA today releases the full text of the court verdict paper of recently sentenced three Christians. On August 6, three famous Chinese house church Christians were sentenced one to three years imprisonment respectively by the Intermediate People¡¯s Court of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province .All of them were charged of ¡°illegally soliciting, providing national intelligence to overseas organizations¡±. The sentences against Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi were three, two and one year respectively.
CAA urges the international legal experts to examine this unjustified verdict with baseless accusations against three innocent Christians.
Bob Fu
President, China Aid Association
August 6, 2004
Verdict Issued by the Middle Court of the City of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province

Prosecutor: the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of the City of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province

Defendant: Liu Fenggang, male, born on Dec. 23, 1959, Han nationality, resident of Beijing, college graduate, unemployed. His address is 8-14 Dong Pingfang, the dormitory of the Beijing No. 7 Transportation Company, Haidian District, Beijing. Being a suspect who might collect and illegally leak the state intelligence overseas, he was ordered to live under surveillance by the Xiaoshan Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Hangzhou on October 13, 2003, and was detained on November 14, 2003, and was arrested at the approval of the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of Xiaoshang District, Hangzhou. On May 14, 2004, he was ordered to live under surveillance by this court.
Attorney: Zhao Jian, attorney at law, Beijing Zhenghai Law Firm.

Defendant: Xu Yonghai, male, born on November 26, 1960, Han nationality, resident of Beijing, Bachelor Degree, doctor of Beijing Fusuijing (Ping An) Hospital. His address is 259 Jinshifang, Xicheng District, Beijing. Being a suspect who might collect and illegally provide the state intelligence overseas, he was detained on November 9, 2003 by the Xiaoshan Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Hangzhou, and was arrested at the approval of the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou. On May 14, 2004, he was ordered to live under surveillance by this court.
Attorney: Qian Lieyang, attorney at law, Beijing Zhongfu Law Firm.

Defendant: Zhang Shengqi, male, born on May 12, 1974, Han nationality, resident of Cao County of Shandong Province, junior high school graduate, peasant. His address is Zhangdian Village, Wangji Township, Cao County, Shandong Province. Being a suspect who might collect and illegally provide the state intelligence overseas, he was detained by the Xiaoshan Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Hangzhou on November 17, 2003, and was arrested at the approval of the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou. On May 14, 2004, he was ordered to live under surveillance by this court.
Attorney: Xu Ping, attorney at law, Beijing Zhongfu Law Firm.

In the indictment numbered Hangxingjiansu (2004) 46, the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of the City of Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province accused Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai, and Zhang Shengqi of collecting and illegal leaking the state intelligence overseas, and filed a prosecution to this court. A full court was called to try this case. Due to the involvement of the state secret, the trial was not open to public. Zhao Linjie and Yang Tian, who were assigned as acting prosecutors by the People¡¯s Prosecutorate of the City of Hangzhou were present to defend their accusation. Defendants Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai, Zhang Shenqi, and their respective attorneys Zhao Jian, Qian Lieyang, and Xu Ping were present. The trial is now done.
The People¡¯s Prosecutorate of the City of Hangzhou made the following accusation: In the mid-October of 2001, Xu Yonghai gave RMB 1000 yuan (one US dollar equals about 8.2 RMB yuan) to Liu Fenggang as traveling fee, and sent him to the City of Anshan of Liaoning Province to get some information about Li Baozhi who was being re-educated through labor. Afterwards Liu Fenggang wrote an article titled ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡±, which was then offered by Xu Yonghai to the publisher of an overseas magazine named ¡°Life Quarterly¡±, and published fully in the 20th issue.
On July 25, 2003, Liu Fenggang, under the instruction of certain overseas individuals, came to Dongtou County of Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, Xiaoshan District and Xihu District of Hangzhou City to collect information about the so-called persecuted people. After returning to Beijing, he wrote an article titled ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡±. On August 5, 2003, he asked Zhang Shengqi to e-mail this article to overseas individuals.
On August 18, 2003, Liu Fenggang wrote an article titled ¡°How I Was Interrogated by the Police during My Preaching in the Mountain Area of Suburb Beijing¡±, describing how he was interrogated by the police when he was attending illegal activities in Dachengzi Township of Miyun County of Beijing. Zhang Shengqi typed this article and e-mail it to overseas individuals.
To defend the above-mentioned accusations, the prosecutors read and presented to the court the confessions and pleadings of Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi, the testimony of Li Baozhi and others, the appraisal issued by the State Bureau of Secret Protecting, the evidences by the Department of State Security of Zhejiang Province, the magazine ¡°Life Quarterly¡±, MP3 player, digital camera, and other materials. And they thought Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi had committed the crime of collecting and illegally leaking the state intelligence overseas, and should be punished according to law.
Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi had no objection to the facts cited by the prosecutors, but claimed they were innocent.
The attorneys of the three defendants thought their clients were innocent, pointing out that the State Bureau of Secret Protecting is not qualified to make relevant appraisals, and the three articles involved are not intelligence.
Through the trial, the following is confirmed: In the mid-October, 2001, Xu Yonghai, after learning that Ms. Li Baozhi, a resident of Anshan City of Liaoning Province was not satisfied with the decision on re-education through labor, thus filing administrative suit, and the Middle Court of Anshan City would openly try her case again, instructed Liu Fenggang to go to Anshan City to collect some information, and gave him RMB 100 yuan as his traveling fee. Afterwards Liu Fenggang wrote an article titled ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡±, which was then offered by Xu Yonghai to the publisher of an overseas magazine named ¡°Life Quarterly¡±, and published fully in the 20th issue.
On July 25, 2003, Liu Fenggang, under the instruction of certain overseas individuals, came to Dongtou County of Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, Xiaoshan District and Xihu District of Hangzhou City and some other places to collect information about the so-called persecuted people. After returning to Beijing, he wrote an article titled ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡±. On August 5, 2003, he asked Zhang Shengqi to e-mail this article to overseas individuals.
On August 17, 2003, Liu Fenggang was interrogated by the police in Dachengzi Township of Miyun County of Beijing due to attending illegal activities. On the following day, Liu Fenggang wrote an article titled ¡°How I Was Interrogated by the Police during My Preaching in the Mountain Area of Suburb Beijing¡±, which was then e-mailed by Zhang Shengqi to overseas individuals.
After their criminal activities were exposed, the police confiscated one digital camera, one MP3 player, two computers, one printer, and one scanner discovered in Liu Fenggang¡¯s home.
Evidences supporting the above facts are: 1) the testimony and confirmation record of Li Baozhi, Dai Xiaoqiang, Kong Guoxian, and Gao Chongyi, which proved that Liu Fenggang went to Anshan City of Liaoning Province, Dongtou County of Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, Xiaoshan District, Xihu District of Hangzhou City to collect relevant information, and the testimony of Shi Shucai, Ma Shulan, Shan Cuixiang, Liu Yuqin, Han Chunzhi, Cui Wenfu, and Qi Shuhua, which proved that on August 17, 2003, Liu Fenggang was interrogated by the police when he was attending illegal activities in Dachengzi Township of Miyun County of Beijing City. 2) the documents saved in the digital camera and MP3 player confiscated by the police support the facts that Liu Fenggang came to Dongtou County of Wenzhou City, Xiaoshan District and Xihu District of Hangzhou City to collect relevant information. 3) the police confiscated two computers, one scanner, one printer which belong to Liu Fenggang, and one Toshiba 220 CDS laptop computer which belongs to Xu Yonghai. It is confirmed that the three articles ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡±, ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡±, and ¡°How I Was Interrogated by the Police during My Preaching in the Mountain Area of Suburb Beijing¡± were saved in Liu Fenggang¡¯s computers. ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡± was also saved in Xu Yonghai¡¯s computer. Parts of the draft of ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡± were discovered in Liu Fenggang¡¯s. 4) the 20th issue of the overseas magazine ¡°Life Quarterly¡± which published the article ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡±, and the articles ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡± and ¡°How I Was Interrogated by the Police during My Preaching in the Mountain Area of Suburb Beijing¡± downloaded by the police from the overseas website were recognized by the defendants in the court, who acknowledge they were provided by them. 5) the appraisals issued by the State Bureau of Secret Protecting indicate that the three articles ¡°Facts and Process about Li Baozhi¡¯s ¡®Cultic¡¯ Case As I Know¡±, ¡°A Report from the Motherland¡±, and ¡°How I Was Interrogated by the Police during My Preaching in the Mountain Area of Suburb Beijing¡± were intelligence. 6) The residence records of the police verify the status of the three defendants. 7) Liu Fenggang, Zhang Shengqi and Xu Yonghai made their confessions respectively, which support each other, and are consisted with the situation reflected by the above evidences.
This court has no objection to the above evidences, thus recognizing them.
The facts involved in this case are clear. And there are true and sufficient evidences. Therefore, the case can be determined.
In the view of this court, Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai, and Zhang Shengqi collected and illegally leaked the state secret to overseas organizations and individuals, thus committing the crime of collecting and illegally leaking the state intelligence. The accusations made by the prosecutors are well grounded. The innocence pleadings of the three defendants are not consistent with the law. According to the law, to solve some technical problems involved in certain cases, relevant departments and personnel may be entrusted to make corresponding appraisal. Whether the information collected and illegally leaked by the three defendants are intelligence is a technical issue. And the State Bureau of Secret Protecting is an institution, which can make legal appraisal. Out the consideration that ¡°secret¡± and ¡°intelligence¡± are of the same essence, it is appropriate for the judiciary to ask the department of secret protecting to make relevant appraisal. In addition, the appraisal made by the State Bureau of Secret Protecting is legal and valid, and can serve as the basis of verdict. The opinion of the attorneys that the State Bureau of Secret Protecting is not qualified to make an appraisal, and the three articles are not intelligence, has no ground, thus being denied by the court. Therefore, according to Article 111, Item 1 of Article 25, Item 1 of Article 56, Item one of Article 55, and Article 64, the following verdict is made:
1. Liu Fenggang, on the crime of collecting and illegally leaking the state intelligence overseas, is sentenced to three years¡¯ imprisonment, and deprived of political rights for three years.
(The term starts from the enactment of this verdict. Whereas he had been detained before the verdict was made, the detention period will be deducted from the term. Namely, his term is from November 14, 2003 to February 4, 2007.)
2. Xu Yonghai, on the crime of collecting and illegally leaking the state intelligence overseas, is sentenced to two years¡¯ imprisonment, and deprived of political rights for two years.
(The term starts from the enactment of this verdict. Whereas he had been detained before the verdict was made, the detention period will be deducted from the term. Namely, his term is from November 9, 2003 to January 30, 2006.)
3. 3. Zhang Shengqi, on the crime of collecting and illegally leaking the state intelligence overseas, is sentenced to one years¡¯ imprisonment, and deprived of political rights for one years.
(The term starts from the enactment of this verdict. Whereas he had been detained before the verdict was made, the detention period will be deducted from the term. Namely, his term is from November 17, 2003 to February 7, 2005.)
4. Such instruments used in committing the crime as one digital camera, one MP3 player, two computers, one printer, one scanner, which are turned into this court, will be confiscated, and surrendered to the state.

If the defendants do not agree with this verdict, they may make their appeals directly or through this court to the Supreme People¡¯s Court of Zhejiang Province within ten days as of the following day after receiving the verdict. And if the appeals are made in written form, the original copy and two xeroxed copies of the appealing documents shall be submitted.


Chief Judge Zhang Yongchun
People¡¯s Juror Zhang Baowen
People¡¯s Juror Hua Xianglin

Clerk Ma Jun

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