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The information documented in this report demonstrates that
the Vietnamese government continues to persecute Central Highlanders for their
religious and political beliefs. Officials continue to force highland
Christians to sign pledges renouncing their religion. Hundreds of highlanders
are wasting away in Vietnamese prisons. Authorities have detained, beaten, and
threatened returnees from UNHCR sites in Cambodia and people who have families
in the United States. Some returnees have been coerced into painting a rosyand
falsepicture of their situation for UNHCR monitors.
In light of reports of ongoing persecution, mistreatment,
and imprisonment of Central Highlanders, including returnees from Cambodia, Human Rights Watch urges the international community to insist that Vietnam respect the basic human rights of its citizens. UNHCR should suspend its involvement in
repatriation of highlanders and terminate or re-negotiate its tripartite
agreement with Vietnam and Cambodia, and the United States should maintain its
designation of Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern for religious
persecution.
Specifically, Human Rights Watch recommends the following:
To the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Freedom of Religion
- End the restrictions on gatherings of religious groups
that are not registered with the government, abolish the practice of
forced recantations of faith or pressure to affiliate with officially
registered religious organizations, and bring an end to abusive police
surveillance and harassment of religious leaders and followers.
- Allow highlanders to belong to or organize independent
religious organizations and freely conduct religious activities.
- Invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious
Intolerance, who visited Vietnam in 1998, for a follow-up visit to Vietnam, with unrestricted access to the Central Highlands and prisons throughout Vietnam.
Freedom of Expression, Association, and Assembly
- Amend provisions of Vietnams Criminal Code that restrict
and criminalize the right to peaceful dissent, particularly the provisions
on national security.
- Release all highlanders imprisoned for peaceful expression
of their political or religious beliefs.
- Permit the right to hold and express political opinions
that run counter to state policy, including peaceful advocacy of autonomy
and independence.
- End the bans in some parts of the Central Highlands on
gatherings of more than four people.
- Conduct an independent investigation as to whether
excessive force was used by Vietnamese police and military (and civilians
enlisted to act on their behalf) during the suppression of the April 2004
protests and other reported incidents of torture, arbitrary detention, and
forced recantation of faith.
Central Highland Prisoners
- Publish a central, public registry of the names and
locations of all Central Highlanders held in pretrial detention, as well
as any charges against them, and the names, charges, sentences, and
locations of those who have been convicted and sentenced. Release
information about the status of persons included in Human Rights Watchs
list of 355 Central Highlanders known to be in prison as of May 2006.
- Commit to a timetable for the unconditional release of all
persons in the Central Highlands who are being held for the peaceful
expression of their political or religious beliefsincluding church
leaders, land rights activists, and supporters of the highland
independence movement.
- Invite the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,
which visited Vietnam in 1994, to visit Vietnam, with unrestricted access
to the Central Highlands and prisons throughout Vietnam.
- Conduct penal, legal, and court proceedings with greater
transparency and accountability. Publicly announce trials and charges in
advance of trial proceedings, which should be public. Guarantee that any
persons charged in connection with the protests in the Central Highlands,
the highland political movement, or membership in unregistered churches
receive trials in accordance with international fair trial standards set
forth in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a party. The trials should be public
and open to Vietnamese citizens, international observers, and independent
monitors. Those accused should have access to legal counsel of their
choosing and the free assistance of an interpreter where necessary, as
mandated by both the ICCPR and Vietnams Constitution.
- End the arbitrary detention of highlanders who have
returned from Cambodia to Vietnam either voluntarily or against their
will. Release highlanders who have been sentenced to prison after being
arrested and deported from Cambodia or the border areas attempting to seek
asylum.
- Repeal the 1997 Administrative Detention Directive 31/CP,
which authorizes detention without trial for up to two years for
individuals deemed to have violated national security laws.
Torture
- Make a public commitment to end the practice of torture.
Appoint a special commission to investigate allegations of torture in the
Central Highlands and to recommend appropriate prosecutions and
discipline.
- Invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture to visit Vietnam, with unrestricted access to the Central Highlands and prisons throughout Vietnam.
Freedom to Seek Asylum or Emigrate Abroad
- Authorize the re-opening of an internationally-staffed
UNHCR office in Hanoi, and the opening of field offices in Pleiku, Buon
Mathuot, and Dak Nong, staffed by international and Vietnamese personnel,
to improve the possibilities for more orderly repatriation and
resettlement.
- Invite the US Embassy to open a consulate in Pleiku or
Buon Ma Thuot to facilitate and expedite family reunification
applications.
- Release all highlanders imprisoned on charges of fleeing
abroad or assisting others to flee to oppose the Peoples
Administration under article 91 of Vietnams Penal Code after being
arrested and deported from Cambodia or border areas attempting to seek
asylum.
- Stop threatening returnees prior to and during UNHCR monitoring
missions.
- Allow UNHCR and other international monitors free,
unfettered, and private access to returnees.
- Do not cease refugee status for Central Highlanders in Cambodia until UNHCR and independent observers have credible evidence that there have been
fundamental and enduring changes in the circumstances that caused people
to flee the Central Highlands of Vietnam and that protection of and full
respect for their human rights have been restored.
- Oppose the forced return of Montagnards to the Central Highlands as long as religious and political persecution of Central Highlanders
continues.
- Insist on free, unfettered, unannounced, and in-depth
UNHCR monitoring missions to the Central Highlands before, during, and
after any repatriation in order to provide independent information to
potential returnees and thoroughly monitor their protection upon return.
Continue to push for private and confidential access to Central Highland
interviewees in a non-coercive environment.
- Guarantee that any repatriation of Central Highland asylum seekers and refugees is based on fully informed and voluntary
decisions. Provide asylum seekers and refugees accurate and
complete information about the situation in Vietnam so that they can make
informed choices about whether to repatriate. They should be provided full information on their rights, as well as access to
relevant, accurate, and unbiased information regarding their options and
conditions in their home areas in Vietnam.
- Ensure that Central Highland asylum
seekers in Cambodia are provided with independent and unbiased
legal advice and counseling regarding the appeal process, repatriation,
and resettlement. Ensure that they have the opportunity
to make free and informed choices regarding these options and for their
choices to be respected and upheld.
- Oppose the forced return of Central Highland refugees who
refuse third country resettlement.
- Seek funding for UNHCR to establish field offices in
Pleiku, Buon Mathuot and Dak Nong, staffed by international and Vietnamese
personnel, to improve the possibilities for more orderly repatriation and
resettlement.
- Encourage the Vietnamese government to continue to
streamline the procedures for family reunification of Central Highlanders
in Vietnam who have received authorization from resettlement countries to
join family members who have resettled abroad.Insist that the
Vietnamese government not persecute and discriminate against Central
Highlanders whose families have petitioned for family reunification.
If the January 2005 Memorandum of Understanding between
UNHCR and the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam, which expired in July 2005,
is re-negotiated, ensure that the revised MoU and its implementation:
- Fully complies with international law, including the 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and
accepted standards of refugee protection and guidelines for voluntary
repatriation, as reinforced by the UNHCR Executive Committee.
- Strictly adheres to UNHCR guidelines and international law
regarding non-refoulement, voluntary repatriation, and effective
protection and monitoring of returnees in their countries of origin.
- Includes provisions for independent and unbiased legal
advice and counseling to be provided to asylum seekers in Cambodia regarding the appeal process, repatriation, and resettlement.
- Omits references in the current MoU by the Vietnamese
government alleging that Central Highland asylum seekers cross the border
without authorization into Cambodia, not because they are oppressed,
persecuted or forced to flee.
- Expands and strengthens safeguards for
returnees by guaranteeing that they will not be punished, persecuted,
discriminated against, or prosecuted for their religious or political
beliefs or for their departure from Vietnam.
- Press for revision of the January 2005 tripartite
agreement between UNHCR, Vietnam and Cambodia in order that strengthened
provisions be included to ensure that (a) refugee decisions on durable
solutions are fully informed and voluntary (b) returnees are not punished,
discriminated against, or prosecuted for having left Vietnam, or for their
religious and political beliefs; nor are they threatened and intimidated
prior to visits by international delegations; and c) UNHCR has full and
unfettered access to returnees inside Vietnam.
- Encourage the Vietnamese government to continue to
streamline the procedures for family reunification of Central Highlanders
in Vietnam for those who have received authorization from resettlement
countries to join family members who have resettled abroad.Insist
that the Vietnamese government not persecute and discriminate against
Central Highlanders whose family has petitioned for family reunification.
- Regularly dispatch diplomatic representatives based in Vietnam to travel to the Central Highlands to assess human rights conditions.
- Promote development projects in the Central Highlands that
maximize the presence of international actors in the Central Highlands.
- Provide asylum to Central Highland refugees until safe and
proper durable solutions become available for them.
- Prevent the involuntary return of any refugee or asylum
seeker to Vietnamincluding those whose asylum claims may have been
initially rejected by UNHCRuntil it has been determined that adequate
monitoring and protection measures are in place to ensure that returnees
can go back voluntarily and in safety and in dignity.
- Honor its obligations under the 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol not to
return refugees to a place where their lives or freedom would be
threatened[BF5] .
- Meet its legal obligations under the Convention Against
Torture not to return a person to another state where there are
substantial grounds to believe that he or she would be in danger of being
subjected to torture.
To the United States Government:
- Continue Vietnams designation as a Country of Particular
Concern for its violations of the right to religious freedom until
substantial progress is made, specifically by ending the restrictions on
gatherings of religious groups that are not registered with the
government, abolishing the practice of forced recantations of faith, and bringing
to an end abusive police surveillance and harassment of religious leaders
and followers.
- Adapt and update for their present circumstances, based on
the standards established by the Lautenberg Amendment128
and under the Orderly Departure (ODP) and Resettlement Opportunity for
Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) programs,129 criteria to
establish eligibility for U.S. refugee resettlement for Central
Highlanders in Cambodia who have been screened out by UNHCR, who were
unable to apply for or complete ODP or ROVR applications and who are in
danger of being forcibly returned to Vietnam. Consider such cases without
a UNHCR referral.
- Continue to fund development projects in the Central Highlands aimed at reintegrating returnees and opening the region to greater
engagement by international humanitarian actors whose presence should
improve human rights conditions.
[128] Under
the Lautenberg Amendment, the U.S. refugee admissions program has given special consideration
in requesting refugee status to certain
religious minorities in the former Soviet Union who also have close family ties
to the U.S. See Pub. L. No. 101-167, § 599D(b)(C), 103 Stat. 1261 (1989). See
also Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2006: Report to the Congress,
submitted on behalf of the President of the United States to the Committees on
the Judiciary, United States Senate and United States House of Representatives
in fulfillment of the requirements of section 207( e) (1)-(7) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, September 2005. [online] http://www.state.gov/g/prm/refadm/rls/rpts/52366.htm
(retrieved May 31, 2006).
[129] See
Julia Taft, Assistant Secretary of State, Statement before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, March 10, 1998 for a description of Montagnard refugee
processing under the ROVR and ODP programs. [online] http://canberra.usembassy.gov/hyper/1998/WF980310/epf206.htm
(retrieved May 31, 2006).
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