July 19, 2007
Utilizing a force of over a thousand uniformed and plainclothes police, the Vietnamese communist authorities cleared the National Assembly’s representative office in Saigon of about six hundred protestors last night. Police surrounded the area, jammed cell phone reception, and carried the demonstrators into waiting vans. Authorities temporarily detained many of the demonstrators then shuttled them home.
For 27 days, a growing number of farmers from 18 southern provinces organized a peaceful sit-in at the offices of the National Assembly to protest government corruption and land confiscations. This unprecedented act of civil disobedience drew up to 2,000 participants in recent days. The farmers, many female and elderly, braved pouring rain, a virtual blockade by authorities who prevented food and other supplies from being delivered, and other forms of harassment and intimidation in order to petition the central government to hear their grievances.
On July 7th, protestors formed a representative committee and issued an appeal for the National Assembly “to urgently intervene and protect all citizen rights in accordance with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s constitution so that all the aggrieved cases can be fairly resolved.”
To date, none of the appeals by the aggrieved citizens who have congregated in Saigon for the last month and those currently at Mai Xuan Thuong park in Hanoi have been addressed by the leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
As a result, the grassroots movement for social justice in Vietnam will continue to grow. These mass protests in the days and months ahead are a part of the “people power” forming in the country.
Contact:
Angelina Do
media@viettan.org
