What was thought to be an agreement reached between Khmer Buddhist monks and Vietnamese officials has turned out yet to be another empty promise made by authorities as they continued to disrobe all eight Khmer Krom Buddhist monks held in their custody yesterday. Amongst the monks disrobed were Venerable Kim and Venerable Son who were forced to lock themselves in the main building of Tra Set temple for two days in protest of their innocence. Over two hundred military officers then surrounded the temple early Wednesday morning, effectively cutting all forms of food, water and communication access. The tension ended yesterday after Vietnamese authorities agreed to a peaceful truce and talks. Lured by a possible solution, both monks and several others allowed themselves to be guided to another meeting place. Later that evening, however all monks were effectively disrobed and returned home. Their fate as civilians for the alleged crime of conducting non violent demonstration remains unknown. A report by RFA in the Khmer program on 22 February has captured the last words of Venerable Kim prior to his arrest, in which he proclaimed that he would set himself alight if the Vietnamese authorities did not uphold their promises of not disrobing further monks. The promise was not kept by Vietnamese authorities and he is now disrobed. As tensions increase amongst the Khmer Krom community in Kampuchea-Krom, the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation has called on all international organisations, NGOs and governments to help resolve this issue. In particular, KKF President, Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach has called among His Excellency the King of Cambodia and the current Prime Minister to help their fellow compatriots who are facing dire situations. One Religious Head of Cambodia has refused to help, claiming that this is too political to be involved. Many Khmer Krom people have been heart broken with the news and are working together to bring some form of justice for these former Buddhist monks. Listen to RFA report on 22/2/07 Related: Khmer Krom people petition to stop the defrocking attempt on two monks by the VN authority
