Campaign to Free Y Pum Bya

Global Campaign to Free Y Pum Bya

Montagnard Religious Freedom Defender
Twice Imprisoned As A Prisoner Of Conscience

Y Pum Bya, 57, is a Montagnard Protestant church leader serving the Ede ethnic group in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam who has been imprisoned twice -- for a total of 22 years -- for peacefully promoting religious freedom.

Quick Facts about Y Pum Bya

►He is a member of the Ede (Rhade) ethnic group from Buon Kmien village, Ea Drong Commune, Buon Ho Town, Dak Lak, Vietnam. He and his wife H'Bleng Nie have seven children.

►2002-2009: Imprisoned for "undermining national unity" (Article 87) at Ha Nam Prison, 1200 km from his family, where he was subjected to hard labor and prohibited from worshipping his religion.

►2018-2032: Imprisoned a second time under Article 87, he is now serving a 14-year sentence in Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province.

A Lifetime of Religious Persecution

Since the 1990s, Y Pum Bya has served as an evangelist with an independent house church that is not officially recognized by the government.

He and other congregation members have been subjected to police raids on their gatherings, pressure to renounce their faith, and arbitrary detention and interrogation about their religious activities, which officials claim are fronts for political organizing.

Y Pum Bya was first arrested in 2002 after he requested permission from local authorities for unregistered house churches to conduct religious activities. He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for “undermining national unity” under Article 87 of Vietnam's Criminal Code.

In 2018, he was arrested a second time and accused of disseminating distorted information about Vietnam’s violations of minority rights and religious freedom. He was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment under Article 87.

Family Harassed and Forced to Flee Vietnam

Y Pum Bya at his home in Dak Lak with his son Y An Dri Nie in 2014.

Y Pum Bya's wife, H Bleng Nie (R), and son, Y An Dri Nie (L) in Thailand in 2022.

Since Y Pum Bya’s arrest in 2018, authorities have maintained a close watch on his family. On four different occasions, police summoned Y Pum’s wife, H'Bleng Nie, and youngest son, Y An Dri Nie, for interrogation.

Each time, police informed them that their religion was prohibited by the authorities, pressured them to renounce their faith, and threatened or physically abused them during interrogation.

Unable to withstand the religious persecution and police abuse, in December 2020 H Bleng Nie and Y An Dri Nie attempted to flee to Thailand to seek political asylum.

They were arrested at the Thai border and held in the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok for more than one year before finally being released on bail in March 2022. They are currently living without any means of support in Thailand while they await a decision from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on their application for asylum.

"Persecution by the Vietnamese government has caused our family to be separated, husband from wife, children from parents," H Bleng Nie said in an interview in Bangkok in June 2022. "Our children remain in Vietnam while I am here after fear drove me to flee."

"I pray for help advocating for the release of my husband so that he can come home and live with his family again."

To see a video of H Bleng Nie's June 2022 interview, please click here.

"I pray for help advocating for the release of my husband so that he can come home and live with his family again"
- H Bleng Nie

Video Testimonials: Release Y Pum Bya

H'Bleng Nie, Y Pum Bya's Wife

From Thailand, Y Pum Bya's wife, H'Bleng Nie, talks about the religious persecution the family faced in Vietnam, the imprisonment of her husband, and why she and one son had to flee to Thailand to seek refugee protection.
For video, please click here.

Montagnard Human Rights Defender H'Biap Krong

Montagnard Human Rights Defender H'Biap Krong, a member of the Ede (Rhade) ethnic group, describes meeting Y Pum Bya in his home in Dak Lak before his latest arrest, which she calls cruel and inhumane.
For video, please click here.

Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees

Grover Joseph Rees is a retired law professor, judge, diplomat, and US government official with extensive experience in human rights and refugee law and practice. He calls for Y Pum Bya's immediate and unconditional arrest.
For video, please click here.

International Action to Free Y Pum Bya

Global Campaign for Religious Prisoners of Conscience
Y Pum Bya is one of several prisoners from Vietnam highlighted in the Global Campaign for Religious Prisoners of Conscience launched by the 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C.

US Commission On International Religious Freedom
Y Pum Bya is included in the “Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List” of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as part of their international advocacy and monitoring of prisoners of conscience around the world.

UN Special Rapporteurs On Human Rights

In 2018, four UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights raised concerns with Vietnam about the arrest of Y Pum Bya.

"Another incident allegedly occurred on the morning of 10 April 2018. Mr. Y Min Ksor and Mr. Y Pum Bya were arrested and brought to the Ea Drong Commune police station, by six armed police officers. They were allegedly interrogated on their religious activities, tortured and forced to sign commitments to stop worshipping in a group while belonging to the Gospel Missionary Church. Mr. Y Min Ksor and Mr. Y Pum Bya are currently under detention."

- UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders, Minority issues, Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

►To see the UN Rapporteurs' letter of August 31, 2018, please click here.
►For the response by the government of Vietnam on April 25, 2019, please click here.