ARTICLE

Over the past few decades, the Vietnamese government has abused the rights of an indigenous ethnic minority group, the Montagnards, which inhabit the country's Central Highlands. Recently, the persecution of Montagnards has escalated substantially, resulting in the following forms of abuse:

▪  Arbitrary detainment and arrests

▪  Ransacking of houses

▪  Beatings

▪  Destruction of churches

▪  Religious persecution

▪  Confiscation of property

▪  Land grabbing.

Subsequently, hundreds of Vietnamese have fled to Cambodia in order to avoid persecution. However, based on agreements between Cambodia, Vietnam, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), many Montagnards have been deported back to Vietnam where they are subjected to arrest, torture, prolonged use of solitary confinement and other mistreatment. The Vietnamese authorities do not permit access by independent monitors to the deportees and their families, and the monitoring access allowed to UNHCR is strictly limited and conducted under constant government supervision.

On Tuesday, July 19, 2005, approximately one hundred (100) Montagnards whose applications for refugee status had been rejected by UNHCR were handed over to Cambodian officials for deportation proceedings. UNHCR’s decision came despite protestation by its implementing partner, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), that some of those being forcibly returned had “fair claims” for refugee status.

The following morning, trucks filled with Cambodian police officers arrived at a UNHCR center in Phnom Penh where the Montagnards were being held. Upon the police’s arrival, the Montagnard group, which included many women and children, engaged in passive resistance by sitting down and refusing to cooperate with orders to enter deportation buses. The police then broke down the group by kicking and beating them with wooden sticks, and shocking many of them with electric batons, before dragging them onto the buses. At no point did the Montagnards use violence.

Aside from UNHCR and JRS officials, no other agency or human rights observer was allowed access to the deportation site. The police used measures such as intimidation, violence and roadblocks to prevent journalists and human rights workers from witnessing the events.

Following the deportations, refugees who have declined resettlement in a third country, are now also in danger of deportation despite being recognized by UNHCR.

Cambodia’s decision to deport Montagnards is in direct violation of rights enshrined under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Pursuant to Cambodia’s obligations as a state party to the CAT, it may not expel any persons to countries in which they would be in danger of torture. Given Vietnam’s history of detaining and torturing deportees, Cambodia’s decision to deport the Montagnards, without proper monitoring and assurance, contravenes these obligations. Furthermore, Cambodia has the obligation under the CAT and the ICCPR not to subject any persons on their territory to torture. The use of excessive force and electric batons on the non-violent Montagnards and pre-meditated efforts to prevent monitoring by journalists and human rights workers directly violate this fundamental principle.

Because the Montagnards have little to no access to legal recourse, it is incumbent that human right monitors and journalists have access to any deportation and refugee measures. Cambodia’s failure to properly monitor and protect Montagnards deportees from abuse and torture is only a sample of the widespread abuse facing minority groups in risk who do not have access to independent adjudicative recourse. Only by creating more effective mechanisms for evaluating petitions for refugee status and allowing independent monitors wherever refugees or deportees are at risk, can Cambodia assure compliance with its legal obligations.