Vietnamese security forces clash with Montagnards

[dArKeR]

AP , HANOI
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004,Page 5

Police and security forces used electric truncheons, water cannons and tear gas while beating and arresting dozens of Christian tribespeople during Easter weekend protests in Vietnam's Central Highlands, a human rights group charged yesterday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged police violently cracked down on thousands of ethnic minority tribespeople -- collectively called Montagnards -- and arrested dozens as they gathered on Saturday in Buon Ma Thuot, the provincial capital of Daklak. Four military tanks were parked along a major highway just kilometers away, it said.

"The human rights situation for Montagnards in the Central Highlands has plummeted to a new low," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "Vietnam's policy of repression of Montagnard Christians is only fueling the unrest," he said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/04/15/2003136722