The Thai authorities should immediately release Le Chi Thanh, a prominent Vietnamese anti-corruption activist, and ensure that he is not forcibly returned to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch said today (12 March)

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) strongly condemns the sudden extradition from Thailand to Vietnam of Montagnard human rights defender Y Quynh Bdap. The Observatory also urges authorities in the two countries to end and prevent acts of transnational repression against human rights defenders and demand the Vietnamese authorities to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of Y Quynh Bdap and all other human rights defenders in the country.

UN experts* today expressed deep concern over the extradition of Vietnamese Montagnard human rights defender and UNHCR-recognised refugee Y Quynh Bdăp from Thailand to Viet Nam, warning that his return exposes him to a serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and other grave human rights violations.

The Cross-Cultural Foundation has filed a complaint against Thai government officials under the Anti-Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, after it learned that the Thai authorities had already extradited Montagnard human rights defender Y Quynh Bdap back to Vietnam.

The Appeal Court ruled on Wednesday (26 November) to approve a request to extradite Montagnard human rights defender Y Quynh Bdap to Vietnam, where he would face 10 years in prison on terrorism charges.

Increased cooperation between Thai and Vietnamese authorities is putting Vietnamese refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand at heightened risk of forcible return to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch said last Friday (14 November). By facilitating Vietnamese cross-border abuses, known as transnational repression, Thai authorities are violating international refugee law protections.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Thai government to release Y Quynh Bdap, a Montagnard religious freedom activist and refugee, and ensure that he will not be sent back to Vietnam, where he faces a risk of an unfair trial and ill-treatment by Vietnamese authorities.

<p>Human Rights Watch (HRW) called upon&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZ0Azcvksdm7RxiDj2FVh-2FHO4Vt5xnu5qB4kvn6JNRC8MEf__O3XWFiAdWrzzrOIt72qAuCxfR-2FIXWrcSNyN3NflgXhyIGtBo5wQfPlCmK1RsIhhkjZ2534I-2B42M0FXMd535alkB2qEOdCEOxO1VRfpYqu0XGUw2nDl1pmMYZ8rVo2dybQdh2aa-2BqFZQBItb-2FPi3GrtVmE-2F1HIN2W6F1QhE1Peh7R3TYDYqTiCJK2ZU2TewNY1-2BUBFEfYSossS7BamrmevleK98Vyw341VT2-2BFWwwsiRvc0Hrm8ne-2FXpOkte0i1A59P8nTN5ChfIQvbkFU4VObJVgtTF1x6UKzs9hR5xugBAeqWMqYJg-2BOfAZwgh1auVSvaWKORNl5Zpo8ELdxK4TDFZFaqEX-2BnFnFxY1aCDLGNk-3D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1668675038685000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2QK02EddQhMFWzaY5ErY4b" href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZ0Azcvksdm7RxiDj2FVh-2FHO4Vt5xnu5qB4kvn6JNRC8MEf__O3XWFiAdWrzzrOIt72qAuCxfR-2FIXWrcSNyN3NflgXhyIGtBo5wQfPlCmK1RsIhhkjZ2534I-2B42M0FXMd535alkB2qEOdCEOxO1VRfpYqu0XGUw2nDl1pmMYZ8rVo2dybQdh2aa-2BqFZQBItb-2FPi3GrtVmE-2F1HIN2W6F1QhE1Peh7R3TYDYqTiCJK2ZU2TewNY1-2BUBFEfYSossS7BamrmevleK98Vyw341VT2-2BFWwwsiRvc0Hrm8ne-2FXpOkte0i1A59P8nTN5ChfIQvbkFU4VObJVgtTF1x6UKzs9hR5xugBAeqWMqYJg-2BOfAZwgh1auVSvaWKORNl5Zpo8ELdxK4TDFZFaqEX-2BnFnFxY1aCDLGNk-3D" target="_blank">Vietnamese</a>&nbsp;authorities&nbsp;to immediately release the outspoken commentator Bui Van Thuan and drop the politically motivated charges against him, Human Rights Watch said today (16 November). The People&rsquo;s Court of Thanh Hoa province has scheduled his criminal trial for November 17, 2022.</p>

<p>Thai Embassies have issued warnings to Thai people about taking cannabis and hemp into Indonesia and Vietnam, where penalties include fines, life imprisonment and capital punishment.</p>

<p>Plans for the upcoming Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games), scheduled to be held in Vietnam on 12-23 May after 4 months of delays, offer insight into how Southeast Asian nations will find their way back to normal after years of struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>

<p>Journalists and media workers face an increasingly repressive legal landscape amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, as outlined by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in a submission to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).</p>