VZCZCXRO4527
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0145/01 0581024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271024Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5443
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3609
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 5679

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000145 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: EVALUATING REPORTS FROM THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION, INC. 
 
REF: A: 08 HCMC  447 and previous   B: HCMC 028 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000145  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Post has followed up on several reports 
issued from July 2008 through February 2009 by the Montagnard 
Foundation, Inc. (MFI), the U.S. based advocacy group headed by 
former FULRO leader Ksor Kok.  In the Central Highlands, 
authorities continue to remain suspicious and watchful of those 
believed to be associated with FULRO, the ethnic minority 
separatist organization involved in the 2001 and 2004 Central 
Highlands uprisings and the more localized demonstrations in 
April 2008.  After several months of reviewing and investigating 
MFI reports of human rights incidents affecting ethnic 
minorities in the Central Highlands, post has verified some 
reports of detentions and arrests by local authorities.  While 
MFI often construes these incidents as religious freedom-based 
violations, credible reporting from Protestant religious leaders 
on the ground revealed that in the majority of cases, the 
religious affiliation of the individuals involved was 
incidental, rather than central, to the cause of their troubles. 
 Instead, land disputes, participation in demonstrations and 
ties to "hostile foreign elements" were the cited reasons for 
individuals' problems with authorities.  End summary. 
 
A Brief History of FULRO and the Degar Movement 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶2. (SBU) The Central Highlands have been difficult to govern 
ever since efforts to bring the area under functional political 
control began in the 19th century.  Local indigenous peoples 
have long held national aspirations.  Ethnic minorities clashed 
with the Republic of (South) Vietnam in the 1950's and early 
1960's as a result of conscription into the military and 
programs to encourage ethnic Vietnamese migration.  Some ethnic 
minority leaders joined the ranks of the Viet Cong, while others 
launched an armed and political movement for an independent 
ethnic minority -- or "Degar" -- state.  The United Front for 
the Liberation of Oppressed Races, known as FULRO (by its French 
initials) was the military arm of the Degar separatist movement. 
 After the war, FULRO continued its anti-GVN guerilla activities 
until 1992.  Former FULRO leader Kok Ksor heads the Montagnard 
Foundation, Inc. (MFI) a South Carolina-based NGO that describes 
itself as the "true voice of the Montagnard people." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Although FULRO was never a serious threat to GVN 
control of the Central Highlands, the resistance helped cement 
distrust and suspicion by authorities towards the ethnic 
minority communities that dominated FULRO, principally the Ede 
and Jarai groups prevalent in Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces. 
The idea of Degar nationalism continues to resonate among some 
in the ethnic Ede, Jarai and Mnong communities, and contacts in 
the Central Highlands support GVN claims that Kok Ksor and other 
Degar leaders continue to agitate for the creation of an 
independent ethnic minority state.  The Degar movement played at 
least some role in organizing and fomenting the 2001 and 2004 
protests in the Central Highlands, taking advantage of ethnic 
minority feelings of disenfranchisement and dislocation.  It is 
also likely that the Degar movement was behind the cycle of 
local demonstrations in April 2008.  The movement also 
reportedly helps facilitate the cross-border smuggling of ethnic 
minorities to Cambodia.  We have also heard reports that the 
movement encourages ethnic minorities with sound legal grounds 
to immigrate to the USA to cross illegally into Cambodia rather 
than process their claims at ConGen HCMC. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In an effort to reach a large number of ethnic minority 
members and create another avenue to promote the idea of ethnic 
minority exclusivity, the Degar movement also created a "Degar 
Protestant Church."  The presence of Degar nationalists in 
Protestant religious organizations in the Central Highlands -- 
including the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of 
Vietnam (SECV) -- has complicated and slowed the process of 
registration and recognition of churches and congregations. 
Over the past two years, however, Protestant religious 
organizations operating in the Central Highlands that are not 
suspected of having have nationalist/separatist aspirations have 
been given far more leeway to operate.  The only difference 
"Degar Protestant" individuals with whom we have spoken cite 
between "Degar Protestantism" and other forms of Protestantism 
is independence from the GVN.  These individuals run the gamut 
from trained pastors who had been imprisoned for "Degar" 
activities in 2001 to persons who cannot describe what a 
Protestant is. 
 
Arrests and Detentions 
---------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) Post routinely follows up on allegations of official 
harassment, arrests, detentions and extrajudicial killings of 
Central Highlands ethnic minorities reported by MFI and others. 
The information we have gathered is based on credible reports we 
have received from official contacts as well as a number of 
Protestant pastors who are also ethnic minorities living and 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000145  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
working in Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Through local contacts, post was able to verify the 
arrests of 21 individuals listed in MFI reports dating from July 
to August 2008.  While MFI claimed these arrests were based on 
the individuals' affiliation with the Christian Degar Church, 
local Protestant leaders say they were arrested for their ties 
to "foreign elements" or organizing/instigating demonstrations. 
One pastor said the four individuals named in a July 30 MFI 
report of arrests in the Mang Yang district of Gia Lai province 
"were not even Protestants."  As such, while our research into 
these cases generally confirmed that the GVN severely restricts 
freedoms of assembly and free speech, we found little support 
for MFI's contention that persons were persecuted purely for 
religious affiliations or beliefs. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In September 2008, MFI reported the arrest of Ms. Puih 
H'bat in the Ia Grai district of Gia Lai province.  The report 
alleged Ms. H'bat was arrested in April 2008 for "preaching 
Christianity" and taken to prison, where authorities had refused 
to allow her family to visit.  The report noted that Ms. H'bat's 
husband was now living in the U.S. as a refugee.  A pastor who 
spoke with Ms. H'bat's neighbors confirmed her arrest and said 
she was suspected of being involved with recent land rights 
demonstrations in the area as well as being affiliated with 
FULRO (ref A).  The pastor noted Ms. H'bat's family was able to 
visit her once or twice in prison, but could not afford to go 
more often.  In response to a formal inquiry from Embassy Hanoi, 
Gia Lai authorities alleged Ms. H'bat received funds from her 
husband, a former FULRO member, to gather 20 individuals at her 
home to stage an anti-GVN demonstration.  Ms. H'bat was tried in 
October 2008 and sentenced to five years in prison for 
"sabotaging national unity." 
 
¶8. (SBU) Post has been unable to verify the January 2009 MFI 
report alleging arrests and threats by police in the Cu Mgar 
district of Dak Lak following a visit by UN officials.  Post did 
verify, however, that UNHCR has never visited the district and 
had not been in Dak Lak recently.  The only two visits that MFI 
might have been referencing are a visit by EU chiefs of mission 
in November and a visit to returnees by ConGenoffs in December 
(ref B) to other villages in the general area. 
 
MFI Murder Reports 
------------------ 
¶9. (SBU) Post also investigated several MFI reports alleging the 
murders of Protestant ethnic minorities.  An October 2008 MFI 
report alleged the death of a Protestant pastor named "Mup" in 
Ploi Rong Khong village in the Dak Doa district of Gia Lai 
province.  The report claimed Pastor Mup was beaten to death 100 
meters from the village after having been summoned by 
authorities three times for questioning about his religious 
activities.  Post's SECV contacts in Dak Doa district said the 
village closest in name was actually Plei Brong Thong, but they 
had not heard of a pastor by the name of "Mup" in the district, 
nor had they received reports regarding an ethnic minority 
murder in the area.  (Note:  Multiple variations in the spelling 
of ethnic minority names and the prevalent use of more than one 
name by ethnic minority individuals often make reports difficult 
to verify.  End note.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) Post did, however, confirm the death of Siu Krot, a 
farmer from the Ea Sup district of Dak Lak.  The February 3 MFI 
report claimed Mr. Krot was being pressured by "Vietnamese 
civilians and authorities" to sell his farmland.  When he 
refused, the report alleged a group of individuals took him 
three kilometers away from his home and killed him with a 
machete. 
 
¶11. (SBU) A United World Mission Church pastor traveled over 100 
kilometers to speak with Mr. Krot's family, and spoke directly 
with his daughter-in-law, who said the family found Mr. Krot's 
body close to a stream near the family farm two days after he 
told his family he was going to meet with land buyers and show 
them the property.  She noted that the buyers had offered 
approximately USD 4,575, but Mr. Krot had not yet agreed to sell 
the land.  An autopsy, paid for by the family, revealed Mr. Krot 
had been severely beaten and drowned.  The family has requested 
a police investigation, but were told by one officer that the 
inquiry would cost around USD $575.  Post has no indications 
from the family that the authorities were involved in the murder 
of Mr. Siu Krot, who was a member of the SECV church.  The 
requirement that the family pay for the autopsy and the 
investigation, while irregular, is not uncommon, especially in 
poor, rural communities such as Ea Sup.  Embassy Hanoi has sent 
a formal inquiry to provincial officials and the Ministry of 
Public Security requesting more information about Mr. Krot's 
death. 
 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000145  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
A Convoluted Claim of Forced Migration 
-------------------------------------- 
¶12. (SBU) Another MFI report claimed the GVN initiated a forced 
migration of "Vietnamese people" into ethnic minority areas of 
Dak Lak in August 2008.  The report claimed "133 to 666" 
families were moved to areas by local streams and rivers, thus 
occupying prime farmlands.  While the Republic of Vietnam and 
later the SRV did actively promote migration by Vietnamese 
(Kinh) families beginning in the 1960s, these policies were 
discontinued in the 1980's.  Though the GVN ceased encouraging 
ethnic Vietnamese families to migrate to the region, census data 
show that the ethnic Vietnamese continued to migrate well into 
the 1990's, most likely driven by economic factors such as the 
possibility to engage in trade and the raising of cash crops 
such as coffee.  A large portion of recent migrants to the 
Central Highlands have been other ethnic minority groups from 
the north, primarily the H'Mong, who also arrived looking for 
better farmland and economic opportunities.  SECV contacts said 
the names of the rivers and streams cited in the MFI report were 
"not familiar" and noted that the migration of minorities from 
the North has been a gradual development over a number of years, 
and certainly isn't GVN sponsored.  A local Dak Lak official 
added that the province "no longer has land" to offer to new 
migrants.  Local pastors noted that many of the "new" migrants 
are Protestants and have developed good relationships with other 
Protestant groups in the area. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Comment: MFI's inflammatory reports of GVN reprisals 
against ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands 
often, but not always, have some basis in verifiable events, 
although the MFI version is frequently so distorted and 
exaggerated as to have little relation to facts on the ground. 
The reports neglect to mention provocative actions taken by the 
"victims" and frequently pin excessively nefarious motives on 
the authorities.  Nonetheless, this use of actual events as the 
starting point for generating reports represents a change from 
their previous reporting, which tended to be too vague to check. 
 As propaganda, the MFI reports also do not recognize key 
historical and socioeconomic developments that have led the GVN 
to continue to maintain a clamped-down security posture in the 
region--factors MFI's supporters are largely responsible for. 
While MFI may be bolstering their fundraising efforts and 
earning Congressional attention with their sensationalist 
reporting, their continued recruitment efforts here in Vietnam 
are the reason behind many of the arrests and detentions post 
has investigated and the reason why authorities remain 
suspicious and watchful of ethnic minority gatherings, including 
religious ones.  End comment. 
FAIRFAX