The US-based Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI), which has close contacts with the believers in the region, said the latest round of killings began in April. In one of the latest incidents, MFI said Christian Y-Phit Kbuor was shot and killed after fishing with his two sons at the river of Ea Kin about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from his village of Buon Tri.
"When they were returning home on the road, they encountered a group of Vietnamese soldiers…[They] halted them and told them to raise their hands. While they were raising their hands up, the Vietnamese soldiers opened fire. Our brother, Y-Phit Kbuor, was murdered right there on the spot. Fortunately, his two children escaped the massacre."
His sons managed to reach their village to tell their mother and villagers what had happened, MFI said. "Many villagers accompanied the family and relatives to pick up the corpse of Y-Phit Kbuor. When they got to the place, the Vietnamese soldiers were still there [and] apologized to the family, saying they had made a mistake." The soldiers paid for the coffin and cost of the funeral, the group said.
APRIL MURDERS
It came after 26-year old Y-Cung Nie was killed April 14, just days after after he participated in a religious right demonstration in the commune of Ia Knuec to demand the release of three detained Christians, MFI added. “Not long after he arrived home, the Vietnamese security police from the district of Cu Mgar stormed into his house to arrest him. They then took him into a nearby wooded area and tortured him to death.”
When police finished murdering him, they allegedly went back to the village and told his parents and other family members that they had killed him and demanded they go pick up his corpse and bury it. “Then, the Vietnamese security police threatened the family not to tell anyone about Y-Cung’s death, especially to Degar Montagnards who are living in the United States. They said that they would come back and kill them all if they did.”
Earlier published reports said at least two other Christians were killed on April 14 in District Krong Pac in Daklak Province, for their involvement in a religious rights demonstration. MFI said the latest incidents come at a time of growing pressure on Degar Montagnard Christians, who have been accused of following a “Western religion” and supporting America during the Vietnam War.
However the Vietnamese government has strongly denied MFI reports and described them as "Western propaganda". Several human rights groups, including MFI, believe that hundreds of Degar Montagnards remain imprisoned for their Christian faith or alleged attempts to escape the Communist country.
