I speak to you today not only as a policy observer, but as someone who deeply cares about the future of my country. Vietnam is home to over 100 million people — hardworking, resilient, and full of potential. Yet we live under a system where one party has controlled every aspect of our political and social life for more than five decades.
Viet Tan strongly denounces the unjust and excessive 11-year prison sentence handed down to activist Trinh Ba Phuong, who is already serving a 10-year term under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code for “propaganda against the state.”
Following the solitary confinement of human rights defender Le Dinh Luong, his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quy, wrote a letter of complaint to the Vietnamese authorities on August 3, 2025. This letter cited all the violations of Vietnamese law, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, suffered by her husband in prison.
In early June 2025, Le Dinh Luong’s wife and two grandchildren witnessed the forceful removal of Le Dinh Luong during the allotted monthly family visit to Nam Ha prison. The authorities abruptly ended the visit, and dragged Le Dinh Luong out of the visiting room in front of his shocked grandchildren, leaving them visibly traumatized.
Before Franch President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Vietnam, seven international NGOs, including LDH, ACAT France, and Viet Tan, raised concerns about the human rights situation in Vietnam and called on him to prioritize these rights alongside economic issues.
May 16, 2025 Prisoner of conscience Le Dinh Luong began a hunger strike on May 10, 2025, to protest the denial of access to medical
American workers and taxpayers should not have to pay for Hanoi’s so-called bamboo diplomacy. As Vietnamese American organizations, we write to express our perspective on the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, the end of the Vietnam War and the future of US-Vietnam relations.
We, the undersigned Vietnamese American organizations, strongly support continued funding for Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA), especially the Vietnamese-language services.
Half a century after the war and following three decades of integration, Vietnam has seen economic growth but our overall development remains behind the advanced countries in the region. Without sustainable and comprehensive development, Vietnam is at risk of falling further behind.
Vital to Vietnam’s development, the Internet has the power to transform Vietnamese society; in many ways it already has. In the absence of an independent media, citizens have turned to the Internet to follow the news and debate national issues.
My name is Nguyễn Văn Tráng, a human rights defenderwanted by the Vietnamese government. As a democracy activist in Vietnam, I spent five years living in constant fear of being hunted down. I thought that fear would subside once I fled the country. I believed I would be safe—or at least safer. But I was wrong.
Thank you having me here today. It is an honour to be here with you at the annual Le Dinh Luong Human Rights Award ceremony, where we reflect on the tireless work of human rights defenders.
