On July 15, 2024, the Bangkok Criminal Court, located on Ratchadaphisek Road, will hold an extradition inquiry in the case of Mr. Y Quynh Bdap, a Vietnamese refugee advocating for freedom of religion and belief for minority ethnic groups in Vietnam and a founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), an organization that helps to train Montagnards in Vietnam on Vietnamese and international law, civil society, Vietnam’s obligations under international treaties and covenants, and how to collect information and prepare reports on religious persecution to the United Nations and the international community. In 2018, Mr. Bdap left Vietnam and came to Thailand in 2018, where he has been granted refugee status and international protection by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On June 11, 2024, Mr. Bdap was arrested by immigration police pursuant to a terrorism charge conviction following a trial in Vietnamese court earlier this year. The allegations against Mr. Bdap stem from his alleged involvement in last year’s attack in Dak Lak province. Mr. Bdap has denied these allegations, maintaining that he was not involved in the attack and that his human rights advocacy is peaceful and non-violent. Additionally, the Vietnamese court proceeded and issued a judgment in the absence of Mr. Bdap (trial in absentia), who had left Vietnam long before the incident. There is concern that Mr. Bdap may be extradited back to Vietnam through the extradition process.
Domestic and international human rights organizations have raised concerns that the extradition of Mr. Bdap could result in transnational repression between Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Specifically, there is concern among experts that the trial at which Mr. Bdap was convicted “did not meet fair trial guarantees under international law” and that “the NGO Montagnards Stand for Justice has been abusively listed as a terrorist organisation.”1 Between Thailand and Vietnam, extradition remains a possibility through diplomatic channels, involving legal proceedings under Thailand’s Extradition Act B.E. 2551.
Mr. Bdap, a vocal advocate for religious freedom for ethnic minorities in Vietnam, has been a target of persistent harassment by Vietnamese authorities, who aim to suppress religious beliefs not accepted by the Vietnamese government. Extraditing Mr. Bdap back to Vietnam could put him in grave danger, exposing him to risks of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and enforced disappearance. Such actions would violate the principle of non-refoulement, as established by Articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and Article 16 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPCED). This principle is considered an absolute legal principle (jus cogens) and an absolute right that the state must respect without exception in every case and situation. Additionally, Section 13 of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act B.E. 2565 (2022) prohibits the extradition of a person to another State if there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or to enforced disappearance.The Cross Cultural Foundation and the Network of Human Rights Organizations invite the press, public, and civil society organizations to closely monitor the upcoming inquiry process which will take place on July 15, 2024, at 9.00, at Bangkok Criminal Court, located on Ratchada Road (Courtroom 807). Your attendance will help to support a free and fair trial for Mr. Bdap and will lend him much-needed support. Mr. Bdap is currently incarcerated in prison where his family cannot visit him. Furthermore, international cooperation in criminal cases must be conducted transparently and with full accountability to prevent transnational repression, a grave and systematic human rights violation facilitated through inter-state cooperation.
