detained in Vietnam’s Central Highlands "for listening" to American musical cassette tapes, while others tried to contact a man jailed "for holding" a mobile phone, friends said.
In a statement to BosNewsLife, the Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI) said student Y-Hor Mlo, from Buon Cuor Knia village in Daklak Province "was attending the Technical School of Buonmathuot City when he was arrested on April 20, 2006."
MFI, which has close contacts with the predominantly Christian Degar Montagnard community in the Central Highlands said his family “has not been heard" from him since his detention. “His family remains extremely distressed as he was beaten when arrested and his whereabouts and state of health is unknown."
11 DETAINED
US-based MFI said the young man was one of 11 students detained at universities Buonmathuot City, “accused of listen to musical cassettes sent to them by relatives in the United States."
"In March 2006, two Montagnards residing in the United States named Y-Nuec Eban and Y-Dhin Kbuor had sent musical tapes of folk songs and guitar music to their relatives who live at the village of Buon Tong Ju and Buon Cuor Knia," the organization explained. "Many young Degar Montagnards had enjoyed listening to songs on the tapes so they reproduced them and gave them to other young people at University."
Except for Y-Hor Mlo, 10 students were released after two weeks of torture, MFI claimed, citing local sources and investigations. “The police arrested them and commenced torturing them by punching, kicking, beating with sticks and batons. The police also sprayed chemical agent of some kind on their face and eyes [and] even forced them to inhale the chemical powder during the interrogation, which resulted in severe internal pain."
POLICE INTERROGATION
Interrogators allegedly demanded to know where the tapes came from and made clear that no other students would be allowed to hear them. "The students all reported suffering injuries from the physical beatings as well as suffering respiratory problems from inhaling the toxic chemical agent. The chemical is believed to be a chemical toxic form of mace," MFI said.
In a separate incident, the organization claimed that last week Vietnamese police arrested and imprisoned a Degar Montagnard man, Y- Ker Buonkrong, 56, "because he had a mobile [cell] phone.
The man from the village of Buon Mblot in Daklak Province has been in jailed since Monday, June 6, “at the prison facility in the district of Krong Ana” of the tense province, MFI claimed.
FAMILY DISTRESSED
"His family is extremely distressed as virtually every Degar imprisoned today in Vietnam report being mistreated, severely beaten or subjected to prolonged bouts of torture." The organization said there are at least 350 predominantly Christian Degar Montagnards imprisoned in Vietnam and it urged the international community to intervene.
Vietnam’s authorities have strongly denied any wrongdoing and accused human rights groups of spreading "Western propaganda." Analysts say authorities have persecuted Degar Montagnards for their allegedly supporting the US during the Vietnam War and their perceived "Western religion."
Of the roughly 1-million Degar Montagnard people, close to half are Protestant, while around 200,000 are Catholic, according to estimates. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Vietnam).
