Police and security forces used electric truncheons, water cannons and tear gas while beating and arresting dozens of Christian tribespeople during Easter weekend protests in Vietnam's Central Highlands, a human rights group charged yesterday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged police violently cracked down on thousands of ethnic minority tribespeople -- collectively called Montagnards -- and arrested dozens as they gathered on Saturday in Buon Ma Thuot, the provincial capital of Daklak. Four military tanks were parked along a major highway just kilometers away, it said.
"The human rights situation for Montagnards in the Central Highlands has plummeted to a new low," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "Vietnam's policy of repression of Montagnard Christians is only fueling the unrest," he said.
The group said it also received witness reports of people being beaten to death or shot during the Easter demonstrations by thousands of Montagnards protesting religious repression and confiscation of their tribal lands in Daklak and Gia Lai provinces.
Many Montagnards are Protestants who follow an evangelical Christian church not sanctioned by the government. Vietnam only recognizes a handful of state-sponsored religions and has repeatedly clashed with dissident Buddhists and Catholics in the past.
The human rights allegations could not be independently confirmed. The area has been sealed off to foreigners, including journalists. Officials in the area have refused to talk about the situation over the phone.
On Monday, Vietnam confirmed major unrest in the area, blaming "extremists" backed by outside instigators. Protesters destroyed public property and fought with local officials, the government said, though it declined to say how many people had been arrested or injured.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung yesterday denied the rights group's allegations, calling the information "fabricated and exaggerated" with "ill intentions."
Human Rights Watch is calling on Vietnam to open the region to diplomats and international observers and urging neighboring Cambodia to allow refugees to cross the border. Foreign diplomats are also pressuring Vietnam to give them access to the area.
The US embassy has asked that a delegation be allowed to visit the Highlands after representatives on a routine trip were turned back on Saturday by police.
Since the weekend, dozens if not hundreds of Montagnards have gone missing, Human Rights Watch said. Some are believed to have been arrested, while others have gone into hiding.
Three years ago, police crushed similar mass demonstrations in the area, prompting an exodus into Cambodia. Nearly 1,000 Montagnards were later resettled in the US.
Vietnamese officials have blamed the North Carolina-based Montagnard Foundation for organizing the demonstrations. It was founded by former members of a group of anti-communist Montagnard fighters allied with the US during the Vietnam War.
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