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