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BREAKING NEWS: |
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Wednesday, 18 July 2007 (2 hours ago) |
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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent with reporting from Vietnam |
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"At around 10 PM [local time] police began to violently suppress Vietnamese peasants as they protest for their land rights," Tran Nam, a representative of the underground People's Democratic Party, told BosNewsLife. "Thousands of police have surrounded the protesters, firing tear gas and spraying water into the crowd. Hundreds of organizers and protesters are being arrested and taken to unknown locations," he added. Since June 22, "thousands of peasants from Southern provinces" traveled to Ho Chi Min City, formerly known as Saigon, many of them camping outside the Vietnamese National Assembly offices to protest the apparent seizure of their land by the Communist government. "Due to corruption, unlawful and arbitrary land policy, thousands of Vietnamese peasants have lost their land, homes and other properties. Many are living homeless, poor and hungry while corrupt government officials continue to pocket peasants' compensation to fund their lavish life style," said Sy Hoang, president of the International Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (IMDHR) for Vietnam, a group made up of exiles and dissidents. MEMBERS JAILED Pham Linh, a spokesperson of the United Workers-Farmers Organization of Vietnam (UWFOV), told BosNewsLife the rights group supports the demonstrators as its own members have suffered under alleged oppression. "Members of UWFOV have been jailed, placed on warrant lists and suffered extreme intimidation, including Tran Quoc Hien, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Tran Thi Le Hang, Doan Van Dien and Doan Huy Chuong. However, the UWFOV will...continue to struggle for the right to form independent labor unions and work for justice for farmers who suffer of government corruption," the spokesperson added. Vietnamese officials have denied human rights abuses. The reported riots in Ho Chi Minh City came amid fresh allegations that police forces also target predominantly Christian Degar Montagnards in the country's tense Central Highlands, many of whom fight lost lands. In the latest incident, two small children in Dak Nong province were without their Christian parents Wednesday, July 18, after their young mother H’Thui Ya, 29, from Buon U village, was sentenced to three years and seven months imprisonment for fleeing to neighboring Cambodia, rights activists said. HUSBAND DETAINED The June sentencing , details of which emerged only Wednesday, July 18, came after her husband Y-Thot Butrang, 45, was sentenced to 11 years in imprisonment for fleeing to Cambodia in 2002, said the Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI) in a statement to BosNewsLife.
"They crossed the Cambodian border and soon became refugees residing in the United Nations refugee camp in Mondolkiri province, Cambodia. In 2001 and 2002 Vietnamese officials came into the camp and announced that Vietnam would not harm any refugees who returned back to Vietnam," MFI said. In 2002 the couple apparently decided to go back to Vietnam where they were soon "tortured" and jailed, the group claimed, adding that their "their children were abandoned by police," while their parents were harassed. CHILDREN ABANDONED Their daughter H’Phiwana, 5, and son Y-Tuwani, 4, first faced abandonment in December, 2006, when authorities arrested their mother, leaving the two children at home alone, MFI said. "The authorities did not tell anyone where she was held and her two children cried often suffering from distress at having both parents taken away." On Christmas day two women from the family's villages discovered the children and began searching for their mother. Only in may they discovered that she was held in a prison, MFI said, citing sources in the region. "H’Thui Ya could barely walk as she had been permanently chained to stocks with her legs chained between two logs. She had also been beaten and tortured in prison. Her face was pale as she had been deprived of food, her legs bruised and swollen. When she met with her children, all of them burst into tears and they cried as they were happy to see each other." Police allegedly allowed her to see her children only 30 minutes and then "dragged her away"back to prison cell number 5, MFI said. She was reportedly sentenced on June 1. Another Christian Degar Montagnard woman was also sentenced the same day for fleeing to Cambodia, the group added. 32-year-old Nai H’Ngat from Kli Kia village in Gia Lai received six years imprisonment after a brief trial in which "numerous security police testified against" her, MFI added. LEAVING CAMBODIA "Nai H’Ngat came from Cambodia back to Vietnam because she had failed her interview for refugee status. Subsequently one year later on June 15, 2006 Vietnamese security police arrested her because she was a House Church Christian and had previously harbored refugees who had fled arrest." The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) allegedly forced her to return, but the organization has previously played down similar accusations. The UNHCR has said it reached a deal with Vietnamese authorities not to prosecute returning Degar Montagnards. Vietnam has accused the MFI and other groups of spreading "false propaganda", but rights watchers counter that the facts on the ground confirm that the government is not meeting its international obligations. At least 350 mainly Christian Degar Montagnards are believed to be held in prisons across Vietnam along with other believers and political activists. (With BosNewsLife Research). |
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Vietnamese police break up land protest after 27 days (DPA)
Hanoi - Vietnamese police in riot gear broke up a demonstration of hundreds of people in Ho Chi Minh City who were demanding compensation for their seized land, witnesses said Thursday. After tolerating the long-running protest for 27 days, armed police moved in late Wednesday night to the tented camp outside the National Assembly offices, forcing the protesters onto buses bound for their home provinces. One of the protesters said the dispersing was peaceful.
"Police yanked down all the tents, banners and signs. They ushered groups of protesters onto one bus until it was full and then they started filling the second bus," a protester named Sinh told New Horizon radio.
"They did not have to beat anyone because no one had the strength to resist," Sinh added.
The crackdown came on eve of the National Assembly's scheduled session and a day after prominent dissident monk Thich Quang Do visited the protest and called for an end to the Communist Party's sole rule.
The demonstration of more than 500 people was the longest-running protest in Vietnam for years and had been publicized by overseas opposition groups as a sign of discontent with communist rule.
The protesters - from several Mekong Delta provinces - were demanding compensation for land that had been confiscated by local officials for development projects.
Signs and banners at the demonstrations accused local officials of "betraying the [Communist] Party and cheating the people." Other banners appealed directly to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to "save the people."
Land protests have become more common in Vietnam, with state media saying property disputes account for 85 per cent of complaints against the government.
On Tuesday, dissident Buddhist monk Thich Quang Do made a rare public appearance to support the demonstration and urged the protesters to also demand multi-party democracy.
Thich Quang Do, the deputy leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), delivered 300 million Vietnamese dong (about 20,000 dollars) to the demonstrators on Tuesday for food.
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Vietnam hit by mass land protests
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By Nga Pham
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The protesters are demanding the return of their land |
A mass protest over the Vietnamese government's land policies is gathering force, ahead of the opening session of the newly-elected National Assembly.
Witnesses say hundreds of peasants from the Mekong River Delta are surrounding the offices of the National Assembly in Ho Chi Minh City.
A smaller protest is also reportedly being held in the capital, Hanoi.
The protesters are demanding the return of their land, and for any wrongdoing by local officials to be punished.
Both protests have been going on relatively peacefully for several weeks, and received little coverage in the local media.
However, as the protest in Ho Chi Minh - Vietnam's second city and the main economic hub - has hotted up in the last few days, residents have started complaining about traffic disruption.
Land protests are not unseen in Vietnam, but correspondents say a demonstration of this scale and intensity is rare.
Frequent complaints
Security forces have begun to get involved to make sure the protest does not get out of control.
Local officials in the Mekong Delta provinces have been urged to come to Ho Chi Minh City to "persuade their people to go home", with promises that their complaints will be dealt with appropriately.
Meanwhile, a deputy minister of security was quoted by state media as saying that there had been a certain involvement of "reactionary forces overseas".
Last Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong called an urgent meeting with provincial leaders.
He asked for a prompt investigation into the case and warned that the Communist Party would not tolerate inappropriate measures.
Land seizures in the name of economic development have been a much-debated topic in Vietnam, where the state maintains the sole ownership of land.
Peasants frequently complain about unfair compensation and criticise the laws on land use, which in their opinion have too many loopholes and are easily abused by corrupt local government officials.
The new 500-strong Vietnam National Assembly, elected last May, is to begin its first session on Thursday in Hanoi.
With the mass protest intensifying outside, the deputies will no doubt have many things to debate.
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Police surround peasant demonstrators
(The Australian)
From correspondents in Hanoi | July 19, 2007
POLICE in Vietnam have started surrounding hundreds of peasants who have been demonstrating in Ho Chi Minh City for almost a month over land disputes, a demonstrator said overnight.
About 200 demonstrators, most of whom are women, have been encircled by "many police, both in plain clothes and uniform", Lu Thi Thu Duyen, a local resident, said.
"Some hours ago, police intended to come in and force us to leave. But we told them that we want to rest tonight and would talk tomorrow," the 34-year-old tailor said.
Hundreds of peasants from across Vietnam, especially from the Mekong river delta and other southern provinces, have been demonstrated in the city formerly known as Saigon against land seizures.
Yesterday, 79-year-old dissident Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do, who is being held under "pagoda arrest" in the communist country, made a rare public appearance to support the protesters, his church said overnight.
Land conflicts have become increasingly common in the booming Vietnam, amid rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
People accused local officials of embezzling compensation payments, which are generally judged as inadequate.
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Tiananmen Confrontation in Vietnam?
July 18, 2007 01:22 PM EST
Are Vietnam Dissidents Having a Tiananmen-style situation?
July 18, 2007 (CSN) -- Note. CSN is passing along the following report that originates from a Vietnamese-American group. While we believe the group (vietnamvote.net, an ethnic Vietnamese bloc of American voters) to be credible, we have not independently corroborated the news within. The CSN is passing this along on an "FYI" basis and does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of this journalism.
In 1989 the Tiananmen Square protests were a series of protests led by students, intellectuals, and labor activists in China.
[Ed note. The Tiananmen protests were a seven week uprising, centering on Tiananmen Square in Beijing China, and supported around the Chinese nation. Led by college students, the unarmed civilians called for less corruption, more freedom, and democracy in China. The Communist Chinese government responded by sending in the army and used troops, tanks, and live ammunition to clear Tiananmen Square, resulting in a cowardly one sided fight in which 3,001 innocent civilian protestors were killed, by CSN's estimate.]
In 2007 history may be about to repeat in Vietnam with over 1700 Vietnamese peasants from 19 provinces peacefully protesting the illegal confiscation of their land and properties.
Since June 22nd, 2007, a growing number of peasant farmers have protested outside of the office of Vietnam Congress, at 194 Hoang Van Thu Street, Saigon. Their requests for meeting with communist officials went unanswered. While being disappointed, the protesters vowed not to give up as additional protesters from other provinces are coming in Saigon to join in the protest.
By protesting, they all became homeless, sick, tired, and hungry and to discourage them, Vietnamese communist have shut down public restrooms and stopped other fellow countrymen from offering the protesters food, beverages and medicine.
According to sources from within Vietnam, Vietnamese communist has deployed armed police in uniformed in marked and unmarked vehicles surrounding the protestors, ready for an attack.
Vietnam communist government has turned off electricity, scrambled cellular phone signals, restricted media coverage, and deployed hundreds of military personnel with heavy equipment and military tanks ready for the crackdown and slaughter of the protesters.
The Vietnamese communist could begin the massacre at any moment.
Vietnamese Americans are pleading with all Americans, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, members of US Senate and Congress, and members of the media to take immediate actions in order to prevent another Tiananmen Square massacre from happening.
Thank you and God bless America!!!
Published July 18, 2007 by the China Support Network (CSN). Begun as the American response group in 1989, CSN represents Americans who are "on the side" of the students in Tiananmen Square -- standing for democratic reform, human rights, and freedom in China. For dissident news; to support a stronger China policy; or get more information, see www.chinasupport.net/.