{"id":47867,"date":"2024-03-06T18:14:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T02:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sweet-pascal.52-27-215-206.plesk.page\/vietnam-labels-2-foreign-based-groups-terrorist-organizations\/"},"modified":"2024-03-06T18:14:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T02:14:55","slug":"vietnam-labels-2-foreign-based-groups-terrorist-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/vietnam-labels-2-foreign-based-groups-terrorist-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam labels 2 foreign-based groups \u2018terrorist organizations\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vietnam has accused two foreign-based political groups of being \u201cterrorist organizations\u201d that helped plan an attack in Vietnam\u2019s Central Highlands last June leaving nine people dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Ministry of Public Security identified them as the United States-based Montagnard Support Group Inc. (MSGI) and Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was formed in Thailand in 2017 and began operating in the U.S. two years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Montagnards are a mainly-Protestant ethnic minority that live in Vietnam\u2019s Central Highlands.<\/span><\/p>\n

MSGI and MSFJ have campaigned for their rights, claiming they struggle to receive official documentation and often lose out in land grabs by local authorities. Many are also harassed and prevented from practicing their religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s statement from the ministry claimed the two groups recruited and trained people to \u201ccarry out terrorist activities, incite protests, kill officials and civilians, sabotage state assets and try to establish their own states.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The claims relate to the <\/span>attacks on June 11, 2023<\/span><\/a> when dozens of Montagnards, divided into two groups, attacked the headquarters of the People\u2019s Committee and the police of Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes in Dak Lak province. Four police officers, two commune officials, and three civilians died in the attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

MSFJ co-founder <\/span>Y Phik Hdok told Radio Free Asia his group never advocated violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said it operated peacefully with the goal of fighting for human rights and religious freedom and denied the ministry\u2019s claims.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis accusation is just a demonstration of the Vietnamese government’s anger and its efforts at revenge,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough there was no specific evidence, they took advantage of the shooting \u2026 to hide the truth and slander to cover up their unjust policies. their attacks against and repression of the Protestant minority in the Central Highlands and those fighting for their rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Public Security\u2019s statement named several leaders of MSFJ, including Ede human rights activist H Biap Krong, as being ringleaders of the plot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Krong told RFA Vietnamese she had never been a member of <\/span>MSFJ<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing to do with the shooting incident in Dak Lak. This accusation by the government is completely baseless and is an irresponsible statement,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ministry statement also named two people it said were leaders of MSGI, Y Mut Mlo and Y Duen Bdap. It accused them of luring ethnic minorities into using violence, carrying out terrorist acts, inciting protests and armed riots, and demanding secession, autonomy and the establishment of an independent state in the Central Highlands.<\/span><\/p>\n

Y Duen Bdap told RFA he is the leader of the Dega Central Highland Organization, and not a member of MSGI.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization is a non-violent organization. The Vietnamese government is a terrorist organization, they steal our land and kill our people,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI fight for human rights and the right of our people to live on the land where they were born.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

RFA emailed the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam to request comment but did not receive a response by time of publishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

A call to Vietnam\u2019s Ministry of Public Security with a request for comment on the activists\u2019 denials of the accusations of terrorism also went unanswered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tin t\u1eeb RFA Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vietnam has accused two foreign-based political groups of being \u201cterrorist organizations\u201d that helped plan an attack in Vietnam\u2019s Central Highlands last June leaving nine people dead. The country\u2019s Ministry of Public Security identified them as the United States-based Montagnard Support Group Inc. (MSGI) and Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was formed in Thailand in …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82,239],"tags":[246,251],"class_list":["post-47867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-vietnam","tag-english","tag-rfa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}