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19/07/2004 | Freedom House, Democracy Coalition Project, Council for a Community of Democracies, UN Watch in support of the Transnational Radical Party

July 19, 2004 Dear Ambassador In April 2002, the Government of Vietnam lodged a formal complaint before the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO Committee) against the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) "a respected non-governmental organization in consultative status with the ECOSOC" concerning the accreditation of Mr. Kok Ksor, a member of the TRP General Council, to the 2002 session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The complaint alleged the involvement of Mr. Ksor in terrorist and secessionist activities in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Vietnam charges that allowing Mr. Ksor's presence within the UN was an abuse of TRP's consultative status. On May 21 2004, the UN Committee on NGOs took what we believe is an unreasonable decision by a one-vote majority when it decided to recommend the suspension for three years of the TRP’s Consultative status. This action, in our view set a worrying precedent, as it was taken without allowing a substantive consideration of the issues that were presented by the TRP. The action by the NGO Committee also denied TRP its “right to defense” before the Committee. We believe that the way the UN Committee on NGOs has been dealing with Governments’ complaints against NGOs remains an issue of serious concern for the whole UN NGO community. In fact, the Secretary-General’s Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations, Chaired by Former President of Brazil Fernando Cardoso, in its report released last month, recommended that the UN de-politicize the accreditation system for NGOs. The vote sharply divided the Committee with nine members in favor of the suspension (Sudan, Zimbabwe, China Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, India, Iran, Pakistan and the Russian Federation); eight opposed (Turkey, the United States, Cameroon, Chile, France, Germany, Peru and Romania); and two abstained (Senegal and Colombia). We believe that had there been a full and thorough airing of the issues involved, the NGO Committee would have acted differently as Vietnam's charges do not stand up to scrutiny. The fact is that Mr. Ksor's organization" the Montagnard Foundation Inc." has been part of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples since its inception in the early 1990s. He is a respected advocacy leader and analyst of the repressive conditions under which the Montagnard people lives in Vietnam and it was in this capacity as an expert and as a member of the TRP’s General Council that he participated in the TRP delegation. Indeed, when the Vietnamese raised similar allegations in 2002, the Polish Chair of the 2002 CHR cleared the TRP of any wrongdoing when questioned by Vietnam. We ask that the ECOSOC take this important fact into consideration, when it considers whether to approve the approval of the Committee’s recommendation. Several country delegations to the NGO Committee have already clearly stated that Mr. Ksor and his organization do not appear in any lists of terrorist organizations compiled by the UN, by the EU, or any credible lists maintained at the national level. Several delegations have also clearly stated that there is no indication by their intelligence services of any terrorist activities carried out by Mr. Ksor or his group. Moreover the MFI’s website and all the public statements made by M. Kok Ksor clearly affirm that the only objective of this organization is to guarantee for the Montagnard people the respect of the indigenous rights recognized by international law and the promotion of a more democratic environment in Vietnam, and not the creation of an independent Degar State. The Government of Vietnam has been violating and denying such rights for many years, as repeatedly stated by respected groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and national and international institutions such as the European Parliament, the US Congress, the Italian Parliament, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UNHCR and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. As a group of concerned NGOs, we strongly urge you to oppose any effort to sanction the TRP on the basis of the above facts. We believe that the effort to sanction the TRP is incompatible with respect for the basic principles of freedom of speech and open discussion within the UN system. If the ECOSOC votes to sanction the TRP, such a decision would stifle legitimate discussion and criticism in the UN system, and would send a chilling message to the non-governmental community. In particular, we appeal to the governments that are part of the Community of Democracies and call on them to respect the principles agreed upon in the Warsaw Declaration and the Seoul Plan of Action, which commit democratic governments to respect basic rights such us freedom of speech and to act jointly inside the UN system on issues pertaining to the respect of human rights and democracy. For these reasons, we respectfully urge you not to support any recommendation aimed at restricting TRPs participation in any UN meetings or structures. We urge you to reject any motion that would label a peaceful group, such as the hill tribes of Vietnams Central Highlands, as terrorist only for speaking out against the persecutions they have been suffering since the end of the Vietnam War, which have been documented by the European Parliament, the US Congress and prominent international NGOs as increasing over the last two years. As friends of the UN, we respectfully urge that you uphold the highest international standards of openness, fairness and impartiality. Sincerely, Jennifer Windsor Executive Director Freedom House Theodore Piccone Executive Director Democracy Coalition Project Robert LaGamma Executive Director Council for a Community of Democracies Hillel Neuer Executive Director UN Watch

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