Y Quynh Bdap Faces Extradition to Vietnam on Questionable Terrorism Charge After His Canadian Asylum Claim Was Not Granted
June 14, 2024
Y Quynh Bdap, an activist for ethnic and religious minority rights and the co-founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), was arrested by Thai police on June 11, 2024 in Bangkok. He was arrested in response to a request by the foreign affairs office of the Thai public prosecutor, and the arrest warrant cited his conviction on terrorism charges, suggesting an extradition request had been made by Vietnam. Bdap is currently being held in pre-trial detention at Bangkok Remand Prison and faces imminent extradition to Vietnam, where he faces ten years behind bars.
Hear from Y Quynh in his own words, here.
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Bdap was convicted of terrorism in connection with the June 11, 2023 attack on government buildings in Dak Lak province. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison.[1] After the trial, the Vietnamese government announced that it will seek to extradite Bdap to Vietnam.[2] Bdap was in Thailand at the time of the attack and has asserted that he was not involved in the attacks in any way. Despite charging him with terrorism, Vietnam has not made public any evidence against him to substantiate the charge.
Bdap maintains that he is not a terrorist and has only ever engaged in peaceful activism fighting for the rights of members of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands. Before his arrest, he expressed his fear that he may be forced to return to Vietnam. This fear is not unfounded. Truong Duy Nhat and Thai Van Duong were both likely abducted by Vietnamese authorities while living in Thailand and are now imprisoned in Vietnam.
Bdap had applied for asylum in Canada months ago. And, on June 10, just one day before he was arrested, Bdap had an interview related to his asylum application at the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok.[3] However, Canada did not act on his asylum request in time.
‘Y Quynh Bdap is sitting in a Thai jail today because Global Affairs Canada made a conscious choice to delay his asylum application’, said Ben Swanton, Co-Director of Project88. ‘Project88 alerted Canada to the risk Bdap faced in Thailand, but the government chose not to help him. This is the second time in recent years that Canada’s inaction has resulted in the arrest of an asylum-seeker being pursued by Vietnam. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly needs to intervene to ensure Thailand does not extradite Bdap, even if this means antagonizing Vietnam’, Swanton added.
Statements by government officials after the Dak Lak attacks are troubling. Major General Pham Ngoc Viet claimed that terrorist groups are using ethnic and religious tensions to inspire terrorist attacks.[4] It appears that the government is using this attack as a pretext to target religious and ethnic minority activists who were not involved.
According to an report published by the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism, ‘In Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security utilizes terrorism and other criminal code articles to target dissidents, especially those who question the authority and legitimacy of the Communist Party of Vietnam. National protest organizers and participants have often been referred to as “terrorists” by state media.’[5] State actors and government-affiliated media have engaged in ‘terrorist tagging’, in which they ‘accuse an individual or organization of supporting terrorism specifically due to their criticism of domestic government policies.’[6] Moreover, counterterrorism efforts have also served as a justification for private data collection and government surveillance.[7]
The United States has been assisting Vietnam in its investigation of the Dak Lak attacks. According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang, law enforcement officials the two countries have exchanged information and worked together in the investigation.[8]
‘In light of the arrest of Y Quynh Bdap, America must cease its law enforcement cooperation with Vietnam on the Dak Lak attacks,’ said Michael Altman-Lupu, Human Rights Researcher for Project88. ‘The United States should not be complicit in Vietnam’s weaponization of counterterrorism to silence human rights activists,’ he added.
Bdap is a member of the Ê Đê ethnic minority group from the Central Highlands of Vietnam and is a Protestant. Bdap told Project88 that, when he was twelve years old, he witnessed the arrest and beating of his parents at the hands of the police—Bdap’s father was a religious leader in their community. This event changed Bdap’s life and instilled in him a desire for justice. Since that time, Bdap has dedicated his life to advocating on behalf of members of religious and ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands.
In 2008, while Bdap was in university, he advocated on behalf of protesters who were imprisoned after they stood up against seizures by the government of their ancestral land in order for the government to build factories and rubber and coffee plantations. He recorded the names of people who were arrested and helped victims demand compensation by filing complaints with the government.
Bdap told Project88 that, due to his activism, he was detained and, during interrogation, was forced to confess to being a member of FULRO, a now-defunct separatist organization that fought against the communists during the Vietnam War. Government authorities wrote a confession for him and forced him to recite it to his university.
Bdap told Project88 that in 2010 he was detained once again. While in detention, Bdap alleges that he was beaten to the point that he could not eat. He was released after four days, but it took more than two months for him to recover from the injuries he sustained.
In 2012, Bdap was arrested yet again and imprisoned for six months. He was charged with ‘sabotaging implementation of solidarity policies’, but he was never tried. According to the criminal investigation report, which Project88 has reviewed, Bdap was investigated for the list of prisoners that he compiled. After these experiences, in 2018, Bdap fled to Thailand and sought asylum.
In 2019, while in Thailand, Bdap started Montagnards Stand for Justice, an organization that works to help Vietnamese ethnic minority groups fight for religious freedom and equal rights. Seemingly in connection with his work at MSFJ, in November 2023, the Vietnamese government issued a warrant for Bdap’s arrest, charging him with terrorism for his alleged involvement in the Dak Lak attacks.[9]
On January 16, 2024, government authorities held a mobile trial for 98 defendants in the case prosecuting those accused of perpetrating the Dak Lak attacks.[10] Mobile trials are outdoor mass trials, which cause public embarrassment and shame, and often undermine the due process rights of the defendants.[11] Most of the defendants, who were tried on various charges relating to terrorism, were not named, and six of the defendants, including Bdap, were tried in absentia because their whereabouts were unknown to the government.[12]
In their draft submission to the UN’s human rights review of the country, Vietnam claimed that they had ‘completely stopped mobile courts at all levels to comply with and better ensure the right to presumption of innocence, the right to legal representation and the right to a fair trial.’[13] This, however, was contradicted by the January 16 mobile trial, less than two months after the government made this claim.
If Vietnam has any evidence implicating Bdap in the Dak Lak attacks, it must be released to the public. Otherwise, Bdap’s arrest appears to be yet another blow to Vietnamese civil society—a blow that could have been avoided if Canada had acted sooner. It is not too late, however, for Canada to act. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada is adjudicating Bdap’s asylum claim. Immigration Canada must make the results of their adjudication public, and, if they find him to be eligible for asylum, Canada must do everything in its power to secure Bdap’s release before relocating him to Canada.
REFERENCES
[1] Vks Đề Nghị Mức Án Đối Với 100 Bị Cáo Vụ Khủng Bố Ở Đăk Lăk (2024, Jan. 18). VN Express. Retrieved Jan. 19, 2024, from https://vnexpress.net/vks-de-nghi-muc-an-doi-voi-100-bi-cao-vu-khung-bo-o-dak-lak-4702221.html
[2] Vks Đề Nghị Mức Án Đối Với 100 Bị Cáo Vụ Khủng Bố Ở Đăk Lăk (2024, Jan. 18). VN Express. Retrieved Jan. 19, 2024, from https://vnexpress.net/vks-de-nghi-muc-an-doi-voi-100-bi-cao-vu-khung-bo-o-dak-lak-4702221.html
[3] Giới hoạt động: ‘Cảnh sát Thái Lan bắt giam ông Y Quynh Bdap’ (2024, June 12). VOA Tieng Viet. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from
[4] Pham Du (2023, June 18). Dak Lak armed group connected to US-based terrorists. VN Express. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/armed-group-committing-dak-lak-attacks-have-connections-with-us-based-terrorists-4620658.html
[5] UN Human Rights Special Procedures (2023, June 21). Outcome Document of the Asia & the Pacific regional civil society consultation on the impact of counter-terrorism measures on civil society & civic space.
Hilary Whiteman (2023, July 11). Australian retiree accused of terrorism freed from prison in Vietnam. CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/11/australia/vietnam-australia-detainee-released-intl-hnk/index.html
[6] UN Human Rights Special Procedures (2023, June 21). Outcome Document of the Asia & the Pacific regional civil society consultation on the impact of counter-terrorism measures on civil society & civic space.
Hilary Whiteman (2023, July 11). Australian retiree accused of terrorism freed from prison in Vietnam. CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/11/australia/vietnam-australia-detainee-released-intl-hnk/index.html
[7] UN Human Rights Special Procedures (2023, June 21). Outcome Document of the Asia & the Pacific regional civil society consultation on the impact of counter-terrorism measures on civil society & civic space.
Hilary Whiteman (2023, July 11). Australian retiree accused of terrorism freed from prison in Vietnam. CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/11/australia/vietnam-australia-detainee-released-intl-hnk/index.html
[8] Mai, Ngoc (January 25, 2024). Vietnam cooperates with US in Dak Lak terrorist attack investigation. Hanoi Times. Retrieved June 14, 2024 from https://hanoitimes.vn/vietnam-cooperates-with-us-in-dak-lak-terrorist-attack-investigation-325952.html
[9] The warrant can be found here: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/03/submission-universal-periodic-review-vietnam
[10] Tân, Trung (2024, Jan. 16). Xét xử 100 bị cáo tấn công trụ sở UBND 2 xã ở Đắk Lắk. Tuổi Trẻ. Retrieved Jan. 18, 2024 from https://tuoitre.vn/xet-xu-100-bi-cao-tan-cong-tru-so-ubnd-2-xa-o-dak-lak-20240115232936649.htm
[11] Human Rights Watch (2023, Oct. 3). Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Vietnam. Retrieved Jan. 19, 2024, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/03/submission-universal-periodic-review-vietnam
[12] Human Rights Watch (2023, Oct. 3). Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Vietnam. Retrieved Jan. 19, 2024, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/03/submission-universal-periodic-review-vietnam.
[13] The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. First draft of the national report of Viet Nam on the protection and promotion of human rights under the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review.
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