Amnesty International Urges Thai Authorities to Halt Extradition of Montagnard Activist Y Quynh Bdap

Key events:

• Rights Groups Urge Thailand to Halt Extradition of Montagnard Activist Y Quynh Bdap
• Congresswoman Michelle Steel Asks Ambassador Marc Knapper to Push for Nguyen Thuy Hanh’s Release
• New Evidence Suggests Possible Russian Involvement in Havana Syndrome Style Attack in Vietnam

Rights Groups Urge Thailand to Halt Extradition of Montagnard Activist Y Quynh Bdap

Amnesty International has urged Thai authorities to halt the forcible extradition of the Montagnard human rights activist Y Quynh Bdap to Vietnam, highlighting the severe risks of torture and inhuman treatment should he be returned to the country. Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong, Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher, remarked in the July 10 announcement that Vietnam had “a long history of violent and racist persecution against Montagnard Indigenous peoples.” He added that Vietnam’s courts lack independence and that Thailand would breach its non-refoulement duty if the country accepted Hanoi’s repatriation request.

Y Quynh Bdap, a Rhade ethnic minority from the Central Highlands in Vietnam, was tried in absentia in early January 2024 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on “terrorism” charges linked to an armed attack that occurred in Dak Lak Province. The Vietnamese authorities accused Bdap and the organization he co-founded, Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), of inciting locals to subvert the government. According to Tatiyakaroonwong, the Vietnamese authorities have discriminately persecuted ethnic and religious minorities, even reaching out to those living beyond its border.

Amnesty notes that the case of Bdap is the prime example of Hanoi’s systematic repression of the fundamental rights of ethnic and religious communities. Members of independent religious groups that are not recognized by the government often face arbitrary detention and torture by the police. Many had to flee the region and seek refuge in a neighboring country. Most importantly, the Montagnards who remained in Dak Lak Province following the 2023 incident said that the authorities imposed a total lockdown in the province for months, especially targeting the Montagnard indigenous people.

Another concerning aspect of the extradition of Bdap is the inhuman and degrading conditions in Vietnamese prisons. A 2016 report by Amnesty that details the torture and ill-treatment of Vietnamese prisoners of conscience shows that correctional authorities had also systematically mistreated and tortured members of the indigenous minorities, including the use of physical abuse and solitary confinement.

Tatiyakaroonwong, the Amnesty researcher, said the case of Bdap also reflects the “Vietnamese authorities’ efforts to exercise its long-arm repression against human rights defenders beyond its own border.” He also urged Thailand to respect its obligations to prevent the refoulement of human rights defenders to places where their safety could be at severe risk. “Thai authorities must immediately release Bdap, stop his extradition process, and ensure the protection of Bdap and other Indigenous and religious minorities who have fled persecution from Vietnam to Thailand,” he added.

On the same day, the South Africa-based civil rights watchdog CIVICUS included Thailand on the watchlist of countries that are rapidly declining regarding civic freedoms. This was due to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's government's recent targeting of activists and opposition groups. The civil rights group also says they are concerned about the rise of foreign repression against foreign individuals seeking refuge in Thailand, as in the case of Y Quynh Bdap. CIVICUS declared that foreign governments, such as Vietnam, have often harassed, surveilled, and intimidated dissidents in exile with the cooperation and awareness of Thai authorities.

U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Steel Asks Ambassador Marc Knapper to Push for Nguyen Thuy Hanh’s Release

Congresswoman Michelle Steel, who serves in California’s 45th Congressional District, which includes a large Vietnamese-American community, wrote to the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Marc Knapper, to raise her concerns over the well-being of activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh and called on him to use his diplomatic capabilities to push for Hanh’s release. Currently, Hanh is placed under detention and compulsory treatment for her stage-two cervical cancer at the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry.

Steel, in her letter dated July 9, mentioned the crucial meaning of Nguyen Thuy Hanh’s work in raising funds for the families of Vietnamese political prisoners, which eventually led to her arrest and prosecution. The California lawmaker said the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment has resulted in severe side effects, while Hanh’s detention conditions are very poor, exacerbating her plight. She believes that the United States Embassy “has a mission of supporting and protecting human rights defenders” and calls on Ambassador Knapper to advocate for the release of Hanh so she can receive better health treatment.

At the same time, Steel has requested the Thai Ambassador to the U.S., Suriya Chindawongse, to free activist Y Quynh Bdap and help him resettle to a third country before his extradition trial scheduled for July 15. She said that Thailand’s returning Bdap to Vietnam is a violation of human rights commitments and expressed her worries that the Montagnard activist could face torture and a lengthy prison term following his arrival in Vietnam. “Agreeing to this unlawful extradition request would not only punish a brave activist but also create uncertainty for the over 2,000 Vietnamese refugees currently in Thailand,” she writes.

New Evidence Suggests Possible Russian Involvement in Havana Syndrome Style Attacks in Vietnam

New evidence indicates that Russia could have been involved in a Havana Syndrome-style attack before Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hanoi in 2021. The attack reportedly affected 11 U.S. officials, including two from the American embassy in Hanoi and nine individuals who were part of a Defense Department advance team. According to 60 Minutes, an investigative program of CBS News, Vietnamese security services may have possibly received technology from Moscow, including “LRAD acoustic emitters” and “short-wave equipment for scanning the human body” to spy on American diplomats.

The investigation is a coordinated effort between 60 Minutes producers and Christo Grozev, a journalist who leads the investigative work of a Latvia-based publication that focuses on Russia. According to Grozev, a confidential document shows that Russian intelligence has lobbied and received authorization from President Vladimir Putin to supply their Vietnamese counterparts with advanced surveillance technology, which harmed U.S. personnel. The journalist also suspects the Kremlin might send the same tools to other foreign governments.

Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, a retired army official who was in charge of an investigation for the Defense Intelligence Agency regarding these health incidents, told 60 Minutes he also believed Moscow was behind the 2021 attack. According to Edgreen, the Kremlin shows its intent to sabotage U.S. diplomatic relations with Vietnam and Cuba, as the same attacks were reported in the American embassy in Havana back in 2016.

Quick take:

Huynh Thuc Vy Denied Passport Following Her Release from Prison:

Vietnamese activist Huynh Thuc Vy told VOA News on July 11 that security officers warned her not to contact foreign diplomats or give interviews to international news outlets after the Dak Lak provincial authorities refused to issue her a passport. According to Vy, who was freed in early June, she had a casual meeting with German Consul General Josefine Wallat after her release. She said she once sent the German diplomat a letter expressing her wish to seek asylum in Germany after her prison sentence concluded.

Over 20 Organizations in Joint Letter Urge U.S. Government Not to Grant Vietnam ‘Market Economy’ Status:

Two dozen Vietnam-focused human rights organizations in a joint letter dated July 9 Two dozen Vietnam-focused human rights organizations, in a joint letter dated July 9, called on President Joe Biden to reject Hanoi’s request for recognition as a “market economy.”. The letter cited multiple shortcomings within the Vietnamese economy that do not satisfy essential standards that characterize a free economy. At the same time, these groups have expressed their concerns over the continuous violation of human rights and the widening wealth gap between the party-affiliated elite class and the general public in Vietnam.

Vietnam Abstains from UN Resolution Demanding Russia Return Control of Nuclear Power Plant to Ukraine:

Vietnam has abstained from a July 11 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly demanding Russia withdraw its military and unauthorized personnel from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and give Kyiv full control of the facility. The resolution was adopted on the same day, with 99 countries voting in favor, nine against, and 60 abstentions. According to the Ukrainian representative at the UN, Russia has launched an armed attack on the nuclear power plant and it continues to “violate key principles of technological and physical nuclear security.”

Vietnam and China Police to Hold Joint Training on ‘Counter-Terrorism’:

Xinhua News reported on July 12, citing a Chinese defense spokesperson's announcement, that Vietnamese and Chinese police forces are expected to conduct joint “counter-terrorism” training between late July and early August. Personnel from the Chinese People’s Armed Police and mobile police forces of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security will participate in the training, scheduled to take place in the southern city of Nanning. According to Xinhua, this drilling aims to improve the “counter-terrorism combat” experience and “foster mutual understanding and trust.”

Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

Rise of Chinese Language in Vietnam Hinders Plans to Bring Back Russian

Fulcrum/ Nguyen Thanh Giang and Le Hong Hiep/ July 12

“Historically, the teaching of foreign languages in Vietnam has been tumultuous, influenced by the political and economic climate in Hanoi as well as its foreign relations. During the Maoist era (1955-76) Chinese was a popular language in North Vietnam’s colleges, while French and English were discouraged as they were seen as languages of Western imperialism. However, after the Sino-Vietnamese border war in 1979, the Chinese language was seen with hatred and banned. In its place, Russian was being promoted instead. Soon afterwards, Vietnam’s economic opening and the demise of the Soviet Union prompted the decline of Russian and the concurrent rise of English, as well as Korean and Japanese.”

EU Human Rights Talks with Vietnam Draw Censure

DW/ David Hutt/ July 11

“Given the deterioration of human rights in recent years, Human Rights Watch this month called on the EU to ‘not repeat fruitless human rights dialogues that merely cultivate the illusion of addressing Vietnam's human rights crackdown.’"

"Unless the human rights dialogue is used to lay out those consequences and benchmarks to avoid them, it will remain just another box-ticking exercise," Claudio Francavilla, the associate EU advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Other human rights groups agree.”