The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Governments of Viet Nam and Thailand on 20 December 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Governments time to reply. Regrettably, they did not reply within this timeframe. If replies are received, they will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
At the end of December 2024, two months after the trial, Mr. Duong Van Thai was transferred to An Diem Prison in the central province of Quang Nam, which is about 1000 kilometres far from his family. Mr. Thai’s mother reported being able to meet her son before he was transferred. However, since then, she reportedly could only communicate with him once a month through letters and phone calls. Her request to the authorities to verify that she is a family member of Mr. Thai, which would allow her to visit him and send him supplies, has allegedly been denied on the ground that Mr. Thai is an “anti-state reactionary element”.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the sentencing of journalist and human rights defender Mr. Duong Van Thai to 12 years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court in October 2024, following his alleged abduction in Bangkok, Thailand, enforced disappearance and forcible return to Viet Nam.
Mr. Duong Van Thai is an independent investigative journalist, blogger and a human rights defender, who has engaged in peaceful protests on environmental rights and has advocated for democracy and human rights in Viet Nam. Mr. Thai was associated with the Independent Journalists Association of Viet Nam and Brotherhood for Democracy, groups engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights and media freedom, which reportedly faced severe repression in Viet Nam. Mr. Thai also worked on exposing alleged cases of corruption and published critical reports about the political situation in the country.
We previously raised concern regarding the alleged enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Thai in a communication to the Vietnamese Government (VNM 4/2024).
ALLEGATIONS
In 2018, Mr. Thai fled to Thailand fearing persecution for his journalistic work in Viet Nam. In Thailand, in 2019 the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) recognized his refugee status, and he was being interviewed for a resettlement to a third country.
On 13 April 2023, Mr. Thai was allegedly abducted by Vietnamese security forces while driving his motorbike in the northern outskirts of Bangkok, along Lamphu road, Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani province, in Thailand.
Prior to his enforced disappearance, Mr. Thai reportedly revealed his security concerns to an acquaintance right after posting videos of political infighting in Viet Nam. Mr. Thai also reportedly added that, on 6 April 2023, one of his neighbors spotted a man riding a motorbike with a Chiang Rai provincial number plate approaching his home to film and take photos. The man reportedly spoke Thai, although with a strange accent.
A few days later, it was reported that on 14 April 2023 Mr. Thai had allegedly been arrested by Vietnamese officials for entering Viet Nam without proper identification documents. No further information about his fate and whereabouts was reportedly shared with his family until July 2023.
Additionally, persons connected to Mr. Thai were able to put together a chronology of his movements on the day of his enforced disappearance through different CCTV camera footage, audio recordings and testimonies, which purportedly confirm his abduction.
According to this chronology, Mr. Thai left his home in the afternoon of 13 April 2023 and went to a nearby coffee shop (Amazon Café), where he met with an acquaintance. At the shop, he bought two cups of coffee, one for him and one for his acquaintance. Together, they went to the park inside Rajamangala Technology University’s campus, in Phatum Thani, north of Bangkok. Mr. Thai livestreamed a video on YouTube while at the park in which he spoke about U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Hanoi and the trial of a blogger in Viet Nam. The livestream was available online in the days following his enforced disappearance, but it has now been removed, together with Mr. Thai’s YouTube page. Furthermore, at around 5:30 p.m. Mr. Thai ended the livestream and left the park to go home. Footage by two security cameras near Rajamangala Thanyaburi University of Technology recorded the moment in which Mr. Thai left the location from where he had previously live streamed. From the footage, it appears that, prior to being abducted on a white Mitsubishi car, four men riding two motorbikes were closely tailing him.
On 21 April 2023, Thai media allegedly reported that that Royal Thai Police had contacted Vietnamese authorities to inquire about Mr. Thai, but they did not receive a formal reply. The Foreign Ministry of Viet Nam also reportedly remained silent.
On 14 July 2023, the authorities of Viet Nam informed Mr. Thai’s family that the human rights defender was officially under arrest and had been detained in Hanoi for “making, storing, disseminating, or propagating information, documents, and items aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, which constitutes a violation under article 117 of the Penal Code of Viet Nam. The document delivered to Mr. Thai’s family about the charges brought against him also reportedly stated that his temporary detention period was due to end on 12 August 2023. However, he was not released past this date and remained held incommunicado, reportedly with no access to legal assistance nor to his family until several months later.
On 30 October 2024, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Mr. Thai to 12 years in prison for “making, storing, disseminating, or propagating information, documents, and items aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under article 117 of Viet Nam’s Penal Code. He was also condemned to serve an additional probation period of 3 years. It has been reported that the family of the human rights defender could not attend the proceedings, as it was a closed trial. Further, his legal representatives reportedly did not receive the approval to handle his case, which prevented them from properly preparing for the trial. Mr. Thai was tried together with seven other individuals, who were also charged under article 117 but received shorter prison sentences.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express serious concern about Mr. Thai’s reported enforced disappearance and rendition, which we fear might have been directly related to his legitimate work as an independent journalist and human rights defender, and to the exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression. We are deeply concerned by allegations that Mr. Thai was subjected to enforced disappearance prior to the commencement of his trial, thereby undermining the integrity of the legal proceedings from the outset.
We further note with concern that the charges brought against Mr. Thai are often being used to target independent journalists in Viet Nam, thus hindering their right to freedom of opinion and expression as well as their ability to conduct their human rights work freely without fear of intimidation or reprisals. We call for the immediate release of Mr. Thai and urge the Government of Viet Nam to guarantee that Mr. Thai can avail himself, without any hindrances, of his right to appeal the decision of Hanoi People’s Court, if so requested, as a part of due process requirements.
