May 2021
Download the report in PDF: Vietnam Prisoners Of Conscience 2021 Report A4
Background Information
The Vietnamese government has continued to show its disregard for human rights. As a one-party state, Vietnam has oppressed free media and any oppositional political parties. The crackdown on human rights defenders has intensified over the past six years, with the use of vague penal codes to forcibly limit and suppress peaceful freedom of expression and political opposition.
Since the Cybersecurity Law went into effect at the beginning of 2019, the authorities have used social media posts from platforms like Facebook to arrest and imprison activists. Music teacher Nguyen Nang Tinh of Nghe An province was sentenced to 11 years in prison on November 15, 2019 for sharing information online about political prisoners, environmental disasters, and street demonstrations. Mr. Tinh is among ten other individuals detained in 2019 because of their online postings. This number does not include the amount of arrests of social activists the government charges with subversion or terrorism.
The authorities have also targeted foreign nationals of Vietnamese descent. In the past three years, two Vietnamese-Americans (William Nguyen and Michael Nguyen, not related), and one Vietnamese-Australian (Chau Van Kham) were detained. The government alleges these individuals were in the country for political reasons, but they were engaged in expression of freedoms protected by international treaties that the Vietnamese government has signed.
At the beginning of 2020, the Hanoi regime heavy-handedly asserted its authority against the local residents of Dong Tam. In the early hours of January 9, a police force of several thousand were sent to the area. One civilian was killed in the police raid and three policemen died under questionable circumstances during the process. Among those killed was Le Dinh Kinh, a respected 84-year-old land rights activist protecting the residents’ land from government seizure. The authorities blocked off access to Dong Tam as well as shut off internet and phone connections to prevent media reports from investigating the incident. They later arrested 29 family members of Mr. Kinh for the death of the policemen. In a speedy trial without proper legal counsel for the defendants, two of Mr. Kinh’s sons were sentenced with the death penalty.
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, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Ho Duc Hoa, Nguyen Van Tuc, Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc, Chau Van Kham, 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 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 2015 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 protect 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.
