# CE2004088EN.01033901.xml

| 8.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 88/339 |
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8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 88/339

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(2004/C 88 E/0345)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1180/03

by Marco Pannella (NI), Emma Bonino (NI), Marco Cappato (NI), Gianfranco Dell'Alba (NI) and Benedetto Della Vedova (NI) to the Commission

(1 April 2003)

Subject:   Secret Vietnamese prison set up next to the Cambodian border for the detention of Montagnards repatriated after having requested asylum; cases of arrest, torture and disappearance

Subject:

Various independent observers have reported that the Vietnamese government has set up a secret prison on the border with Cambodia in Mokdeng district, Pleiku province, where the 773rd military division and the 721st military brigade are detaining 28 Montagnard (Degar) refugees repatriated by Cambodia.

On 12 February 2003, the Vietnamese police arrested, and took to the prison in Buonmathuot, N'Gran (39 years old, from Buon Dak R'la, Dak Mil district, Dak Lac province) because he was in possession of a mobile phone which, according to the government, was used to maintain contacts with Montagnards in the US; his physical condition is unknown.

On 13 February 2003, at about 10 p.m., the Vietnamese police arrested Y-Dhem Nie (36 years old, from Buon Ea Kao, Buonmathuot district, Dak Lac province) because he had given food to another two Degars who were in hiding in the jungle; his whereabouts and condition are unknown.

On 14 February 2003 the police arrested, in Buonmathuot, Y-Suar (33 years old, from Buon Jun Yuh, Dak Mil district, Dak Lac province); his physical condition is unknown.

On 17 February 2003 Y-Yan Buon Ya (37) and H'Powel Nie (31), a married couple, fled into the jungle to avoid being arrested by the security forces, leaving at home their two children H'Nong Nie (9) and Y-Le Nie (6).

On 22 February 2003, at about 11 a.m., the Vietnamese police arrested and took to Buonmathuot prison Y-Dhun Eban (42, from Buon Krue, Krong Ana district, Dak Lac province), who had gone into hiding to avoid arrest. On the following day his sister H'Nget Eban and her husband Y-Lia Ken, both 28 years old, were arrested and taken to Buonmathuot prison because they were suspected of having given assistance to Y-Dhun Eban.

In view of the foregoing detailed information, would the Commission state:

| 1. | whether it intends to ask the Vietnamese Government to explain why Montagnards are being systematically arrested and maltreated by the security forces? |
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1.

whether it intends to ask the Vietnamese Government to explain why Montagnards are being systematically arrested and maltreated by the security forces?

| 2. | whether it intends to ask the Vietnamese authorities to grant international agencies such as UNHCR and other NGOs full and immediate access to Vietnam's Central Highlands and the regions on the Cambodian border, where there is systematic abuse of human rights, as requested by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its conclusions of 27 June 2000 and whether, if the Vietnamese government continues to deny such access, the Commission intends to denounce the cooperation agreement signed with Vietnam, which is clearly conditional on respect for human rights and democracy in Vietnam? |
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2.

whether it intends to ask the Vietnamese authorities to grant international agencies such as UNHCR and other NGOs full and immediate access to Vietnam's Central Highlands and the regions on the Cambodian border, where there is systematic abuse of human rights, as requested by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its conclusions of 27 June 2000 and whether, if the Vietnamese government continues to deny such access, the Commission intends to denounce the cooperation agreement signed with Vietnam, which is clearly conditional on respect for human rights and democracy in Vietnam?

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