Letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister

Content Warning: This post contains graphic material.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam

November 2, 2017

To: Embassy of Vietnam

Attn: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

1233 20th Street, NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20036

Prime Minister Phuc,

The Dega People's Movement for Independence demands the Socialist Republic of Vietnam end its human rights violations against the Dega people and its violation of Dega territorial integrity. As a member state of the United Nations, Vietnam must obey international laws. We call on Vietnam to honor the Dega people's legal right to restore the Dega State -- an agreement Vietnam made to our people and has deliberately ignored.

Vietnam has a moral and legal obligation to peacefully end its occupation of the Dega State. Vietnam must enable the Dega people to rebuild and develop our nation without Vietnamese terrorism. We urge the Vietnamese government and Vietnamese civilians to peacefully withdraw from Dega Country, known as the Central Highlands in Vietnam. The Dega people, like the Vietnamese people, have the right to national self-determination, freedom, and independence.

The Dega people are different as a nation from the Vietnamese people. Long before Vietnamese invasion, the Dega people lived independently in the Central Highlands territory for thousands of years. We the Dega people reject the claim that Dega territory belongs to the Vietnamese government. The Central Highlands has always been a separate territory from Vietnam. This is made even more clear by the travel restrictions Vietnam has put on the region and the Dega people. The Dega people only seek to restore and develop the Dega State without foreign occupation.

The Dega Movement receives numerous reports of persecution and genocidal acts against the Dega people. This includes political imprisonment and murders of activists, daily murders of civilians using automobiles, kidnappings, and murders of patients for organ trafficking. Over the last year Dega civilians living in our homeland confirmed the Dega people are being systematically murdered by Vietnamese doctors, police, and civilians during hospital visits for organ trafficking.

The photos below show Vietnamese police standing by a butchered Dega man's body on July 30, 2017. The victim's name is Y-Zet Mlo, born in 1995, from the village of Buon drah Commune Cu Ne, District of Krong Buk, Province of Dak Lak. A Vietnamese man murdered Y-Zet Mlo and removed his lung, heart, and kidneys.

Vietnam's terrorism against the Dega people is unjustifiable, as the Dega people have never sought to dominate the Vietnamese people. Yet, our people remain the target of a genocidal campaign. This is a crime under international law. The Dega Movement will exhaust all options to secure the Dega people's freedom and survival.

The Dega Movement urges Vietnam to comply with international laws. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Y Mut Mlo

Leader of the Dega People's Movement for Independence.