Human Rights Watch has urged Vietnam's Communist government to unconditionally release three members of the Viet Tan movement who disappeared from Cambodia near the border. In a statement to the press on Wednesday, October 14, the group said the men's disappearance points to a violation of cross-border rights.

Two of the men are Norwegian nationals, one of them Nguyen Duc Thuan. Another, Tran Hiep, also known as Ho Pham Hiep Huy, holds Australian citizenship. The third man is Thai Cong Truong.

Vietnamese authorities accuse the three of belonging to an illegal movement opposed to the government in Hanoi and of using forged travel documents to enter Vietnam. Their relatives, however, insist none of them intended to enter Vietnamese territory.

The men vanished on September 18 after travelling into Cambodia from Thailand. Vietnam has charged them with terrorism under Articles 299 and 341 of its criminal code. Human Rights Watch reports that the two Norwegian nationals were due to fly home on September 19. Nguyen Duc Thuan has diabetes and needs daily insulin injections.

Cambodia's Interior Ministry has confirmed that the men with Norwegian and Australian citizenship entered Cambodia, but said there is no record of them leaving. Observers say the reply amounts to little more than an excuse dressed up as ignorance.

The case recalls that of Tim Sakhorn, a former monk who had lived in Cambodia since 1978. In June 2007, Cambodian authorities, working with their Vietnamese counterparts, arrested him at a temple in Phnom Den district of Takeo province and transferred him to a prison in An Giang province, where he spent more than a year. Vietnamese authorities later produced documents claiming he had entered Vietnam illegally, and then that he had voluntarily returned to live there.

Human Rights Watch also called for the release of other activists in Vietnamese custody. Chau Van Kham, Nguyen Van Vien and Tran Van Quyen were sentenced in 2019 to 12, 11 and 10 years in prison, respectively. Authorities arrested activist Le Quoc Binh in 2018. In May 2026, they took activists Le Thanh Son and Nguyen Thanh Hung, as well as former prisoner of conscience Huy Trung Ca, in for interrogation.

Vietnamese police have a pattern of travelling abroad to seize Vietnamese nationals living in other countries, including Germany and Thailand. Those targeted include Trinh Xuan Thanh, Truong Duy Nhat, Duong Van Thai, Le Trung Khoa, Nguyen Van Dai, Doan Bao Chau, Dinh Yum, Siu Di and Dang Thi Hue.