Statement by Hon. Marco Cappato, Member of the European Parliament and Matteo Mecacci, Member of the General Council of the Transnational Radical Party

“Over the last few days international news agencies have reported that since April 9, with the beginning of mass demonstrations and public prayers in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, all foreigners have been prevented by the Vietnamese Government to travel to the region, including journalists and foreign diplomats.

The demonstrations were staged by thousands of Montagnard people to request the respect of religious freedom, indigenous people’s  rights and the access to the region of international agencies to monitor the respect of human rights

This behaviour by the Vietnamese Government must not be tolerated by the international community, which richly finances the Hanoi Government. There are in fact reports coming directly from the Central Highlands of Vietnam of mass killings, torture, beatings and mistreatment of the Montagnard people by the Vietnamese police and army, and also reports of the instigation of Vietnamese civilians by the authorities against the Montagnard people.

Thousands of people are reported to be surrounded by the army and the police in their villages and threatened to be killed if they dare to escape trying to cross the border to Cambodia. Many people are hiding in the jungle between Cambodia and Vietnam and are hunted down by the Government.

In a world where journalists and independent monitors are able to report from war torn countries and regions, the international community cannot tolerate the prohibition imposed by the Vietnamese Government, which blatantly contradicts the provisions contained in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right on freedom of opinion and expression that is binding to Vietnam.

While  we welcome the statements issued yesterday by the Italian foreign Minister Hon. Franco Frattini and European Commission President Romano Prodi, who announced political and diplomatic pressure on the Government of Vietnam to open up the Central Highlands to international scrutiny, we deem necessary that also other Governments and international institutions will reinforce such commitments.

We  also take this opportunity to appeal to international NGOs, which advocate for the respect human rights and freedom of the press, to take action and request freedom of access to the the central highlands of Vietnam.

2:52:03 PM    comments []