Below is information posted on the site of the Montagnard Foundation, published on 27 January 2007:

BLINDED, EYE GORGED DURING TORTURE SESSION

Ksor Daih was born in 1962, from Ploi Ko village, commune Dang Ya, district Cu-Pah, Gialai province and he currently remains at Trai Ba-Sao prison in Ha Nam province. Daih Ksor was arrested in 2004 for participating in the 2001 peaceful protest for religious rights and supporting the Montagnard Foundation. Prior to his arrest he had been in hiding for over two years. During a sweeping operation he was captured and severely tortured. He was then sent to prison in Ha Nam province. The first time, his family made contact with him since his arrest was on January 9, 2007. Upon seeing the scars, bruises, gorged eye socket and battered body his family broke down in tears but authorities refused any personal contact. Daih Ksor reported however, that he had been subjected to repeated torture by beating and kicking and that during one beating he was blinded in one eye. He can barely stand and it is greatly feared he may not live long.

LEG BROKEN, FORCED TO EAT BROKEN GLASS DURING PRESIDENT BUSH‘S VISIT TO HANOI

Ksor Jak was born in 1983, from Ploi Ko village, commune Dang Ya district Cu Pah, Gailia province. He was arrested in 2004 for supporting the Montagnard Foundation and participating in the peaceful demonstration in 2001 for religious freedom. He is currently imprisoned at Trai-Ba-Sao prison facility in Ha Nam province.  After the 2001 demonstration he had fled to the jungles but was captured on February 24, 2004 by Vietnamese soldiers and imprisoned.  On January 9, 2007, family members of Ksor Jak visited him for the first time since his arrest and they broke into tears when they saw his physical condition. Ksor Jak's leg was broken and disfigured from the torture he received by authorities. Ksor Jak reported in November 2006 prior to President Bush’s visit to Vietnam that guards forced him and the other Degar inmates to eat rice mixed with broken glass. Guards taunted the prisoners stating they hoped they would soon die.

 

REPEATED TORTURE, EAR HANGING BY THREADS

Ksor Har was born 1954, from Ploi Ia-Gri village, commune Dang Ya, district Cu Pah, Gialai province. Currently he remains in the prison called Trai Ba-Sao in Ha-Nam. Ksor Har was arrested in 2004 for participating in the 2001 peaceful protest for religious rights and supporting the Montagnard Foundation. He went into hiding but was captured by Vietnamese soldiers in August 2004. On January 9, 2007, his family visited him and saw his extremely poor condition including having his left ear hanging in threads almost torn by a torture session. He reported being tortured many times with guards regularly torturing him by pulling and interfering with his wounded ear. He reported having passed out unconscious many time due to the pain.

The racial hatred of the communist Vietnamese authorities is evident in the segregation of Montagnard prisoners and the continued abuse of the Degar prisoners. The communist authorities continue to rationalize their abuse of the Degar people as revenge for the Degar people supporting the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. (it was common for the Viet Cong to say that our people were the ears and eyes of the US Army). The communist authorities also greatly fear Christianity and now seek measures to control the Christian house church movement. (it was long said by the Viet Cong that Degar Christians were CIA agents during the war). The communist government also appears to want to exterminate the Degar people in order to economically exploit our people’s ancestral homeland without interference and it is widespread knowledge that racial prejudice is rife amongst Vietnamese government authorities. Thus it is of utmost importance that international attention is urgently put in place to monitor the human rights situation in the central highlands.

THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION CALLS ON:

Concerned Embassies and the international community to urgently investigate details of the treatment of these Degar prisoners in Vietnam prison facilities.

Concerned Embassies and the international community to pursue a permanent humanitarian presence in the Central Highlands by US, UN and international NGOs.

Concerned Embassies and the international community to urgently demand Vietnam release all 350 Degar Prisoners identified in the Human Rights Watch report of 14 June 2006. See: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/14/vietna13542.htm

BACKGROUND: The indigenous Degar Peoples (known under the French colonial term “Montagnard”) have suffered decades of persecution by the Vietnamese communist government, namely; confiscation of their ancestral lands, Christian religious repression, torture, killings and imprisonment. To date over 350 Degar prisoners remain in Vietnamese prisons for standing up for their human rights, for spreading Christianity or for fleeing to Cambodia. These prisoners continue to suffer abuses and are subjected to torture, including electric shock treatment, beatings as well as being withheld food and medical care. Degar prisoners are also subjected to segregation inside prison which appears also racially motivated. A number of prisoners have already died and authorities attempt to keep their deaths hidden.