Today we're posting only once as part of the International Bloggers' Day for Burma. Click here for more information about the campaign. If you have a blog or Web site, it's not too late to join in the worldwide statement!
Today also marks one week since Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was slain in Yangon while filming a protest. His body has just arrived back in Japan. May he rest in peace, and may his killers be brought to justice.
Vietnamese democracy advocates have extended their support to the Burmese people who have been fighting for democracy -- and meeting with a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar government.
DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF THE MARCH FOR DEMOCRACY
OF THE PEOPLE IN MYANMAR/BURMATO:- The Government of Myanmar/Burma- All Sangha Leaders, Democratic Organizations and the People of Myanmar/Burma- The Secretary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations- Office of The Secretary General of The United Nations- The United StatesGovernment- The President of the European Union- Human Rights Organizations and International Telecommunications AgenciesFor over a month we have followed with great interest news of the march of people's power in Myanmar/Burma, watching Buddhist monks, students and ordinary people peacefully taking to the streets and demanding that the dictatorial Myanmar/Burma government conduct real dialogue with the people and democratic organizations so as to build a true democratic system that allows for a healthy, competitive pluralistic political society and that respects human rights.We, the undersigned Vietnamese individuals, organizations and associations struggling for a true Democratic and Prosperous Vietnam, would like to share the following sentiments:
- We wholeheartedly support the peaceful struggle of the People of Myanmar/Burma in order to establish a strong and stable civil society within a democratic, pluralistic political system. A successful democratic struggle of the people of Myanmar/Burma will contribute to the stability and security of Myanmar/Burma in particular, ASEAN and the world in general.
- We are holding the current government of Myanmar/Burma responsible for the security and safety of these peaceful demonstrators. The military junta of Myanmar/Burma should take this opportunity to hold direct talks with the people and democratic organizations of Myanmar/Burma such as the National Democratic League, led by Madame Aung San Syu Kyi, the Nationalist Students Organization of 1988, and venerable Buddhist clerics to create a peaceful democracy for Myanmar/Burma.
- We petition the Secretary of the Association of South East Asian Nations and member countries to raise his voice a in timely fashion to support the people of Myanmar/Burma in their current struggle for democracy, and we request that the military government of Myanmar/Burma conduct peaceful dialogue with the opposition in order to work out the differences between the people and the government.
- We are calling upon the United Nations, the United States, the European Union other democratic nations, human rights organizations, and international press and media agencies to raise their voices to support and assist with solutions for the current struggle for democracy of the Myanmar/Burma people.
We resolutely condemn the government of Myanmar/Burma for the use of any violence to suppress peaceful demonstrators. We would like to express our sincere admiration and understanding of the present difficulties that the people of Myanmar/Burma are going through, but we believe wholeheartedly that the non-violent way to struggle for democracy of these brave citizens will be successful.Drafted in Vietnam on September 28, 2007
Cyberdissident Dr. Le Nguyen Sang, who was convicted earlier this year on claims that he tried to weaken the communist party's authority by distributing pro-democracy materials, got his sentence reduced on appeal from five years to four years in prison on Friday. My response -- "whoop-dee-doo" -- is echoed by Tran Nam, who sees through the sham trial and in which lawyer Nguyen Bac Truyen also had his sentence reduced to 3 years, and journalist Huynh Nguyen Dao received 2 1/2 years in prison.
"The People' s Democratic Party (PDP) strongly protests the recent sentence of Dr. Sang's appeal trial. Once again, it shows that Ha Noi authorities have ignored international community' s condemnation and continued to violate human rights in Viet Nam.
Dr. Le Nguyen Sang and Vietnamese dissidents including Father Nguyen Van Ly, lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Tran Quoc Hien, Nguyen Bac Truyen, journalist Huynh Nguyen Dao and many other detained individuals are all innocent. Ha Noi should immediately release them instead of continue to crack down on people who dare to exercise freedom of expression's rights."
From Tran Nam:
At around 10PM. (July 19), Sai Gon police began to violently suppress Vietnamese peasants as they protest for their land rights. Thousands of police have surrounded the protesters, firing tear gas and spraying water into the crowd. Hundreds of organizers and protesters are being arrested and taken to unknown locations.
Since June 22, thousands of peasants from Southern provinces including Tien Giang, Binh Thuan, Dong Thap, Long An, Binh Duong, Ben Tre, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Kien Giang have traveled to Sai Gon. They are currently camped outside of the Congress House 2, at 194 Hoang Van Thu Street, Sai Gon in outraged protest over seizure of their land by the government.
Due to corruption, unlawful and arbitrary land policy, thousands of Vietnamese peasants have lost their land, homes and other properties. Many are living homeless, poor and hungry while corrupt government officials continue to pocket peasants' compensation to fund their lavish life style.
The authorities have failed to solve these contentious land issues properly. Instead of engaging in direct and peaceful dialogue, the government has chosen to use brutal force to suppress the protesters.
The People's Democratic Party strongly calls on the Ha Noi government to listen to its own people's concerns. We condemn the using force in order to suppress innocent people and hold the Ha Noi government accountable for committing these acts of violence against its own people. We call on human rights organizations, government officials of the free world and religious leaders to raise your voices to support the struggle of the Vietnamese peasants for the right to land and property.
A recent news item from the Committee to Protect Vietnamese Workers (with thanks to Trung):
In January 2007, Đào Văn Thuy joined the Vietnamese Independent Union and wrote an article on the VIU, published on protectVietworkers.com. As an active member of VIU, he has also performed a number of important tasks for it.
In January 2007, immediately after his VIU membership was known and his article was published, the Vietnamese regime told his employer to sack him. A number of overseas Viets volunteered to send him money to help fight what many regarded as a mean, gutter-level act of the regime. However, Thuy refused such assistance.
Now, for his personal safety as the regime has been rounding up civil rights and democracy advocates, he had to flee to Cambodia. CPVW will help him to seek asylum status at the UNHCR.
In Cambodia, there are several Vietnamese asylum seekers and recognised refugees. Their safety is uncertain, as the Hanoi regime has in the past sent secret agents to capture asylum seekers. They fled Vietnam with little more than the clothes on their back, and find it hard to make a living in Cambodia. They need overseas Viets' financial assistance, and CPVW is sending some money to assist them.
Tran Nam sends along these photos of protests that have been occurring in Saigon since June 22. He reports that more than 500 farmers have been gathering in front of Congress House 2 to demand fair compensation for their lost properties. "Most of these farmers came from the South including Tien Giang, Kien Giang, Binh Thuan and Ben Tre provinces who came all the way to Sai Gon to raise their voices," he writes today.
From his own testimony to Congress in 2001:
While trying to recruit support from your country, Ho Chi Minh himself opened the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam on September 2, 1945 to start the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with a clause from the Declaration of Independence of America in 1776: "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Despite a short history of 250 years, the United States, with the 1776 Declaration of Independence, has become the pioneer providing the world with the proper and complete concepts of FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE. Today, anyone who wishes to learn the meaning of freedom and independence can just come and observe your people and your country to fully understand it.
...Right from the start, when Ho Chi Minh set the three goals of independence, freedom, and happiness for the country but dictated socialism and communism as the way to achieve them, Vietnamese communists have contradicted themselves. The goals of independence, freedom, and happiness for the country, and for religions in particular, will not be achieved as long as the Vietnamese communists still adhere to the methodology of socialism and communism. By nature, these two doctrines include totalitarianism which can never tolerate true and full freedom. Today, many conscientious communists themselves have admitted to this fact.
At this very moment, anywhere in our beloved country, one can see the slogan "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom." Ironically, maybe because they are so precious and rare, it can be said very precisely that nobody anywhere in our entire country is living with independence or freedom. My absence from this forum is another clear evidence of that lack of independence and freedom. For years, young people in our country have walked with the banners of "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom" through countless gatherings and marches. The fact is they still thirst and long for that true freedom. ...
Head over and make your mark on an online petition condemning the Vietnamese government's abuses of human rights! Make sure that our Congress and executive branch keep the Vietnamese people first as the communist regime pushes for a greater role on the global economic stage.
Welcome to the blog dedicated to securing the release of Father Nguyen Van Ly! For those unfamiliar with this human-rights case, we invite you to stick around and learn more about the Roman Catholic priest and famous dissident who currently sits in jail for advocating democracy in his homeland of Vietnam. Because of Father Ly's dedication to the Bloc 8406 movement and human and religious rights in Vietnam, this site will not be limited to Father Ly's case. We hope to spread the word about all of Vietnam's political prisoners, and keep the world updated about their cases.
Because there is strength in vocal numbers, we encourage other blogs and organizations to get out the word about Father Ly and the human-rights abuses in Vietnam. Let us know if you link to this site, and we'll add you to the blogroll of supporters. Let your readers get involved in the struggle for democracy and human rights -- we'll be posting links to petitions and other ways in which readers can help heap pressure on the Vietnamese regime.
By uniting together across the globe in support of Vietnam's brave dissidents, we can change the world! Take that step and join us today!
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