"Two more Degar Catholic believers, A Lat, 61 and A Brin, 46, were murdered by (rocks throwing) Vietnamese security police," explained the president of advocacy group Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI), Kok Ksor, in a statement to BosNewsLife.
He said the two men were part of some 40 Degar Catholic believers who tried to travel in canoes to what they regard as a "sacred" place "to conduct a prayer vigil," near the village of Ploi Hamong Katu.
Catholics have been praying there since reports that Mary, “the mother of Jesus”, appeared at that location to believers in a vision. While evangelical Christians disagree with Catholics over the role of Mary, evangelical groups have expressed concerns over the treatment of both Degar-Montagnard Catholics and Protestants in the region.
MFI said the men were killed June 22, when dozens of “Christian brothers and sisters took canoes to cross to the other side of the lake to pray at this particular site.” When they got close,"Vietnamese security police and supporters ambushed them by pelting them with heavy rocks," while they were still in canoes, MFI said.
HEAVY ROCKS
"Two of our Christian brothers, A Lat and A Brin were hit by heavy rocks on their heads and both men fell into the lake and died." Both are from the village of Plei Kuk Gyer, in Dak Bo District of Gialai Province, MFI said.
Surviving families reportedly wanted to bury their dead at the ‘Mary site’, but Vietnamese security forces allegedly forced them to carry the corpses back to their village for burial. “As you can see here, Vietnamese officials can kill indigenous Degar-Montagnard people at any time and there is no punishment to the killers,” Ksor added.
Ksor and other rights watchers have linked these and other reported incidents to frustration within Vietnam’s Communist government over the spread of Christianity and the Degar-Montagnard support for American forces during the Vietnam war.
COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT
"Since 1975 when the Communist government of Vietnam invaded South Vietnam and occupied the Central Highlands, their government has been carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing by arresting, torturing, imprisoning and murdering the indigenous Degar-Montagnard people," Ksor said.
Authorities allegedly tortured Degar-Montagnards asking: “Where are your American friends now?”They reportedly also placed Christian children in one room, forcing them to remain there from morning until evening without food or water.
"When the children were so hungry and thirsty that they begged for food and water, police told the children to pray to their God for help. They returned to the children later and then asked them, "Did your God bring you food and water?” When the children said "No", police demanded they they pray to ‘Uncle Ho’ (Communist leader) Ho Chi Minh for about an hour, and would come back to the room with food and water. This is how the anti-Christian communist Vietnamese authorities historically used such despicable tactics to brainwash young children,” Ksor said.
He said the Communist government continues “to repress religious freedom in Vietnam,” violating Vietnamese constitution which officially guarantees freedom of religion. Vietnamese authorities have strongly denied MFI claims, describing them as “propaganda.”
Vietnam currently ranks 17 on the World Watch List of Christian rights group Open Doors, containing 50 countries with the “worst persecution” regarding Christians. (With reporting from Vietnam).
