Radio New Horizon (Chan Troi Moi) by Nguyen Hoang Thanh Tam
Saigon, July 3, 2007
“Police from Tien Giang province and the secret police arrested innocent people and violated the law….Down with Communists…Down Down”
“Police from Tien Giang province and the secret police violated the law, violated human rights, and confiscated land from innocent people…Down Down”
NHTT: Greetings all listeners, this is Nguyen Hoang Thanh Tam coming to you with a special report. The audio you just heard are the voices of the aggrieved citizens of Tien Giang province and other local provinces that convened to protest in front of the Congressional Office II in Saigon. In the last few days, the protest has escalated to several citizens being arrested and brutally beaten by the police. Everyday, several hundreds of people convened and on some day, it was reported that up to a thousand people gathered to protest here. This Tuesday morning, July 3rd 2007, we have connected with Ms. Thao, a young woman living in Saigon. Right after she heard of the protest, she came out to the protest site and provided moral support to the aggrieved citizens. We’ve performed a short interview in order to get more detailed and current information at the scene. We invite you to listen to the following interview.
NHTT: Greetings sister, first, can you tell us what is happening around where you are standing?
Ms. Thao: Banners are hung all over the streets. They read “Down with the Corruptive Government,” “Down with the Police from Tien Giang province confiscating land from innocent citizens.” Flags and banners are hung all over the streets. There are about 400 people here in front of the Congressional Office II. I asked the people here and they said they have been arrested. Some were arrested and detained for a year simply because they protested. Their crime was protesting, asking for their land back, and to speak their voice. There are elder women here that were detained for three months. There’s a teacher here that said she was detained for six months, was fired from her job, and was prevented from working. In general, everyone here is aggrieved and the level of grievance here has reached the maximum.
NHTT: In the last several days, there were news reported that Ms. Vo Thi Thu was brutally beatened in addition to Ms. Hoa and a few others that were arrested and detained. Can you give us an update on the conditions of the people mentioned?
Ms. Thao: They are still here, screaming to be heard but noone (the government) wanted to hear them. They have been here for several days. These are the citizens from Tien Giang. Citizens from Ben Tre are on their way. It’s very noisy now and you can hear the noise from the background.
NHTT: What is the reaction from the police?
Ms. Thao: No one paid any care to us. No one paid any care to us. There’s an old woman that just fainted because of the heat. And they just carried her into the shade. I apologize but this phone is running out of battery.
NHTT: So, are the police standing around the protesters?
Ms. Thao: Yes, they are standing on the streets. At first, they told us to move because we were blocking traffic. I said we are standing on the sidewalk, there’s no reason for us to stand on street so we are not blocking any traffic. So they just stand on the street. But there are lots of people here so they do not dare. The other day, they confiscated someone’s camera and cell phone. The people here ran after them and got the items back.
NHTT: What would you say is the reaction from the people around you?
Ms. Thao: They are very aggrieved and saddened that no one cared about them or wanting to hear their voice. Once person came out and advised the people to go home. But the people here demanded justice and wanted their grievances to be resolved then they will go home. Even the public security came out to video record the protest.
NHTT: How do citizens of Saigon react towards the citizens of Tien Giang and other nearby provinces that came here to protest? Faced with this situation, how do the citizens of Saigon react?
Ms. Thao: Every citizens of Saigon that passed by the protest seemed very surprised to see there are protesters. It must be because they’ve never seen such a big protest in Saigon before. In the last several days, we didn’t have a microphone. But today, we got a microphone so the people have been yelling.
NHTT: You estimated around 300-400 are participating in the protest…
Ms. Thao: Today, there are more than 400 people. It’s very crowded.
NHTT: With over 400 people there, can you estimate how many plain-clothed and uniformed police that are standing around?
Ms. Thao: There are a lot of plain-clothed police but I don’t know the number since they have integrated into the crowd. Uniformed police are standing across the street. They are lining up across the street.
Distant voices in the back: “Down with the corrupt governmental officials from Tien Giang…Down Down”
Ms. Thao: Can you hear the people’s voices in the background?
NHTT: Yes, I heard them.
NHTT: You have met many people over the last several days so you must know the difficulty that the people are going through. With the current situation, can you identify any difficulty that needed the most support from the Vietnamese overseas?
Ms. Thao: It’s the voices of the Vietnamese overseas when they heard us. I live in Saigon and I don’t even know where is the Congressional Office. And I didn’t hear of any news about how many people have gathered here. Vietnam’s media did not report any news about the aggrieved people here and the violations of human rights. I found out when I went on the internet but if I was at home, I wouldn’t have known about this. All of my friends did not know that there’s such a big gathering here.
NHTT: Besides lending a voice and to disperse the news about the protest to help the aggrieved citizens that are protesting in front of the Congressional Office II, is there anything concrete that the Vietnamese people overseas can support the people of Tien Giang and local southern provinces that convened in Saigon?
Ms. Thao: We have difficulties here. On the spirit front, the people’s spirits are really high but we have difficulty securing materialist means. The people are from the rural area. It’s already hard for them to make ends meet. Now, they left their jobs to be here. Some people went to Ha Noi for many months. Some people have been here for days, determined. I met several people who do not have any money left to ride the bus. So they walked from the Western Bus Terminal to here. Can you imagine walking from the Western Bus Terminal to here? It takes two hours and a half to walk. These are the difficulties faced by the people. They screamed for help but no one listened to them.
NHTT: Can you comment on how people are eating and sleeping?
Ms. Thao: There’s a group that goes out to buy food and brought back to share. There are cots and people just sleep right here. Some of the people tried to find accommodation near here and if not, they just hang the cots and sleep here.
NHTT: You mentioned earlier that even though you live in Saigon, you do not know the location of the Congressional Office II, so it’s possible that there are many people who are in the same situation. Can you tell us the exact location of the Congressional Office II, what street is it on, and directions on how to get there so that people who listened to this interview can find their way there?
Ms. Thao: The truth is people have been here for a while and although at first, there’s not a lot of people but more are coming. The Congressional Office II is located at 19 Hoang Dan Thu. It’s at the corner of Hoang Van Thu and Hoang Van Que.
NHTT: If the citizens of Saigon want to come by to find out more information, to join the protest, or to talk to the aggrieved citizens from Tien Giang, do you have any advise for the citizens of Saigon? For example, what should they bring along?
Ms. Thao: If the citizens of Saigon want to come by and talk to the aggrieved citizens, it will be a great moral boost for the people here because they understand the fears that every Vietnamese person have for many years. And if the citizens of Saigon cared about the people here and wanted to come and talk with us or find out more information, I think it would be very good for the people here.
NHTT: Thank you very much. This interview will be broadcast on all the Vietnamese media abroad. Do you have any last words for the listeners?
Ms. Thao: I would like to thank you very much for granting me this interview today. The people of Vietnam are still truly very poor. Do not look what’s on the surface and believe that Vietnam has truly progressed Vietnam only progressed in the areas of red capitalists. But the people of Vietnam are still suffering when they have to fight alone to get their land. They have invested a lot of their strength to cultivate their land. That’s the difficulty faced by the people of Vietnam.
NHTT: One more time, on behalf of all the Vietnamese youths and Vietnamese people overseas who always cared about these issues, we would like to thank you very much for your time and for sharing with us the news at the scene, at the Congressional Office II in Saigon. The address as you mentioned earlier is 19 Hoang Van Thu. I’d like to thank Ms. Thao one more time. Hopefully in the next couple of hours or couple of days, we will return to get the latest update from the protest and to inform the listeners of our program inside and outside of Vietnam.
Ms. Thao: Thank you and thanks to all the Vietnamese people abroad for caring about the people of Vietnam that are still suffering
NHTT: You have just heard the short interview with Ms. Thao, a young lady currently living in Saigon and is present at the scene, the Congressional Office II located at 19 Hoang Van Thu, Saigon. At presence, there are more than 400 citizens from Tien Giang protesting and demanding justice for their lands and properties that were confiscated by governmental officials, and the police that arrested protesters without just-cause and brutally beating others. The latest news update that we’ve received says that many people from nearby provinces are heading to Saigon to join forces with the people from Tien Giang. We will follow the events closely in order to bring you the latest updates.
