Ub'hB +4122 9170618 CODE CABLE RIZA, UNATIONS, NEW YORK 4 APR 14 1625 CC: PRENDERGAST, UNATIONS, NEW YORK RAM0HARAN, OHCHR, NEW YORK lit *—s"f -~ FROM: RAMCHARAN, OHCHR, GENEVA DATE: 14 APRIL 2004 GVAi030 NUMBER: SUBJECT: PRESENTATION FROM MRS. BONINO 1, In his recent address to the Commission, the Secretary-General emphasized the importance of responding urgently to situations where there is a serious threat of mass killings. In this regard please see attached a letter I received today from Mrs. Emma Bonino on the risks of mass violajions of Jmman rights in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. I have sent an immediate acknowledgement to Mrs. Bonino which is attached. As you will see from it I have begun by bringing the content of the letter to the relevant Special Rapporteurs. 2. We shall need to do more than this and I would appreciate the recommendations of DPA on how we might deal with this letter. "" Best regards. ;£></> ^3: o P. 1/7 GVA1030 P. 2/7 PARLAMENTO EUROPEO cortesoattenzione dl: (To the attention of) Da parfe di: (From) Tbte/e pagine (tnclusa fa presents): (Total pages - including this) Data; (Date) Messaggio: (Message) So la trasmis*ione * Utegglbifo VI preghfamo di contatfara D s«guente num*ro: (If the transmission is faulty please contact the following number)(+39) 06.689791 GV/U030 CT;ST SVH i-o, MR. ^m 15:^ UN OSbB +4122 9170618 ^59':70 P. 3/7 PARLAMENTO EUROPIO DEPUTATO AX, PAKLAMENIO EU&OPBO HON. EMMA BONONO MEMBER OFTHB EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ROMEOFHCE! TO. f*3M 05 4W791 PAX. (-1-39) 06 £8805396 Bfcussras OPWCB: IH. (-1-32) 2 2M7496 PA* (+320 2 2849496 Rome, April 13,2004 to the urgent attention of: Mr. Rudolphua Fraociscus Marie Lubbers UN High Commissioner for Refugees (fax. +41-22-7397346) Mr. Bcrtrand BotMrliafan Acting UN Hight Commissioner for Human Rights (fax: +41-22-9179012) Mr. Kofi Annan UN Secretary-General (fax +1.212.963 J511) Mr. Chris Patten EU Commwsionei1 in charge of E»enwl Relations (£uc +32-2-2981299) Mr. Foul Nielson EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid (tax: +32-2-2981098) CC: PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE US STATE DEPARTMENT, EU COUNTRIES AMBASSADORS IN VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA, UNHCR OFFICE IN CAMBODIA P. 3 GVA'1030 9.0 WON 609COS9a906C Tfd T-T'flT «VH VQ. TO/CT P. 4/7 Dear Mr. Ramcharan, I write to alert you on the -worrying situation of Vietnam's Central Highlands, la fact, on 10 April 2D04, on the occasion of Easter, a series of peaceful demonstrations were staged in the provinces of Pleiku, Kontum, Gia Lai e Da Lot by thousands - some sources say hundreds of thousands - indigenous hill tribes people also known with the French name of Montagnard. According to sources of my own, the demonstrations were a non-violent way to respond to an escalating repression carried out by Hanoi, which does not recognize that type of Christian denomination, in patent violation of its own new Constitution. Since last Saturday, it has been reported that scores of people - some sources say hundreds • have been mistreated, beaten, injured met T«-»TU«J by the Vietnamese police and Army in the city of Buon Ma Tuot, in the Dak Lak Province and in other areas. The Vietnamese government is publicly downplaying the incidents r"'T1'T"1''"'"g the number of people involved and the figures of casualties, and has scaled off the region establishing checkpoints that bar foreigners to travel to the Highlands. As a consequence of the crackdown, thousands of men escaped towards the jangle that borders -with Cambodia, leaving their women and children brbfTii4 at the mercy of the army and the police. I have reason to believe that both in the jungle and in the villages the Montagnards will suffer the consequences of their protests with fierce violence and repression. "We have seen that happening in the past years. In fact, as you may recall, in February 2001. the Vietnamese repression after the staging of other demonstrations forced over a thousand men CO escape to Cambodia. Those people, after almost a. year, were eventually transferred to the United States, which granted them asylum status. Throughout 2001, the life in the camps was particularly stressful as several acts of violence instigated by Vietnamese infiltrators occurred and as a few refugees were bought back by the Vietnamese army. Once the United States resolved the emergency, the boarder in the Cambodian provinces of Mondolkiri and R&tanakiri was closed and heavily patrolled ever since. When my MEPs colleagues Marco Pannella and Marco Cappato visited Cambodia wich a delegation of the non-governmental organization Transnational Radical Party on the occasion of the local elections in July 2003, they were discouraged to^isff the region as security could not be provided. They were only allowed to visit a small group of Montagnards hosted in a house provided by UNHCR in Pknom Penh, where they found the refugees in good conditions bur in m uncertain position vis-a-vis international law. In fiict, Cambodia has ratified the 1951 UN Convention Ofl Refugees, but has never adopted the necessary implementing legislation to fully incorporate the international provisions into its domestic law, partly because of its lack of resources and expertise, partly because under political pressure from Hanoi. la their consultations while in Phom Penh, my colleagues also met with several European diplomats who expressed their firm commitment to work together to find "creative ways" as the British Ambassador to Cambodia put it, to assist the Cambodian Government to fulfill its obligations stemming from the '51 Convention. The time is now ripe to make use of that p , GVA1030 93SJ 9,3 notf eoaco998808C XTO M'.»T HVK fro, UN ubbB t41^ yi/0618 Ny59';70 P. 5/7 creativity and assist Cambodia in all possible ways as it is running the risk of becoming A situation of concern soon. According to an Agence France-Presse report of 12 April, a certain Yoeun Baloung, police chief of the province of Ratanakiri stated thai Cambodian law enforcement agents are on "an high alert all of the time because we fear thac (hey [the Montagnards] will cross illegally into Cambodia,". The report goes on signalling thai in the neighbouring Mondolkiri Province, a police officer called Reach Samnang, said thai border police had been ordered to work round the dock, strengthening the "forces to guard the border" working "24 hours a day. "We won't allow anyone to enter -without proper documents." The heightened security in Cambodia, seems to follow complaints by the Interior ministry that the UN refugee agency had been operating secretly along the Vietnamese border to "lure" Mbntagnards into Cambodia. The ministry reportedly charged that the agency had secretly transferred 46 Montagnards to the capital over the past two years and granted them refugee status, including 16 last February. According to the official Vietnamese News Agency \ The Cambodian Interior Ministry warned that the [above-mentioned] illegal operations and violations of territorial sovereignty by the TJNHCR residential representative would certainly increase the risk of turning Cambodia into a promised land for criminals and illegal migrants." It seems quite evident that Hanoi's influence on Phnom Penh is suggesting the use of the "war on terror* card to misrepresent what is happening in the Central Highlands and to further isolate the indigenous people in their snuggle for a. better life. We need to address those types of statements, and be eztretnely cautious as these allegations will only criminalize indiscriminately all those that are trying to live a freer and decent life. Certain accusations - and their derived policies - might jeopardize sincere efforts to combat terrorism in South East Asia, Thanks to the active support of Mr. Son Chhay a. Cambodian Member of Parliament elected last July with the Sam Rainsy, I have been able to receive through Mr. Pannella and Mr. Cappato news on the recent stance of the Cambodian authorities, which view Montagnard asylum-seekers as illegal migrants. A development that goes against the 1951 Convention on Refugees, and that should be regarded with particular concern, for the consequences it may bring to thousands of people in the region. In fact, if the Montagnards will find a. closed border and hostile Cambodian authorities* any exodus could turn into yet another humanitarian catastrophe. AT the 10th anniversary of die Rwanda, genocide we cannot afford such a tragedy to happen again. As you arc aware, the European Parliamflmr has repeatedly asked the Goimni.ision to take appropriate initiatives vis-a-vis Hanoi concerning religious freedom in Vietnam, and in particular to protect the Montagnard people from the harsh political, social, and religious repression that they have been suffering for decades. Other international bodies, such as the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2002, or the Committee on the Elimination on Racial Discrimination in August 2001, have requested to the Government of Vietnam to open, up the Central Highlands to independent International monitor's. Hanoi has always rejected those appeals and the International communiry has •unfortunately not followed up those requests with tie necessary determination. It is o£ utmost importance, if we want to avert a massacre, to take immediate and concrete actions to allow some sort of international presence in the Central Highlands and to assist p £• 1 GVA1030 S000 SHUTS eznegi QOBJ 3,3 von 608C0889908C TOt STiftT HVH ro, torn \-J.iv UN U5tD WM'l yi/UOIb N-Dy;/0 K. b/ / Cambodia in preparing some camps to give shelter to those thar might flee Vietnam towards the provinces of Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri.