Như Ngọc - On the morning of March 26, 2014, dozens of
land-grabbing victims stage a protest at the former Presidential Palace in
Saigon to request settlement for their lands which have been taken by Communist
authorities without offering adequate compensation.
Most of the protesters came from southern
provinces of the country, where farmers, although in war time, enjoyed land
ownership, bountiful harvests, and a comfortable life before the Communist
takeover of South Vietnam in 1975.
Most Communist officials have enriched their
fortunes by pocketing from juicy development projects at the hard to bear
expense of poor farmers. While millions of Vietnamese are living under $1.50 a
day, a bowl of “Pho” (Vietnamese beef noodle) served as breakfast at a high-end
restaurant in Hanoi, which, often, exclusively serves the elite and their
families, is said to cost $50.
Instead of sending officials to meet
protesters, the city always dispatches its notorious police force and
regime-hired thugs to harass, beat, disperse and or arrest them.
Trying to get the attention from foreign
tourists, the protesters marched to Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica flocking to the
statue of the Virgin Mary to pray and call out for justice in anguish.
“This morning we walked by the Notre Dame, they
sent dozens of police to repress us; they grabbed, they pulled and dragged old
women away. They arrested people for taking them back to their provinces. Ms.
Oanh from Binh Duong, Ms. Ngoc Anh and three old women have been detained since
this morning. The women from Tien Giang province are still locked up at Ben
Nghe Ward in District 1. They arrested me for taking back to An Giang, Tien
Giang,” a
protester told Mac Lam of RFA.
“After arresting more than 40 people and
shoving us into a vehicle, they started to beat Ms. Pham Thi Hue from Binh
Duong. They used batons to beat her while calling us ‘the dogs’,” Ms. Tran Ngoc Anh told
RFA how protesters were treated by police.
“We have three requests. First, the government
of Vietnam must immediately stop the oppression against petitioners and stop
beating female petitioners. Second, the government must not cover up corruption
in order to rob lands and properties of people; confiscated lands must be
returned to people. Third, we ask the U.S. Consulate to request the U.N. for
intervention on human rights issues for the people of Vietnam today. The
government of Vietnam has not changed, but escalated the repression and
physical assault on our female petitioners in a brutal manner,” Ms. Tran added when
answering a question about the purpose of today protest.
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