No Christmas arrests in Central Highlands
Vietnamese foreign ministry rejected a recent Human Rights Watch report, which said there were massive arrests of Protestants in the Central Highlands during Christmas 2004.
Christians all over the country, including those from ethnic minority groups in the region enjoyed a peaceful Christmas, said spokesperson Le Dzung Jan. 10 in response to a question raised by Agence France-Presse.
He confirmed that there were no cases of ethnic minority people in the region being detained or tortured.
Earlier in the day, Human Rights Watch released a report that accused Vietnam of arresting and torturing a number of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands before the Christmas celebrations.
It alleged that police arrested numerous Protestants from ethnic minority groups in the region in the weeks before Christmas. In Gia Lai province alone, the report claimed that 129 people were arrested from Dec. 12 to 24, 2004.
(Source: Vietnam News Agency)
