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incommunicado and no news has <br />leaked out about their condition. <br />- On 25 July 2011, Father Nguyen Van <br />Ly, a tireless human rights activist <br />with his well -known motto <br />"Religious freedom or death," was <br />taken back to his prison after nearly <br />16 months allowed out for medical <br />treatment. He was, however, still <br />kept under house arrest, despite his <br />fragile health due to his previous <br />strokes in prison. <br />- On 7 July 2011, police and other <br />security forces surrounded the Buon <br />Kret Krot hamlet in Mang Yang <br />district of Gia Lai province, and <br />attacked a group of Christian <br />Montagnards during a prayer session. <br />12 men and 4 women were injured; <br />others were detained and tortured. <br />- On 30 April 2011, from 5 to 8 <br />thousand H'Mong people gathered <br />for a religious event and <br />demonstration in favor of reforms <br />and respect for religious freedom at <br />an area near Huoi Khon hamlet of <br />Nam Ke in the Muong Nhe district, <br />province of Dien Bien. On May 4 <br />and 5, police and borders troops were <br />mobilised together with tanks and <br />helicopters to repress and disperse <br />them. According to the Center for <br />Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), there <br />were 72 deaths and hundreds of <br />injured or missing. <br />The typical cases detailed above clearly <br />show that, although they loudly claim <br />respect for religious freedom, the <br />Vietnamese communists have never ceased <br />to suppress religions and harass the faithful <br />of all denominations. The communists are <br />very suspicious of religions not only because <br />of their atheist ideology, but mainly because <br />of their belief that religious organizations are <br />a threat to the regime's survival. <br />Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 <br />VI. WORKERS IN THE TRICKY <br />HANDS OF THE STATE AND <br />BUSINESS BOSSES <br />Following the economic opening policies in <br />the '90s, and thanks to the foreign firms' <br />investments, the number of Vietnamese <br />workers in the private sector increased <br />significantly. However, due to the absence of <br />effective labor protection and especially <br />because of the officials' greedy involvement <br />with business bosses to exploit the workers' <br />labor and squeeze them to the bones, the <br />society became insecure for everyone. In <br />2011, the workers' situation became so <br />unbearable that they had to resort more and <br />more to wildcat strikes while labor unions, a <br />tool of the CPV, always sided with the <br />business bosses; the state continued its labor <br />union monopoly and exerted ruthless <br />oppression against human rights activists <br />who dared to defend the workers. Besides, <br />the state maintained the regime of forced <br />labor in some institutions - -a fact known for <br />many years and which very much concerned <br />public opinion. <br />1. More and More Wildcat Strikes <br />According to statistics provided by the <br />Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social <br />Affairs, the number of wildcat strikes <br />doubled in 201116, up to 857 instances from <br />January to November 2011, from 422 cases <br />in the same period of 2010, mainly caused <br />by terribly low wages. Besides, the workers <br />were not only forced to work over time <br />without compensation and in extremely risky <br />conditions, they could be fired any time for <br />even petty reasons. According to Dr. Tran <br />16 VnExpress.net, "Binh cling 2011 tang gap d6i nam <br />trubc ", http: / /vnexpress.net/g1 /kinh- <br />doanh /2012/01 /di nh-cong- 2011- tang - gap- doi -nam- <br />truoc/ (accessed 14 Jan 2012) <br />21 <br />