An international human rights coalition said that Thailand would violate its obligations under domestic and international law if they extradite human rights activist Y Quynh Bdap back to Vietnam.
Bdap, a member of an ethnic minority in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, is expected to stand an extradition trial held by a criminal court in Bangkok on July 15.
Vietnamese authorities sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison, claiming he was involved in 2023 attacks on two public agency headquarters in Dak Lak province last year that left nine people dead, even though he has been in Thailand and recognized as a refugee since 2018.
The area where the attacks took place is home to about 30 indigenous tribes who have a long history of conflict with the Vietnamese majority, and claim they have been discriminated against and persecuted.
They are often referred to as Montagnards, a term coined by French colonialists to describe the tribes, many of whom are Christians, but Vietnam has rejected use of the term.
On June 11, about a year after the attacks, Thai police arrested him. It was one day after he had met with Canadian diplomats to discuss his resettlement there as a refugee.
On July 4, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – a partnership of the World Organization Against Torture and the International Federation for Human Rights called for an urgent intervention into Bdap's case.
“If forcibly repatriated, Y Quynh Bdap faces arbitrary imprisonment and the risk of torture,” the group said.
Thailand would “blatantly violate its obligations under domestic law and international treaties, notably the principle of non-refoulement enshrined in Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and in Thailand’s Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances,” it said.
This new law, which took effect on Feb. 22, 2023, explicitly prohibits returning individuals to countries where they may face torture, ill-treatment, and enforced disappearance, the group said.
The group said that returning Y Quynh Bpab would violate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which Thailand ratified and which came into effect on June 13, 2024.
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The observatory strongly condemned Thai authorities’ arbitrary detention of Y Quynh Bdap, saying that it was aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities. The organization also called on the Thai government to immediately and unconditionally release him.
Huynh Trong Man, who has been living as a refugee in Thailand since he left Vietnam after actively participating in the demonstration against the draft laws on Special Economic Zone and Cybersecurity in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018.
He told RFA Vietnamese that Bdap was “unfairly sentenced to 10 years in prison on the fabricated charge of ‘terrorism.’”
Man called Thai police’s arrest and detention of Bdap, made at the request of Vietnam, “illegitimate,” and said extraditing him would violate Bangkok’s human rights commitments.
Man also said the Thai Royal Police should not arrest activists who were taking refuge in Thailand and urged sponsor countries to complete immigration procedures for refugees quickly to protect them from danger.
RFA sent emails to the Thai prime minister, foreign minister, minister of justice, and head of the Thai Royal Police to seek comments on the aforementioned call of the human rights coalition but did not receive a response at press time.
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong.