|
Vietnam - Hundreds of Vietnamese Christians
Killed Over Easter Weekend
An estimated 400 Christians have been killed in brutal repression
of
peaceful and prayerful demonstrations by Christians in the Central
Highlands of Vietnam.
On Saturday 10 April up to 400,000 Vietnamese
Christians, from the Degar people, gathered in several Vietnamese cities
to demonstrate against the government’s refusal to allow them
to follow the Christian faith freely. The demonstrators in the cities,
which included the Central Highland city of Buonmathuot, were attacked
by soldiers, police and other Vietnamese civilians. The Christians
were shot at, beaten with electric batons and bombarded with rocks
and stones. Hundreds were
killed (400 according to one report) and many others have suffered
broken bones.
In a press release on 9 April an organisation representing the largely
Christian Degar people, known as the Montagnard Foundation, drew attention
to the planned demonstrations, which were to include a specific call
for the Vietnamese government to lift the embargo on international
human rights monitoring in the Central Highlands area. In a word
of warning concerning the demonstrations the Foundation cautioned
that “Without the direct intervention of law abiding
states, the
UN and the European Commission, the repression against the Montagnards
will be bloody.”
How tragically accurate was this prediction.
It is also feared that this incident may spark a refugee crisis, with
thousands likely to head for the Cambodian border. To add to the woes
of these people, the Cambodians have closed this border to refugees.
In a statement issued after the demonstrations
had begun, the President of the Montagnard Foundation said that no
attempt was made by the Christians to use violence. He also stated
that the Christians are not seeking independence, merely the right
to worship freely.
The Foundation has stated that “Our
people cannot continue suffering this way as the Vietnamese government
continues to arrest, electric shock torture, and kill our peaceful
hill tribe people for being Christian or for trying to save our ancestral
land from being confiscated.”
Pray
- Pray that God will protect and preserve these
law-abiding Christian people in Vietnam.
- Pray that the Vietnamese government will respond
to international
pressure and admit human rights monitoring bodies to the Central
Highland region.
|
Prophecy
