The Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI) said "it is greatly feared" that Puih H’Bat "has already been killed or suffers from serious wounds as a result of being tortured," at the T-20 criminal prison in the central town of Pleiku, because she refuses to join a Communist government-backed church.
She belongs to the Degar Montagnards, the mainly Christian tribes people from the Central Highlands, many of whom have reportedly suffered under increased religious persecution. MFI, which represents Degar Montagnards, told BosNewsLife that the evangelist was first targeted April 9 when Vietnamese police arrived at her home in the village of Ploi Bang in Gialai Province, where she was leading a prayer service attended by some 20 Christians.
Security officials allegedly demanded that they join the state-run Hoi Thanh Tin Lanh Vietnam, or ‘The Evangelical Church of Vietnam,’ saying that if they refused to sign the membership document, that they would be "arrested, tortured and imprisoned." Because they refused, police and soldiers reportedly returned the next day and summoned the entire village to report to Ploi Bang Elementary school.
During the meeting, soldiers allegedly accused villagers of "worshipping" MFI leader Ksor Kok, suggesting that the advocacy group was a dangerous sect. Villagers denied the charges saying: “[Ksok Kok] is not God. We only follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and worship our Almighty God the Father,” MFI reported. Despite threats, villagers refused to join the government-backed church, prompting security forces to briefly leave before returning in the early hours of April 11 to detain Pui H’Bat. MFI said.
MORNING
"At approximately 4 am in the morning, eight Vietnamese security police stormed into the house of our Christian sister, Puih H’Bat, and arrested her. [They] put her in a truck and took her to a prison in Ia Grai District…The same night, police also arrested two other Christian brothers, Ksor Sim and Rahlan Don. During the arrest of Ksor Sim, police sprayed a chemical repellent inside his house forcing the whole family outside, whereupon security police shocked him with electric batons until he collapsed unconscious," MFI added. "His wife and 16 year-old daughter ran to see if he was alive or dead, and the police then beat and shocked them with electrical batons until they also collapsed unconscious."
MFI said Ksor Sim and Rahlan Don have been released from prison because they had agreed to sign a document to follow the government sanctioned church, but Puih H’Bat apparently refused. Her husband, Rahlan Hre, 43, managed to flee to the United States, but his children stayed behind. "He is terribly worried about his wife’s well being and also about how his children will survive without her."
MFI said that his elderly mother in law, Puih H’Woih, currently takes care for his children Puih Huil, 7, Puih Dui, 10, Puih H’Huat, 12, and Puih Kui, 19, who have stayed behind in the Central Highlands. "All of his children have stopped attending school because they are devastated about what is happening to their mother in prison and are afraid that the government will come for them too."
FAMILY
The group said family members have been unable to visit her. "Five months later, the authorities still refuse to allow Puih H’Bat’s family to visit her in prison. It is greatly feared she has already been killed or suffers from serious wounds as a result of being tortured. Why else would the Vietnamese government refuse to allow her family to visit her?"
The group added that "despite several appeals by villagers to release her, authorities have maintained a blackout of information and are silent regarding her condition." MFI said it was still wondering what crime she has committed. "Is it against the law for a Degar Montagnard woman to tell other people about Jesus Christ? She was not preaching to the Vietnamese, but only to comfort our indigenous community in order to be able to endure the brutality of the Vietnamese government."
MFI said is urged the international community, including embassies, the Red Cross, European Union, Unites States and United Nations to urgently investigate the situation. The group stressed that charges against her seem with Vietnam’s Constitution which guarantees religious freedom. Rights groups say hundreds of Degar Montagnards, most of them Christians, remain imprisoned in the country.
The Vietnamese government has denied wrongdoing and says reports about religious persecution are Western propaganda.
