Vietnam Prisoners of Conscience 2024 Report

November 17, 2024

Download the report in pdf.

Background information

Despite political infighting among top political officials in Vietnam at the start of 2024, the authorities were not deterred from continuing their crackdown against human rights defenders. In particular, renowned activists Nguyen Chi Tuyen and Nguyen Vu Binh were both arrested on February 29, 2024, in separate incidents. Later in the year, they were sentenced to 5 and 7 years in prison, respectively. These two trials were among six other ones that occurred soon after former public security minister To Lam took the seat of General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party in early August. 

The Hanoi regime still uses prisoners of conscience as pawns in diplomatic negotiations. In September 2023, two prisoners of conscience were released a few days before Joe Biden’s arrival in Vietnam. This year, two more prisoners of conscience were released just before Secretary-President To Lam’s arrival in the United States. The activists released included: 

1. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, one of the longest-serving prisoners of conscience in Vietnam who spent 15 years behind bars. He was released 8 months before the end of his 16 year prison sentence. 
2. Hoang Thi Minh Hong, a prominent environmental activist imprisoned for alleged tax evasion charges. She was released 20 months before the end of her 3 year prison sentence.

Although Vietnam ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2015, such ill-treatment continues in Vietnamese prisons. In September and October 2024, four prisoners of conscience went on hunger strike for several weeks to protest their conditions of detention in Prison No. 6 in Nghe An. These four activists included Le Manh Hung, Dang Dinh Bach, Bui Van Thuan and Trinh Ba Tu. They denounced the use of “tiger cages” as a means of solitary confinement, which were cubes made of iron bars with about 1 meter (3.3 feet) of space to move around as well as the inability to exit and interact with other prisoners.

The Vietnamese authorities have also increasingly violated human rights beyond their borders through transnational repression. Blogger Duong Van Thai, who was kidnapped from Bangkok in April 2023, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 3 years probation in a closed-door trial on October 30, 2024 with the charge of “propaganda against the state” (Article 117 of the Penal Code).

Another ongoing case of transnational repression is against Y Quynh Bdap, a Christian and member of the Ede ethnic group in Vietnam. Bdap fled to Thailand in 2018 to escape religious and political persecution by Vietnamese officials. He was granted refugee status by the UN refugee agency. But, under pressure from the Vietnamese government, the Thai police arrested Bdap in June 2024 with the threat of extradition back to Vietnam. The OHCHR, UN Special Rapporteurs, international human rights organizations and Thai civil society have all urged the Thai government not to deport him to Vietnam, where he would undoubtedly face torture and arbitrary detention. 

Besides the case of Duong Van Thai kidnapped in Bangkok in 2023, there were two other cases of transnational kidnapping, which occurred in Berlin in 2017 (Trinh Xuan Thanh) and in Bangkok in 2019 (Truong Duy Nhat). The three kidnappings happened under the purview of Mr. Tô Lâm, who was Minister of Public Security from 2016 to 2024. With these cases of transnational repression, the Vietnamese authorities are testing how far it can extend its power to silence activists. 

Before the abuse of human rights can infringe further on the sovereignty of other nations, the international community must stand strongly against transnational repression, and enforce sanctions not only to the perpetrators violating international law, but especially to those who give the orders. Today, nations like the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the countries in the European Union have in their legal enforcement a Magnitsky-type mechanism to sanction state actors who are human rights offenders. In these countries, an investigation should be opened against human rights violators like Mr. To Lam to prevent cases of gross human rights abuses from happening again in the future.

Recommendations

Support Vietnamese human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists: 

• During meetings with Vietnamese officials, please raise concerns about prisoners of conscience, including the following individuals who face long prison sentences and mistreatment in detention: Le Dinh Luong, Pham Doan Trang, Nguyen Van Tuc, Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc, Nguyen Van Vien, Tran Van Quyen, Tran Thi Xuan, Le Dinh Cong, and Le Dinh Chuc. 
• Request Embassy officials in Vietnam to regularly visit imprisoned political activists. Even if those requests are denied, the effort makes Vietnamese officials aware that the international community is paying attention, helping political prisoners avoid mistreatment and improve detention conditions. 
• Request prisoners of conscience be imprisoned near their family home. Most of them are imprisoned more than 1000 kilometers (600+ miles) from their families, which is a form of isolation and torture.
• Request that prisoners of conscience receive a yearly health checkup made by a doctor the family chooses, because the unhygienic prison condition and mistreatment causes the health of the activist to quickly decline.
• Request that prisoners of conscience be able to speak with their families and lawyers without the presence of prison guards or police.
• Request Embassy officials in Vietnam to receive family members of imprisoned activists on special occasions such as International Human Rights Day, the Lunar New Year, and the National Day of your country, etc. 

Support online freedom of expression: 

• Urge major internet companies to not comply with the Vietnamese government’s demand to censor content when that content does not violate any international standards. 

Deepen focus on legal reform: 

• Call for the repeal of Articles 109 (Subversion), 117 (Propaganda against the Vietnam state), 118 (Public disorder) and 331 (Abuse of democratic freedoms) in the Vietnamese Penal Code, which are used to silence political opposition. 
• Urge Vietnam to ratify the Optional Protocol of the UN Convention Against Torture and all the ILO conventions to protects workers.
• Continue to request Embassy officials to attend political trials. 

Always include concerns about human rights in engagements with Vietnam:

• Incorporate calls for legal reform into the agenda when promoting higher education and trade with Vietnam.
• Develop a roadmap linking human rights improvements with closer security and trade ties. 
• Establish benchmarks during human rights dialogue with Vietnam. Insist on human rights progress as a condition to any high level delegation visits.

List of biographies of prisoners of conscience included in the 2024 report:

1. Bach Hung Duong
2. Bui Tuan Lam
3. Bui Van Thuan
4. Can Thi Theu
5. Dang Dang Phuoc
6. Dang Dinh Bach
7. Dinh Thi Thu Thuy
8. Duong Tuan Ngoc
9. Hoang Duc Binh
10. Le Dinh Cong
11. Le Dinh Chuc
12. Le Dinh Luong
13. Le Huu Minh Tuan
14. Le Manh Ha
15. Le Van Dung
16. Ngo Thi To Nhien
17. Nguyen Chi Tuyen
18. Nguyen Duc Quoc Vuong
19. Nguyen Lan Thang
20. Nguyen Nang Tinh
21. Nguyen Trung Ton
22. Nguyen Trung Truc
23. Nguyen Tuong Thuy
24. Nguyen Van Tuc
25. Nguyen Van Vien
26. Nguyen Vu Binh
27. Pham Chi Dung
28. Pham Doang Trang
29. Pham Son Tung
30. Pnan Tat Thanh
31. Tran Duc Thach
32. Tran Thi Xuan
33. Tran Van Bang
34. Tran Van Quyen
35. Truong Minh Duc
36. Trinh Ba Phuong
37. Trinh Ba Tu
38. Truong Van Dung
39. Y Krec Bya