Source : Facebook of Nguyen, Thanh Tu
I was deeply touched by the courageous and overwhelming supports of my Dad's fellow Vietnamese and American journalists. On behalf of my family, I sincerely thank my beloved Vietnamese community, the Vietnamese and English-language media for their devoted attention to cold case murders of 5 Vietnamese journalists, my beloved father, Đạm Phong Nguyen, was among them. These unsolved murder cases occurred more than 30 years ago. The unsolved cases were nothing more than the forgotten dusty files.
However, all changed when on November 3rd, 2015, the PBS' Frontline's journalists, A.C. Thompson and Richard Rowley committed to see to that the integrity of the first amendment is preserved regardless of what language it is in, and that the guarantee of the freedom of the press not be perceived as selective. They have invested two years and a lot resources to seek justice for their fallen colleagues.
As A.C. Thompson eloquently puts it:
"We tell ourselves that our work matters, that it’s worth the risk, that it will be remembered. When another journalist is killed, we rush to tell their story and to say to the world that their life was not wasted. And so it shouldn’t have taken this long to get here. Over 30 years late, I’ve arrived at Dam Phong’s grave. His case is three decades cold, without a conviction or an arrest, just this headstone telling us that Dam Phong died for journalism. Lives matter, Dam Phong’s life matters."
The painful death of the five Journalists, including my father Đạm Phong have never healed. The wound that is moral, or occasioned by “contempt” and “injustice,” is the centerpiece of our anguish for at least more than three decades. I don’t think you ever get over the loss in your heart. And while that’s not to imply that you cannot proceed forward and achieve peace, the wound – the superficially healed wound – may still be deeply ingrained.
I'm sure as human beings, we all have a conscience. Even a killer has a conscience of his/her bad deed. "A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death". Here, the killers were simply acted upon an order and now being remorseful. I believe the time is ripe for killers to come forward with the information about the death of the five (5) journalists. They must know that the law enforcement is willing to grant them the immunity from prosecution if they are willing to cooperate. In a way they were victims of a well organized criminal enterprise. They must know that the families and the Vietnamese community will be generous in forgiving them. I appeal to the conscience lawyers who can help the victims seek justice, the lawyer could use the attorney power re-opens the cold cases burried more than 30 years ago.
NGUYỄN THANH TÚ
Son of a father killed in pursuit of truth
and justice through journalism
0 comments:
Post a Comment