Vietnamese media report deaths, injuries

in Central Highlands a week after protests

 

The Associated Press

Last Updated: April 18, 2004, 04:15:15 AM PDT

 

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Two ethnic minority Christians died while dozens of demonstrators and police were injured during violent mass protests in Vietnam's Central Highlands a week ago, state-controlled media reported Sunday.

One protester died after being pelted by stones hurled by other demonstrators, while another was run over by a tractor on the way to the event on Easter weekend, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said.

About 80 police and soldiers were reportedly injured, many seriously, while trying to control the protest in which the Christian tribespeople, collectively called Montagnards, drove 350 tractors and hundreds of motorbikes from the communes of 39 villages and 17 districts in three central provinces.

Thousands of people joined the protest against religious repression and land confiscation. A large group from 30 villages converged on Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Daklak province, the newspaper reported.

In neighboring Gai Lai province, the protesters looted markets and destroyed property en route to the protest.

Until Sunday, Vietnam was largely silent about the protests, only acknowledging that they occurred. Authorities have banned all foreign journalists and diplomats from the area.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has alleged that police and security forces used electric truncheons, water cannons and tear gas while beating and arresting dozens of tribespeople during the demonstrations. The group said it also received reports from witnesses that some Montagnards were beaten to death or shot.

Vietnam has denied those allegations.

Many Montagnards are Protestants who follow an evangelical Christian church not sanctioned by the government. Vietnam only recognizes a handful of state-sponsored religions and has repeatedly clashed with dissident Buddhists and Catholics.

Three years ago, police crushed similar demonstrations in the area, prompting a mass exodus into Cambodia. Nearly 1,000 Montagnards were later resettled in the United States.

Vietnamese officials have blamed the North Carolina-based Montagnard Foundation for organizing the demonstrations both this year and in 2001. The group, founded by former members of a group of anti-communist Montagnard fighters allied with the United States during the Vietnam War, advocates ethnic minority rights.