EVALUATING REPORTS FROM THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION, INC.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000145

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF AND PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: EVALUATING REPORTS FROM THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION, INC.

REF: A: 08 HCMC 447 and previous B: HCMC 028

HO CHI MIN 00000145 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) Summary: Post has followed up on several reports
issued from July 2008 through February 2009 by the Montagnard
Foundation, Inc. (MFI),the U.S. based advocacy group headed by
former FULRO leader Ksor Kok. In the Central Highlands,
authorities continue to remain suspicious and watchful of those
believed to be associated with FULRO, the ethnic minority
separatist organization involved in the 2001 and 2004 Central
Highlands uprisings and the more localized demonstrations in
April 2008. After several months of reviewing and investigating
MFI reports of human rights incidents affecting ethnic
minorities in the Central Highlands, post has verified some
reports of detentions and arrests by local authorities. While
MFI often construes these incidents as religious freedom-based
violations, credible reporting from Protestant religious leaders
on the ground revealed that in the majority of cases, the
religious affiliation of the individuals involved was
incidental, rather than central, to the cause of their troubles.
Instead, land disputes, participation in demonstrations and
ties to "hostile foreign elements" were the cited reasons for
individuals' problems with authorities. End summary.

A Brief History of FULRO and the Degar Movement
-------------- --

2. (SBU) The Central Highlands have been difficult to govern
ever since efforts to bring the area under functional political
control began in the 19th century. Local indigenous peoples
have long held national aspirations. Ethnic minorities clashed
with the Republic of (South) Vietnam in the 1950's and early
1960's as a result of conscription into the military and
programs to encourage ethnic Vietnamese migration. Some ethnic
minority leaders joined the ranks of the Viet Cong, while others
launched an armed and political movement for an independent
ethnic minority -- or "Degar" -- state. The United Front for
the Liberation of Oppressed Races, known as FULRO (by its French
initials) was the military arm of the Degar separatist movement.
After the war, FULRO continued its anti-GVN guerilla activities
until 1992. Former FULRO leader Kok Ksor heads the Montagnard
Foundation, Inc. (MFI) a South Carolina-based NGO that describes
itself as the "true voice of the Montagnard people."


3. (SBU) Although FULRO was never a serious threat to GVN
control of the Central Highlands, the resistance helped cement
distrust and suspicion by authorities towards the ethnic
minority communities that dominated FULRO, principally the Ede
and Jarai groups prevalent in Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces.
The idea of Degar nationalism continues to resonate among some
in the ethnic Ede, Jarai and Mnong communities, and contacts in
the Central Highlands support GVN claims that Kok Ksor and other
Degar leaders continue to agitate for the creation of an
independent ethnic minority state. The Degar movement played at
least some role in organizing and fomenting the 2001 and 2004
protests in the Central Highlands, taking advantage of ethnic
minority feelings of disenfranchisement and dislocation. It is
also likely that the Degar movement was behind the cycle of
local demonstrations in April 2008. The movement also
reportedly helps facilitate the cross-border smuggling of ethnic
minorities to Cambodia. We have also heard reports that the
movement encourages ethnic minorities with sound legal grounds
to immigrate to the USA to cross illegally into Cambodia rather
than process their claims at ConGen HCMC.


4. (SBU) In an effort to reach a large number of ethnic minority
members and create another avenue to promote the idea of ethnic
minority exclusivity, the Degar movement also created a "Degar
Protestant Church." The presence of Degar nationalists in
Protestant religious organizations in the Central Highlands --
including the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of
Vietnam (SECV) -- has complicated and slowed the process of
registration and recognition of churches and congregations.
Over the past two years, however, Protestant religious
organizations operating in the Central Highlands that are not
suspected of having have nationalist/separatist aspirations have
been given far more leeway to operate. The only difference
"Degar Protestant" individuals with whom we have spoken cite
between "Degar Protestantism" and other forms of Protestantism
is independence from the GVN. These individuals run the gamut
from trained pastors who had been imprisoned for "Degar"
activities in 2001 to persons who cannot describe what a
Protestant is.

Arrests and Detentions
--------------

5. (SBU) Post routinely follows up on allegations of official
harassment, arrests, detentions and extrajudicial killings of
Central Highlands ethnic minorities reported by MFI and others.
The information we have gathered is based on credible reports we
have received from official contacts as well as a number of
Protestant pastors who are also ethnic minorities living and

HO CHI MIN 00000145 002.2 OF 003


working in Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces.


6. (SBU) Through local contacts, post was able to verify the
arrests of 21 individuals listed in MFI reports dating from July
to August 2008. While MFI claimed these arrests were based on
the individuals' affiliation with the Christian Degar Church,
local Protestant leaders say they were arrested for their ties
to "foreign elements" or organizing/instigating demonstrations.
One pastor said the four individuals named in a July 30 MFI
report of arrests in the Mang Yang district of Gia Lai province
"were not even Protestants." As such, while our research into
these cases generally confirmed that the GVN severely restricts
freedoms of assembly and free speech, we found little support
for MFI's contention that persons were persecuted purely for
religious affiliations or beliefs.


7. (SBU) In September 2008, MFI reported the arrest of Ms. Puih
H'bat in the Ia Grai district of Gia Lai province. The report
alleged Ms. H'bat was arrested in April 2008 for "preaching
Christianity" and taken to prison, where authorities had refused
to allow her family to visit. The report noted that Ms. H'bat's
husband was now living in the U.S. as a refugee. A pastor who
spoke with Ms. H'bat's neighbors confirmed her arrest and said
she was suspected of being involved with recent land rights
demonstrations in the area as well as being affiliated with
FULRO (ref A). The pastor noted Ms. H'bat's family was able to
visit her once or twice in prison, but could not afford to go
more often. In response to a formal inquiry from Embassy Hanoi,
Gia Lai authorities alleged Ms. H'bat received funds from her
husband, a former FULRO member, to gather 20 individuals at her
home to stage an anti-GVN demonstration. Ms. H'bat was tried in
October 2008 and sentenced to five years in prison for
"sabotaging national unity."


8. (SBU) Post has been unable to verify the January 2009 MFI
report alleging arrests and threats by police in the Cu Mgar
district of Dak Lak following a visit by UN officials. Post did
verify, however, that UNHCR has never visited the district and
had not been in Dak Lak recently. The only two visits that MFI
might have been referencing are a visit by EU chiefs of mission
in November and a visit to returnees by ConGenoffs in December
(ref B) to other villages in the general area.

MFI Murder Reports
--------------

9. (SBU) Post also investigated several MFI reports alleging the
murders of Protestant ethnic minorities. An October 2008 MFI
report alleged the death of a Protestant pastor named "Mup" in
Ploi Rong Khong village in the Dak Doa district of Gia Lai
province. The report claimed Pastor Mup was beaten to death 100
meters from the village after having been summoned by
authorities three times for questioning about his religious
activities. Post's SECV contacts in Dak Doa district said the
village closest in name was actually Plei Brong Thong, but they
had not heard of a pastor by the name of "Mup" in the district,
nor had they received reports regarding an ethnic minority
murder in the area. (Note: Multiple variations in the spelling
of ethnic minority names and the prevalent use of more than one
name by ethnic minority individuals often make reports difficult
to verify. End note.)


10. (SBU) Post did, however, confirm the death of Siu Krot, a
farmer from the Ea Sup district of Dak Lak. The February 3 MFI
report claimed Mr. Krot was being pressured by "Vietnamese
civilians and authorities" to sell his farmland. When he
refused, the report alleged a group of individuals took him
three kilometers away from his home and killed him with a
machete.


11. (SBU) A United World Mission Church pastor traveled over 100
kilometers to speak with Mr. Krot's family, and spoke directly
with his daughter-in-law, who said the family found Mr. Krot's
body close to a stream near the family farm two days after he
told his family he was going to meet with land buyers and show
them the property. She noted that the buyers had offered
approximately USD 4,575, but Mr. Krot had not yet agreed to sell
the land. An autopsy, paid for by the family, revealed Mr. Krot
had been severely beaten and drowned. The family has requested
a police investigation, but were told by one officer that the
inquiry would cost around USD $575. Post has no indications
from the family that the authorities were involved in the murder
of Mr. Siu Krot, who was a member of the SECV church. The
requirement that the family pay for the autopsy and the
investigation, while irregular, is not uncommon, especially in
poor, rural communities such as Ea Sup. Embassy Hanoi has sent
a formal inquiry to provincial officials and the Ministry of
Public Security requesting more information about Mr. Krot's
death.


HO CHI MIN 00000145 003.2 OF 003


A Convoluted Claim of Forced Migration
--------------

12. (SBU) Another MFI report claimed the GVN initiated a forced
migration of "Vietnamese people" into ethnic minority areas of
Dak Lak in August 2008. The report claimed "133 to 666"
families were moved to areas by local streams and rivers, thus
occupying prime farmlands. While the Republic of Vietnam and
later the SRV did actively promote migration by Vietnamese
(Kinh) families beginning in the 1960s, these policies were
discontinued in the 1980's. Though the GVN ceased encouraging
ethnic Vietnamese families to migrate to the region, census data
show that the ethnic Vietnamese continued to migrate well into
the 1990's, most likely driven by economic factors such as the
possibility to engage in trade and the raising of cash crops
such as coffee. A large portion of recent migrants to the
Central Highlands have been other ethnic minority groups from
the north, primarily the H'Mong, who also arrived looking for
better farmland and economic opportunities. SECV contacts said
the names of the rivers and streams cited in the MFI report were
"not familiar" and noted that the migration of minorities from
the North has been a gradual development over a number of years,
and certainly isn't GVN sponsored. A local Dak Lak official
added that the province "no longer has land" to offer to new
migrants. Local pastors noted that many of the "new" migrants
are Protestants and have developed good relationships with other
Protestant groups in the area.


13. (SBU) Comment: MFI's inflammatory reports of GVN reprisals
against ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands
often, but not always, have some basis in verifiable events,
although the MFI version is frequently so distorted and
exaggerated as to have little relation to facts on the ground.
The reports neglect to mention provocative actions taken by the
"victims" and frequently pin excessively nefarious motives on
the authorities. Nonetheless, this use of actual events as the
starting point for generating reports represents a change from
their previous reporting, which tended to be too vague to check.
As propaganda, the MFI reports also do not recognize key
historical and socioeconomic developments that have led the GVN
to continue to maintain a clamped-down security posture in the
region--factors MFI's supporters are largely responsible for.
While MFI may be bolstering their fundraising efforts and
earning Congressional attention with their sensationalist
reporting, their continued recruitment efforts here in Vietnam
are the reason behind many of the arrests and detentions post
has investigated and the reason why authorities remain
suspicious and watchful of ethnic minority gatherings, including
religious ones. End comment.
FAIRFAX