Rights groups urge Thailand to release Vietnamese activist, saying he faces torture if extradited

BANGKOK (AP) — A group of nearly three dozen rights groups called on Thailand's prime minister Friday to release a Vietnamese activist who has been ordered extradited home to face imprisonment on terrorism charges, saying he faces the possibility of torture if returned.

Y Quynh Bdap, who has United Nations refugee status in Thailand, was picked up by Thai authorities on a Vietnamese warrant in June as he was seeking to be granted asylum in Canada. He is being held in Bangkok pending extradition.

In the letter sent to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as well as other Thai officials and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Amnesty International and 32 other rights groups suggested Bdap “faces a real risk of torture, prolonged arbitrary detention or other grave human rights violations” if he is returned to Vietnam.

Paetongtarn’s spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said the prime minister's office had not yet received the letter and that he had no immediate comment.

Bdap is the co-founder of the Montagnards Stand for Justice group. He fled to Thailand in 2018 to escape persecution in Vietnam, which has long been criticized for its treatment of the country’s predominantly Christian Montagnard minority.

His group advocated for Montagnards’ religious and other rights, training them in international and Vietnamese law and how to document abuses, which the NGOs said made him a target of the Vietnamese government.

The 32-year-old was convicted in absentia in Vietnam in January of terrorism and sentenced to 10 years in prison on allegations that he was involved in organizing anti-government riots in Vietnam’s central highland province of Dak Lak last year.

A Bangkok court in September ordered his extradition. His appeal of that ruling is still pending.

Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for Vietnam's Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Hanoi on Thursday that it was “appropriate” to extradite Bdap “to ensure that all criminals will be punished by law.”

“Vietnam will work with the relevant offices in Thailand to deal with this according to the law of both countries,” she said.

Bdap went into hiding in Thailand after he was alerted that Vietnamese authorities were making inquires about him earlier this year, and released a video shortly before he was apprehended saying he had “absolutely nothing to do with that violent incident.”

“I am a human rights activist fighting for religious freedom and advocating for people’s rights,” he said. “My activities are peaceful, consisting only of collecting and writing reports on human rights violations in Vietnam.”

In the January court case in Vietnam, about 100 others were also tried for alleged involvement in riots at two district government offices in which nine people were killed, including four police officers and two government officials. Fifty-three were convicted on charges of “terrorism against the people’s government,” state-run Vietnam News reported.

Days after the verdicts, the Foreign Ministry's Pham Thu Hang rejected criticism that Vietnam had used the trial as an opportunity to crack down on ethnic minorities, saying the government needed to “strictly deal with terrorism according to international law.”

“All ethnicities living in a territory of Vietnam are equal,” she said.

In the joint letter, the NGOs underscored that U.N. rights experts have expressed concerns that the trial may have been politically motivated — pointing out Bdap was in Thailand when the alleged crimes in Vietnam were committed — and did not meet fair trial guarantees.

They also noted that Thailand has just been voted into the U.N. Human Rights Council for a three-year term starting Jan. 1.

“Being elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council comes with serious responsibilities to implement policies and actions to respect human rights,” said Prakaidao Phurksakasemsuk of the Cross Cultural Foundation, which was one of the groups that sent the letter.

"What happens to Y Quynh Bdap is a test case of that Thai commitment, and the prime minister should do the right thing and order that he be allowed to safely resettle with his family to a third country where he can receive protection.”

Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates group, which also signed the letter, said Bdap should be freed on bail while his appeal is pending to be reunited with his wife and three young children.

“There is absolutely no sufficient reason to hold a refugee father in detention, away from his children, and subject him to continued suffering based on bogus accusations and politically motivated claims being pressed by Vietnam’s authoritarian government,” Robertson said.

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Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this story.