Rome, April 28 - A letter by Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation and General Council Member of the Transnational Radical Party, to Marco Pannella, non-violent leader, was published by the italian newspaper "Il Foglio".

The leader of the Degar people, in exile, referred to the repression of the peaceful Easter demonstrations in Vietnam, lamenting "the extraordinary and tragic gravity of what occurred and the persistence of an intolerable situation (…)". Two-hundred and thirty-nine people were killed in nine villages in the province of Buona Ma Thout alone, though individual names of individuals are as yet unknown.

The first estimate counted more than 400 deaths. In his letter, Ksor noted the absence of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as any international monitor, a major cause of the tragedy which besets the Degar people. "(..) I pray to find the strength to undertake a hunger strike to the very end, to convince the international community, if not the vietnamese people and their government, to change its position and help us, to come see for itself our plight in Vietnam. I am unsure if I will succeed, in part because I fear no one will take notice, despite the nonviolent, transnational efforts of my friends in the Radical Party."

Presenting this letter, Marco Pannella asked readers "What can be done? What will we do? What are you doing? What will you say to Kok? To the thousands wounded and dying in the Vietnamese-Cambodian jungle?"

Source: RadicalFax