Vietnam Seized Two Foreign Citizens From Cambodia. Both Are Charged With Terrorism

On the morning of September 18th, Nguyen Duc Thuan and Tran Hiep were traveling in Cambodia when they disappeared. Thai Cong Truong Son went missing at the same time. Their families heard nothing for 10 days.

On September 28th, Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security announced that the three men had been apprehended for "illegally entering Vietnam" at the My Quy Tay Border Gate on September 18th — the same day they disappeared from Cambodia. They’re now being investigated for terrorism.

Their families and colleagues reject that account entirely. All available evidence, according to the joint statement signed by 28 human rights organizations, points to the men being abducted on Cambodian soil and forcibly taken across the border. The ten days of incommunicado detention before any public announcement — a period during which Norway and Australia weren’t notified and consular access was denied — is consistent with an enforced disappearance, not a routine border case.

Thuan is a pharmacist who has long advocated for human rights in Vietnam through Norwegian and European parliamentary channels. Hiep is an IT engineer who has worked for years on social justice and anti-trafficking initiatives. Both are members of Viet Tan, a pro-democracy organization. Vietnam designates Viet Tan as a terrorist organization — a designation that UN experts have repeatedly condemned as a violation of international human rights law.

The Terrorism Charge Is the Pattern, Not the Exception

Vietnam's use of terrorism laws against peaceful advocates is well-documented and consistent. UN experts have specifically criticized Hanoi's application of vague, overbroad terrorism statutes against critics and its practice of designating human rights organizations in exile as terrorist groups.

The pattern of transnational repression the statement describes goes back years. In 2017, Vietnamese agents abducted former official Trinh Xuan Thanh from Berlin, which prompted Germany to expel Vietnamese diplomats. Blogger Truong Duy Nhat was seized from Thailand in 2019 and later sentenced to ten years. Blogger and UNHCR-recognized refugee Duong Van Thai was abducted from Thailand in 2023 and sentenced to twelve years. In November 2025, Thailand handed UNHCR-recognized refugee Y Quynh Bdap over to Vietnam, where he’s now imprisoned.

Each case was more brazen than the last. Seizing a Vietnamese political dissident in Bangkok is one thing. Seizing a Norwegian citizen and an Australian citizen from Cambodian soil — foreign nationals holding passports from countries with consular protection rights under the Vienna Convention — is a significant escalation. The Vienna Convention requires Vietnam to notify Norway and Australia without delay and to grant their consular officials access to their detained citizens. Vietnam did neither for ten days.

The Internet Freedom Dimension

Nguyen Duc Thuan and Tran Hiep weren't targeted for anything they did physically. They were targeted for advocacy — for communicating ideas, supporting democracy, and organizing in exile using the tools that allow dissidents to remain effective when they can't safely operate in their home country. Viet Tan, the pro-democracy organization both men belong to, operates primarily through digital channels precisely because operating inside Vietnam would mean prison.

Vietnam's transnational repression campaign targets not just the people who speak, but the infrastructure of organized dissent in exile. When a government can reach across borders to silence critics in Norway and Australia — people who carry foreign passports and have consular protection rights — it sends a message to every Vietnamese activist abroad that no legal status and no foreign citizenship are sufficient protection. That calculation is made explicitly to deter online and offline organizing by diaspora communities.

The terrorism designation for peaceful advocacy organizations follows the same logic. Once Viet Tan is legally a terrorist organization, any contact with it, any membership in it, any support for its stated goals — democracy, human rights, free expression — becomes evidence of a crime. The chilling effect extends to anyone who might consider similar work.

What the Joint Statement Is Calling For

Twenty-eight organizations, including ARTICLE 19, Freedom House, the Human Rights Foundation, and Cambodian Center for Human Rights, have signed a joint statement calling on Vietnam to release all three men immediately, drop all charges, grant consular access, and disclose where they are being held. The statement specifically calls for uninterrupted medical access for Thuan, who has diabetes and needs daily insulin.

Norway and Australia are called on to demand consular access at the highest political level, keep the families informed of any refusals or delays, and engage other governments to raise the case with Hanoi.

As of the statement's publication, the men remain in Vietnamese detention. Their families, their colleagues, and twenty-eight organizations are waiting for a response.