Khối 8406 Tuyên Ngôn Tự Do Dân Chủ Cho Việt Nam 2006
Bloc 8406
Manifesto on Freedom & Democracy for Vietnam 2006
<vanphong8406@gmail.com>
Letter of Protest No. 16 of Bloc 8406
Protesting the Vietnamese Communist Government’s suppression of petitioning victims of injustice on the midnight of July 18 and the morning of July 19, 2007
We
respectfully address :
-
All
Vietnamese inside
-
The
United Nations, Congresses and Governments of Democratic Countries,
-
Human
Rights International Organizations and International News Agencies
Since June 22, 2007, victims of injustice from 19 provinces: Tien Giang, Long An, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, An Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Lam Dong, Can Tho, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Binh Thuan and 9 districts of Saigon City: Go Vap, Binh Chanh, Tinh Thanh, and districts 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 (source: Urgent Petition of Citizens on July 16, 2007), could not stand any longer to see their appeals go unresolved neither by the central nor local authorities, for many decades, so they decided to stage a peaceful sit-in protest in front of the Second Congress building, located at 192 Hoang Van Thu, 9th Hamlet, Phu Nhuan district of Saigon, to call for justice to be served.
Unfortunately, in response to this rally, the government closed this office of the so-called “highest organ of State power” and it remained closed for the several weeks of the rally, causing the victims of injustice to complain: “The office is no different than a cemetery, there is no sight of any officials! Where is the responsibility? Where is the compassion? How could they kill their humanity? How could they turn away in apathy?” Resonating with the irresponsibility of the “representative organ of the people” are the cowardly and unresponsive domestic mass media (composed of more than 600 newspapers) and the apathy of many of the so-called “spiritual leaders of the people” (from various religions). On the other hands, the victims of injustice certainly attracted many policemen (the so-called “friend of the people”) both in uniform and in civilian clothes (both from different provinces and the local district) to infiltrate with the purpose of collecting information on the leading members of the protest, and to brutally assault any reporters who attempted to learn the situation or any compassionate person or any pro-democracy activist who tried to bring help to these poor and homeless victims. Some delegations of various provinces tried to lure their people back to their original residences with a false promise of resolution of their appeals!
The protest is in its 4th
week, the morale and the number of participants is on the rise, and the support
of the people for their cause are spreading, especially after the visit of the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do the morning of July 17 to the victims of
injustice. Later on that same day,
the Deputy Prime Minister of the
Vietnamese Communist Government (VCG), Truong Vinh Trong, flew in from
On the night of July 18, 1000 to 2000
policemen, secret agents, armed soldiers, even gangsters, equipped with
electric rods, bludgeons, tear gas, rifles and pistols, tanks, buses,
ambulances, fire trucks, and animal-cage trucks, surrounded the area after
cutting the electricity and jamming cell-phone signals. To start, the police called for the people to
return to their original residences, threatening them that if they did not,
then they would use force. However,
these poor citizens felt that they had nowhere left to return to, and their
situations would be hopeless even if they were to return, so approximately 600
citizens decided to stay. High intensity
lights were then turned on them, together with fire hoses spraying water, fire
extinguishers erupting, tear gas being sprayed, and electric rods beating them
down mercilessly. Thousands of policemen
charged the crowd, which was mostly composed of women and elderly citizens,
like a hungry herd of animals. They
seized these helpless people and threw them in buses and trucks like
animals. In this chaotic scene,
approximately 5000 residents of
The whole attack took approximately 2
hours and ended at 12:34 AM of the morning of July 19, 2007. All tents, blankets, belongings, banners,
even Communist party flags, pictures of Ho Chi Minh, photographs of family
members of some of the victims of injustice who died in the war, and
Commendations of the Fatherland which had been previously awarded to some of
the victims of injustice, were taken down and thrown in trash-hauling trucks
stationed nearby. Fire-hoses were used to spray water to clean up the scene,
especially blood which had been shed by a number of the protesters a few
minutes earlier. The front of the
Building was made to appear attractive again, in time for the opening of the
National Assembly No. 12 that morning (in
The victims of injustice were supposedly taken back to the districts of their original residence, but in fact were taken halfway to their home provinces, forced out of the vehicles in which they were being held and transported, and abandoned to find their way home by themselves. Some of these victims of injustice, during interviews with overseas media, reported that they had received summons to “work with” the local police (a code-word for interrogation and threats.) The victims have no hope that justice will ever be returned to them, despite the empty promises of the local authorities that in the next few months they will resolve what they had refused to resolve for many decades. Instead, these victims fear that they will receive merciless reprisal and even execution in secrecy in the case of the citizens who stood out as the leaders of the protest (as was the case after the peasants’ protest in Thai Binh 20 years ago.) However, these people are determined to continue in their quest for justice, since they literally have nothing to lose!
In light of the above mentioned horrific event, Bloc 8406 concludes:
- This is proof that the VCG has never been “of the people, based on the people, for the people” as they have always claimed, but a group of gangsters composed of the state, the National Assembly, the police, and the Fatherland fronts to cover up for each other in robbing poor innocent citizens, in order to accumulate material wealth for the sole purpose of prolonging their monopoly on power. They have no intention of resolving the millions of appeals like these which have accumulated throughout the country.
- The Communist Party and the VCG have ruled the country with deception and violence. Contradictory to the government’s claim of a “fight against corruption”, they have singled out to further persecute any victims of injustice and corruption who have appealed their cases patiently and peacefully for many years. When these victims strongly voiced their dissatisfaction, they were brutally suppressed. However, it is easy to understand, considering that the corrupt people who stole these victims’ property are the members of the Communist party and the government, who have no respect for the property of the people or of the nation.
- The VCG trampled these victims without humanity or compassion. Their bottomless greed has driven the country to poverty, leaving many people with no means to survive. They offered our lands to Communist China, sold to foreign investors many areas of the country that have potential for growth, and yet they still continue to steal and rob millions of poor citizens of their last piece of land, their last means of survival.
- The VCG, with its sophisticated and wicked tactics, has turned the people, who are supposed to stand up for justice and protect victims due to their role in society, to show apathy and indifference toward the suffering of these victims, while making obsequious statements to the oppressing regime. The destruction of human conscience, morality, and the sense of uprightness and determination of the Vietnamese race is the worst crime committed by the VCG.
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This long protest filled with determination and bravery of citizens of 19
provinces and 9 districts of
- Resolution of the cases of these victims of injustice in particular, as well as all of the problems faced by our beloved Vietnam, can only succeed through a multiparty, pluralistic political system with true democracy and freedom, non-Communist, and non-totalitarian.
To stop the crimes committed by the CVG, Bloc 8406 calls upon:
- All Vietnamese forces struggling for democracy inside Vietnam and overseas, Congresses and Governments of democratic countries, and everyone who has a love for freedom and justice, to (1) adamantly condemn this inhumane oppression of these powerless victims by the VCG; (2) pressure the VCG to return these and all unjustly confiscated properties to their rightful owners and strictly and clearly discipline the corrupt officials who were responsible; (3) demand that the VCG release immediately all of the victims who participated in the protests, especially those who lead the protest, such as Mr. Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Ngoc Hien, Cao Que Hoa, Le Thi Nguyet, …; and (4) frequently monitor the safety of these people after their release since they are likely to be secretly executed or imprisoned again.
- The police, army, mass media, and state-sponsored religious leaders who are co-operating with the brutal regime, to be aware that your co-operative activities with the government will someday be dismissed, trampled upon, and thrown out, in the same way that was done with the positive and officially recognized contributions which a number of these victims of injustice have given to the Vietnamese government in the past. In the meantime, your co-operation leaves a shameful mark in history, and justice will be served on the day when you are called upon to answer for your actions. The VCG will answer strictly for the crimes they have committed, unless they realize their mistakes, return to the side of the people, and atone for their crimes.
Written on July 20th, 2007 in
Interim Representatives of Bloc 8406:
Do Nam Hai, engineer, Saigon
Tran Anh Kim, former military
officer, Thai Binh
Phan Van Loi, Catholic Priest,
Hue
