Response: Forced Dega TV "Confessions" Aired By Vietnam

Y-Duong Mlo gives a forced "confession" on Vietnamese television. Source: YouTube / The Cambodia Daily

In 2017 Vietnam's state television aired forced "interviews" of Dega protestors. These protestors bravely spoke out against Vietnam's human rights crimes and called for the restoration of the Dega nation during peaceful demonstrations. Vietnam responded with brutal military violence. Dega protestors were forced to flee our homeland to neighboring countries. Cambodia, unfortunately, forced Dega refugees to return to Vietnam. There the Dega people faced persecution once again. Several Dega returnees were forced to give nationally televised "interviews" under the direction of the Vietnamese government.

These "interviews" are simply forced public statements meant to:

• cover up Vietnam's human rights crimes including the ongoing genocide of the Dega people,
• destroy the Dega independence and human rights movement,
• push a false narrative of Dega terrorism, and
• cause fear among the Dega and Vietnamese people.

The Vietnamese government coerced Dega people to make public statements such as:

• "I was wrong to commit a crime by campaigning for Dega independence in the church, fields, villages, and communities." ---- Vietnam's occupation of the Dega State is a violation of Dega territorial integrity. This is a violation of international law. The Dega people have the legal right to restore the Dega State as a sovereign nation. As such, the Dega people have the right to campaign for Dega independence. Even though the Dega people held peaceful protests, Vietnam responded with brutal military violence -- murdering thousands of Dega people and imprisoning others. The criminal in this case is the State of Vietnam, not the people who organized the peaceful demonstrations.
• "If I do it again, I am wrong to commit a crime and Vietnam has the right to punish me." ---- Despite being a member state of the United Nations, Vietnam has enacted laws that violate international human rights laws. Vietnam criminalizes the Dega people's legal right to restore the Dega State, falsely labeling it "terrorism". The terrorist in this case is the State of Vietnam who intimidates, imprisons, tortures, and murders Dega activists and religious leaders. Vietnam's criminalization of Dega activism is a method to continue the genocide of the Dega people without interference from the local, national, and international community.
• "Dega FULRO is a terrorist and destroys Vietnam's national security." ---- Dega FULRO became a defunct organization in 1992. In 1964 FULRO formed out of self-defense to protect the Dega people from Vietnam's terrorism. This terrorism included the systematic murder of over a million Dega civilians by North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong during the Vietnamese Civil War. Vietnam's terrorism continues today through unlawful murders of civilians by Vietnamese police and security forces, destruction of Dega churches and homes, forced removal to infertile, poisoned lands, exploitation and destruction of Dega environments, daily murders by automobiles, kidnappings, organ trafficking, and other evil genocidal acts. Vietnam continuously violates the international laws it agrees to uphold as a member of the United Nations. The Dega People's Independence Movement is not a terrorist movement. We do not seek to disrupt Vietnam's national security. Our movement only demands for Vietnam to honor its broken agreements to peacefully restore the Dega State, which is our legal right. Time and time again, Vietnam has used unlawful violence and intimidation to control both the Dega and Vietnamese people who seek a more fair world.

In the words of Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, "what this video shows is that the Vietnam government puts these returnees under a web of surveillance and control as soon as they get back home in Vietnam" (The Cambodia Daily). The forced confessions are just another tool in Vietnam's deceitful propaganda campaign to shut down any ideas that do not align with its authoritarian regime.

Despite joining the United Nations, Vietnam continues to violate international laws. Until Vietnam obeys international law, Vietnam does not deserve to reap the benefits of being a member state of the UN. We call on the United Nations to:

• hold Vietnam accountable for their crimes against humanity,
• implement measures to ensure Vietnam ends its genocide and persecution of the Dega people,
• recognize and support the Dega State which has legal rights to restoration as a sovereign nation.