24/03/2010By Charlie Thach
Source: Khmer Krom.Net
Mr. Huynh Ba, a Khmer-Krom peaceful activist from Soc Trang, has been sentenced to 2 years prison. Mr. Huynh was amongst a group of Khmer Krom people who have been conducting peaceful demonstration to demand for the return of his ancestral farmlands. On May 30, 2009 Vietnamese authorities arrested Mr. Huynh and he was detained until his trial recently on March 19, 2010.
After almost a year of being detained without any concrete charges, the Vietnamese government found the perfect excuse to charge Mr. Huynh. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison under the Vietnam Penal code of Article 258, which states, “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.” During the trial, Mr. Huynh did not have a lawyer to represent him and like the five Khmer Krom monks that were defrocked in 2007, he could not defend himself in this mockery of a trial.
The outcome of Mr. Huynh Ba’s case is one of the many prime examples of Vietnamese governmental hypocrisies and oppression today. At the United Nations, Vietnam proudly tells the world that according to its Constitution, “The citizen shall enjoy freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, the right to be informed, and the right to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations in accordance with the provisions of the law.” And yet when Mr. Huynh exercises this right and acts peacefully to hold demonstrations for the return of his ancestral lands, he is charged for “Abusing democratic freedoms”.
Ironically, in a country that is controlled by one single party- Vietnamese Communist Party- the Vietnam Penal Codes and Vietnam’s Constitution are just mere tools that are implemented to legitimize their “crimes against humanity”.
Vietnam policies are unilateral. They are written to protect the drumbeaters of their political party. Those who oppose them often find themselves prosecuted and imprisoned like in the case of Mr. Huynh. They are taken away to a secret location, beaten, tortured and detained for as long as a year or even longer. The detainees then find themselves charged for crime they did not commit.
The case of Mr. Huynh Ba is not merely punishment for a crime that he did not commit, but it also demonstrates the type of oppression that is inflicted on individuals who dare to speak their minds and stand up for their rights. Instead of solving the problem at hand, e.g the land confiscation issues, the Vietnam government cracks down on activists in attempt to avoid the issue all together. Mr. Huynh Ba’s case is then used to set an example for other Khmer-Krom people so that they do not conduct future demonstrations.
When the government targets to abuse and oppresses the human rights, “the mass psychological transformation of the oppress group becomes paramount to the goal of the oppressor. When that psychological transformation is complete, the resistance is broken and the power transfer is complete.”(Reicherter, The Khmer-Krom Journey to Self-Determination, pg 200, KKF 2009) And sadly, Mr. Huynh Ba has been victimized, not for “Abusing democratic freedoms”, but for being a Khmer-Krom who dared to challenge the government by demanding for his land rights.
Mr. Huynh Ba’s case is a sad reminder to all people of what would happen if the Khmer-Krom tried to stand up for their fundamental human rights.
Read more on his story here
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