Khmer Krom: Activist arrested for distributing UN declaration on indigenous people
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is calling on the international community to condemn the authorities responsible for the arrest and detention of a Khmer Krom human rights defender whose home was raided, and who was arrested and detained, for the possession and dissemination of information related to the United Nations Declaration on the RIghts of Indigenous Peoples. The government of Vietnam refuses to recognize the existance of indigenous communities, such as the Khmer Krom. While the actions were carried out by authorities in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, they represent the latest in a series of actions by the government of Vietnam to repress those seeking the protection of human rights of the Khmer Krom people.
Yoeung Kaiy s Facebook page
Authorities in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province arrested and later released an ethnic Khmer Krom youth and labor activist after he released a book about indigenous rights, drawing condemnation from a Khmer Krom advocacy group.
Yoeung Kaiy said in a post to his Facebook account following his release on Wednesday morning that he had been arrested a day earlier by “around 100 police officers” who raided his home allegedly without a warrant and confiscated some 100 books detailing the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, his cellphone, and his computer.
He said the police returned his cellphone and computer but kept the books and charged him with “publishing without permission” and “tax evasion.”