Vietnam's Relentless Repression of Montagnard Christians
THE ISSUES:Overview Report: Rights Abuses of Montagnards in VNA. Religious Persecution
Vietnamese authorities continue to target indigenous minority Christians known as Montagnards for harsh persecution. Singled out are Montagnard Christians who worship in independent house churches, rather than affiliating with state-authorized religious organizations.
Government officials routinely force Montagnard Christians to publicly recant their religion; those who continue to worship in independent house churches face beatings, arrest, and imprisonment. 
500 Montagnards are forced to renounce "Dega Christianity" in a public ceremony televised on ANTV, a state television channel
owned and operated by the Ministry of Public Security.
B. Land RightsMontagnards who resist confiscation of their land are subjected to beatings, arrest, and excessive use of force by police.
Ede farmers in Cu Mgar district, Dak Lak protest confiscation of their farmland in May 2022.
C. Freedom of Expression
In 2015, Y Saih Knul was sentenced to one year in prison for using the internet to communicate with Montagnard activists abroad.
Internet use is closely monitored by the Ministry of Public Security, which launched an operation in 2014 to prevent Montagnards from accessing or sharing “anti-government” material on the internet..
Montagnards have been sentenced to prison for using the internet for online human rights training or to communicate with UN bodies and Montagnard activists abroad. Others have been forced to confess their "wrongful" internet use in public meetings broadcast on state television. D. Arbitrary Arrest, Unfair Trials, Torture, and Imprisonment
Eight Montagnards affiliated with the unregistered Ha Mon Catholic church were sentenced to prison terms of three to eleven years' imprisonment by the Gia Lai Peoples' Court in May 2013.
Since 2001, more than 400 Montagnards have been sentenced to prison for exercising their rights to peaceful dissent and independent worship. Others have been sent without trial to compulsory re-education and forced labor centers.
Those who are tried are charged with vaguely-worded national security crimes that carry heavy penalties, such as "undermining the policy of national unity" (Penal Code Article 88). The vast majority have no legal representation during detention and trial, which rely on confessions elicited by torture. E. Montagnard Prisoners of Conscience
Montagnards make up less than 2 percent of Vietnam's population, but comprise a disproportionate number of all prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.
Close to 90 Montagnards are currently imprisoned or remain under post-release probationary restrictions that severely restrict their civil rights. For a listing of Montagnard prisoners of conscience, please click here. F. Forced to Flee their Homeland as Refugees
The result of Vietnam’s harsh persecution of Montagnard Christians has been a flow of refugees to Cambodia and Thailand over the last 20years. Montagnard asylum seekers forced back to Vietnam are subject to punitive treatment, including:
► Detention, interrogation and physical abuse by police; ► Intrusive surveillance and restrictions on freedom of movement; ► Being forced to publicly confess alleged wrongdoings on state television. |
Our Recommendations:CAT-VN calls on Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release all persons arbitrarily detained, imprisoned or placed under house arrest for peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and religion and belief.
We also urge the United States to designate Vietnam as a country of particular concern (CPC) for its systematic, egregious and ongoing violations of religious freedom. We recommend that the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom apply sanctions against individual perpetrators of human rights violations in Vietnam under the Magnitsky laws of those countries. WHAT YOU CAN DO:Urge your elected representatives and the U.S. State Department to:
Send a letter or postcard calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all Montagnard Prisoners of Conscience to:
► Mr. To Lam, Minister of Public Security, 44 Yet Kieu St., Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. ► Prime Minister Nguyen Minh Chinh, 2 Hung Vuong St., Ba Dinh, Hanoi. ► Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary, Communist Party of Vietnam, 1A Hung Vuong St., Ba Dinh, Hanoi. Join the Global Campaign to Free Y Pum Bya
“We Montagnards are treated like enemies in our homeland. If we try to practice our religion independently or resist confiscation of our land, we are accused of being ‘spies’ or wanting to overthrow the government.” |