Y Quynh Bdap

Immediate Concerns

Oct. 2024

Y Quynh Bdap, leader of Montagnards Stand For Justice (MSFJ), remains in a Thai jail after a Bangkok court found on Sept. 30 that his extradition is legal under Thai law. Vietnam is attempting to extradite him to face terrorism charges related to the Dak Lak uprising in June 2023. The ultimate decision whether or not to send him back, however, remains with the Thai government. Bdap’s lawyers have 30 days to file an appeal. The BBC Vietnamese has posted an in-depth analysis of this case from multiple legal and political angles, with statements from Bdap’s lawyer and others.

Members of the U.S. Congress have urged Secretary of State Blinken to intervene to stop Bdap’s extradition, saying: “Mr. Bdap has repeatedly and vigorously denied any involvement and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has confirmed there is no credible link between Mr. Bdap and the allegations. The Vietnamese government’s trumped-up terrorism charges serve to create fear and deter countries from offering resettlement to Mr. Y Quynh Bdap and his family. This is a clear case of transnational repression.”

August 2024

According to the Cross Cultural Foundation, hearings in Y Quynh Bdap’s case were held on August 30, 2024, and expected on September 2, 2024 at 9.00 a.m. 

The UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism submitted an amicus curiae brief in Y Quynh’s case. The Special Rapporteur reminded Thailand of its obligation under international law to not extradite a person to a state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would face a real risk of torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or other irreparable harm. The International Commission of Jurists also submitted an amicus curiae brief.

Likewise, a group of UN human rights experts expressed alarm about the discriminatory misuse of the counter-terrorism law by the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam against Montagnard indigenous peoples and Christian religious minorities in the country’s Central Highlands, including the targeting of MSFJ, the organization founded by Y Quynh Bdap.

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Earlier in the month:

The extradition trial for Y Quynh Bdap continued in Bangkok on Aug. 19. Representatives of the Vietnamese and Thai governments presented their cases. A private source told us that government officials tried to persuade Bdap to return to Vietnam voluntarily because “prison conditions are better there.” Next week, the trial continues, though Project88 is still verifying the exact trial schedule. On Aug. 16, the International Commission of Jurists submitted a legal brief to the Bangkok court, citing the need to uphold the non-refoulement concept, defined as guaranteeing “that no one should be re-turned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.”

The extradition hearing for Y Quynh Bdap began in Bangkok on Aug. 6. A co-founder of Montagnards Stand For Justice, Bdap is accused by Vietnam of “terrorism” activities. He was arrested in Thailand on June 11 after meeting with Canadian Embassy staff regarding resettlement. Bdap was not allowed into the courtroom for the hearing but had to attend via teleconference due to unknown “security concerns” raised by Vietnamese representatives. 

July 2024

Y Quynh Bdap was supposed to have a hearing on his immigration status by a Thai court on July 15. However, the hearing has now been postponed until August.

Y Quynh Bdap’s June 11 arrest was verified by VOA, RFA and AP. Y Quynh was detained a day after meeting with Canadian representatives at the embassy about his asylum application. 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.

Y Quynh Bdap’s arrest and potential extradition come at a time when transnational repression appears to be a growing issue. In remarks delivered this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, noted that in Southeast Asia, “there is a pattern emerging of transnational repression whereby human rights defenders seeking refuge in neighbouring countries have been subject to rendition and refoulement or disappeared and even killed. There are indications this trend may be becoming a global one and so I urge all States to have zero tolerance for such actions and to ensure full accountability of their security forces.” Canada so far has remained silent on Bdap’s detention.

Project88 has released an in-depth press statement on Y Quynh Bdap calling on Canada to take immediate action to secure his release, which can be accessed here, along with a brief video interview we made of Y Quynh speaking in his own words.

History of Activism

Y Quynh Bdap was charged with terrorism, allegedly in connection with the June 11, 2023 attack on government buildings in Dak Lak Province. Y Quynh was in Thailand at the time of the attack and claimed that he was not involved in any way. Despite charging him with terrorism, Vietnam has not made public any evidence against him to substantiate their claim. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years' imprisonment. 

Previously, Y Quynh, who is an advocate for religious and ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, has been arrested a number of times and alleges that he was brutally beaten in 2010 while he was detained.

In 2008, after hundreds of people were jailed for demonstrating for equal rights for indigenous groups, Y Quynh compiled a list of people who were prosecuted for their political and religious beliefs and shared that list of political prisoners with members of his community. 

At that time, the Vietnamese government took land from Montagnards to build factories and rubber and coffee plantations with cheap compensation or even no compensation. Y Quynh found it unfair, so he helped people file lawsuits and get adequate compensation.

Due to his fear of imprisonment, in 2018 Y Quynh was forced to flee to Thailand as a refugee. There, he founded Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ) to help fight for religious freedom and an end to discrimination of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam.

Photo source: RFA