HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

MARCH 31, 2011

Crackdown on Christians in Vietnam Christians Forced to Renounce Faith in Public Criticism Sessions “The police would get drunk, wake me up, and question me and beat me,” said an indigenous minority Christian,arrested while demonstrating for religious freedom and land rights. “The handcuffs were like wire. They used electric shock on me. They would shock me on my knees, saying you used these legs to walk to the demonstration.” Repeated blows to his head left him partially deaf. The Vietnamese government has ratcheted up its crackdown on indigenous minority Christians from its Central Highlands. Officials particularly target those who worship in independent “house churches,” where Christians gather in someone’s home, claiming they use religion as a cover for an independence movement. In a new report, Human Rights Watch documents how authorities have dissolved house church gatherings, forced hundreds of indigenous Catholics and Protestants to renounce their religion publicly, and sealed the border to prevent asylum seekers from fleeing to Cambodia. We found that special “political security” units, together with police, interrogate people suspected of political activism or leading unregistered house churches. More than 70 indigenous Christians were detained or arrested in 2010, and more than 250 are known to be imprisoned on national security charges. Read more » Photo: © 2001 Human Rights Watch Gaddafi's Forces Using Landmines The Weapons Endanger Civilians for Years After Fighting Stops Libya Human Rights Watch confirmed that Muammar Gaddafi's troops have used landmines – weapons known to maim or kill civilians years after the fighting has stopped. A Libyan civil defense team disarmed 24 antivehicle mines and 30 to 40 plastic antipersonnel mines off the main road between Ajdabiya and Benghazi, in an area frequented by civilians in vehicles and on foot. Learn more » Syria Since large-scale demonstrations began two weeks ago, security forces killed at least 61 protesters in and around Daraa, near Jordan, and another dozen in Latakia, also arresting scores of people. In a speech yesterday, President Bashar al-Asad claimed to support reform, but offered zero specifics. Contrary to expectations, he gave no sign of lifting the state of emergency law, in place since 1963, or of safeguarding public freedoms. Syria’s laws need to change » Bahrain Security forces are targeting wounded protesters in hospitals, abusing them and sometimes interfering with their treatment. While interviewing one 22-year-old protester, hospitalized for internal injuries after being hit by birdshot pellets at close range, Human Rights Watch witnessed 10 security personnel, including at least four riot police carrying weapons, enter his room, force him to his feet, and take him from the hospital. Read his story » Prior to the March 28 discovery of the mines near Ajdabiya, Human Rights Watch had confirmed that government forces left behind plastic antivehicle mines in the area around Ghar Yunis University in Benghazi during their retreat from the city on March 19. Those mines, which had not been armed and planted, were founded by local residents and brought to an arms collection point in downtown Benghazi. Photo: © 2011 Human Rights Watch