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.