Vietnamese Police Torture and Kill Two Degar Montagnards
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By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (ANS) — Two Degar (Montagnard) Christians were recently arrested and murdered in Vietnam.
The Degar (or Montagnards) are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
According to a news release from the Montagnard Foundation, Y-Song Nie, 24, and Y-Huang Nie, 23, were returning to their village after having taken part in a peaceful protest for the release of three Christians who had been arrested on April 9.
The mission of the Montagnard Foundation is to protect the lives and culture of the Montagnard people.
The Montagnard Foundation reported that on April 14, the Vietnamese security police arrested and then killed Y-Song Nie and Y-Huang Nie. Authorities reportedly broke both of their legs, both their hands and cracked their skulls. After murdering them, the security police returned the bodies to their family village and allegedly admitted murdering Y-Song Nie and Y-Huang Nie.
The Montagnard Foundation said security police ordered the families of the murder victims to bury the corpses in one grave. They provided them with one coffin for both corpses, one 100kg bag of rice and one million 1,000,000 dong (Vietnamese currency worth about $66), for each family.
The security police and threatened the families, saying, “If anyone of you reports this incident to the international community or to Kok Ksor (president of the Montagnard Foundation), we will come and kill all of you.”
Y-Song Nie and Y-Huang Nie were both married with children.
The Montagnard Foundation said the Vietnamese government is failing to obey its own laws regarding its citizenry when dealing with the Montagnards.
In a news release the Foundation said, “When Degar people point out this contradiction and ask the Vietnamese government to respect these laws, they are accused of being terrorists and separatists who want to overthrow their government. We ask why the murderers of our people are never brought to justice.”
The news release from the Montagnard Foundation added, “Is $66 dollars the price for an indigenous Degar Montagnard person’s life? How much does it cost for one whole cow in the US market, or in European countries? Is a cow worth more than a human life?”
The Foundation said it is appealing to the international community for help in stopping injustices in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, so that indigenous peoples and ethnic Vietnamese can live together in peace.
For more information, go to www.montagnard-foundation.org
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