Hmong Killings in Vietnam

By Pa Lee

As many as 72 Hmong Christian and animist believers, most of whom are Catholics and Protestants, have been killed by the Vietnamese People’s Army as of May 17, 2011. According to Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington D.C., multiple sources in Vietnam have confirmed that nine more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholics have been killed by security forces. The nine Vietnamese-Hmong were a part of a demonstration for religious freedom, land reform, and an end to illegal logging owned by the Vietnam People’s Army.

On May 1st,  an estimated 8,500 Viet-Hmong gathered in a peaceful, non-violent rally in the Dien Bien province in honor of the beatification of Pope John Paul II. The Vietnamese army sent in reinforcements ranging from ground troops to helicopter airstrikes after the demonstration broke out.  Special units of the Vietnam People’s Army, including “Dac Cong” special force units with Viet-Hmong translators, have been assembled to help helicopter troops in tracking, arresting, interrogating, and executing suspected Hmong demonstrators who have fled into the rugged interior.  Smith of CPPA stated that Viet-Hmong casualties and those arrested by Vietnam People’s Army soldiers continue to mount with each passing day as the military continues its bloody crackdown and security operations in Dien Bien province have intensified.  Many Hmong have been captured by force, arrested, and transported to unknown locations by military units.

According to the press release from the CPPA on Saturday May 21, 2011, the Vietnamese sent attack helicopters on unarmed Viet-Hmong civilians involved in the rallies. Smith of CPPA stated that M-24 “Hind” attack helicopters are now being deployed by Hanoi to fire their machine guns and launch deadly rockets at the Hmong who are fleeing into the rugged mountain interior of Dien province and across the border into Laos.

Vietnamese officials declared that all Hmong protestors are cult members and irredentists, members of a group of people who support the return to their country of territories that used to belong to it but are now under foreign rule. This theme is used repeatedly by Hanoi’s state-run media to justify using armed forces to attack Hmong-Vietnamese and Vietnamese Christians in the May 1strallies and in previous demonstrations in Hanoi for religious freedom and government reforms. This would explain why Vietnamese officials feel the need to squelch the rallies. They fear it would lead to widespread demonstrations. They don’t want this event to motivate others to instigate more rallies of this kind. They fear that it may result in other ethnic minorities and Vietnamese civilians joining together with Hmong to protest for greater religious freedom, human rights, political reforms, and in opposition to corrupt and unjustly harsh government policies. Vietnam is a totalitarian state where public gatherings are strictly controlled and all traditional media are linked to the regime.  “Vietnam’s Minister of Defense, GeneralPhung Quang Thanh, and others in the military and politburo, are concerned about mass demonstrations spreading to the general population who may also appeal for reforms, greater freedom, and regime change in Vietnam and Laos,” Smith of CPPA said.

Vietnamese officials have joined forces with Lao People’s Army to prevent the Hmong who tried to escape to Laos. They are actively working together along the Vietnam-Laos border in the Laotian provinces of Luang Prabang and Phongsali to help seal the border area off from independent journalists and newsmedia and to arrest or attack the Hmong who attempted to flee, said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). The Vietnamese government has repeatedly refuse journalists’ requests to go to this area.

One may wonder why the need to close this off to those who seek to find the truth. There are many claims by the Vietnamese government, such as the following: Soldiers “had to disperse the crowd by force,” according to a military source, who did not provide details of any casualties or the number of troops involved; “Minor clashes occurred between the Hmong and security forces,” he added; Protestors numbered in their thousands and “the army had to intervene to prevent these troubles from spreading,” the source said.  Hmong have a long history of animosity with communist Vietnam since the Hmong people helped the United States forces against communist North Vietnam during theSecret War campaign in Laos.

The Hmong people faced retribution after the communist took over in 1975 and have been persecuted since. Those still in Vietnam still face discrimination and abuse. “Now, over 2400 innocent Viet-Hmong have been arrested on baseless and false charges as many people had gathered initially in Dien Bien to honor Pope John Paul II, and his message of hope to the suffering people and Christians worldwide who are being persecuted,” Christy Lee of Hmong Advance, Inc stated. “Senior generals and defense ministry officials in Hanoi responsible for these terrible bloody acts against peaceful demonstrators in Dien Bien province have sealed the area off to independent journalists and the news media so the truth and facts cannot be easily learned,” Smith observed.

Additional information provided from OnlinePRNews, ABS-CBN News, and the Center For Public Policy