Photo © Gia Lai newspaper/RFA

The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) and the Evangelical News Agency have named Rlan Thih, a Protestant Christian from Vietnam, the “Prisoner of the Month for November 2025.” We are calling for action on behalf of the 45-year-old. Thih, a member of the Montagnard minority, was arrested on December 19, 2022. On September 28, 2023, he was sentenced in Gia Lai Province to eight years in prison followed by three years of probation for “undermining the policy of national unity.”

Thih is accused of having persuaded members of ethnic minorities to join a specific Protestant community over a period of 15 years. He allegedly received instructions to do so from abroad. His group is said to be involved in plans to secede from ethnic minority territory in the central highlands of Vietnam. This accusation is frequently levelled against members of the Montagnard minority if they belong to an unregistered Christian group. The Montagnards comprise about 30 indigenous tribes.

The communist government disparagingly refers to them as “Dega Protestants.” In fact, many Christian Montagnards openly advocate for the right to religious freedom; Rlan Thih also defended this human right. Vietnam is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to religious freedom in Article 18.

Sample Letter

President Luong Cuong
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Elsenstrasse 3
12435 Berlin-Treptow

Your Excellency,

Rlan Thih, a Vietnamese Christian, has been in custody since December 19, 2022. On September 28, 2023, he was sentenced by a court in Gia Lai Province to eight years in prison followed by three years of probation. The charge is “undermining the policy of national unity.”

He allegedly encouraged fellow citizens to join his Christian community. The Protestant Christian, a member of the Montagnard minority, was simply exercising his right to freedom of religion.

Vietnam is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of religion in Article 18. I urge you to do everything in your power to secure Rlan Thih’s release.

Sincerely,