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IV. Mistreatment of Returnees from Cambodia

In April, Human Rights Watch received disturbing information about eight Montagnards who were among thirty-five who voluntarily returned to Vietnam in March from UNHCR shelters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Sources in Ia Grai district reported that after receiving the group of returnees at the border on March 11, 2005 Vietnamese officials drove the returnees to Ho Chi Minh City, where they stayed for about a week.¹⁷ The nine villagers were then handed over to Gia Lai provincial authorities in Pleiku provincial town, where they were held for a week.

According to these reports, while in police custody in Gia Lai Provincial Police Station, at least four of the eight villagers were beaten during interrogation. Human Rights Watch obtained the following details on their mistreatment while in detention:

1. “A”, 25, from “B” village, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district, Gia Lai Province. During his interrogation in Pleiku, a Vietnamese police officer stabbed him with his writing pen, lacerating three of his fingers and causing blood to gush out. The officer punched him in the thigh, leaving bruises.  

2. “C”, from “B” village, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district,  Gia Lai Province.  At Pleiku provincial police station, police officers punched him in his back, causing him to lose his breath. 

3. “D”, 20, from “B” village, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district,  Gia Lai Province. During questioning in Pleiku, provincial police officers punched him in his stomach.

4. “E”, 20, from “F” village, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district,  Gia Lai Province. During interrogation in Pleiku, provincial police officers slapped him across both of his cheeks. 

The returnees were then discharged to district police officials and escorted back to their villages by commune police officers. 

All eight of the villagers who returned to Ia Grai district in this group were then confined to their homes, under police surveillance. It is not known if these villagers were formally put under house arrest, or informally instructed by local authorities not to leave their homes.¹⁸ As of April 11, the last time Human Rights Watch was able to obtain information about the group, all eight of the villagers remained confined to their homes, under police surveillance.