Doubts Cast: CIVICUS Questions Vietnam's Suitability for UN Human Rights Council Membership

On June 22, 2023, CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, released a report condemning Vietnam’s mistreatment of activists and journalists. The organization called into question the country’s membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and its many human rights dialogues with Australia and the European Union.

Ahead of the election to the UNHRC, Vietnam pledged to better its fundamental human freedoms inside the country. In recent dialogues with Australia and the European Union, the two also pressed Vietnam on various matters, including, but not limited to, the rule of law, civil and political rights, and freedom of expression and association.

However, the human rights situation in Vietnam has not improved despite its membership in the UNHRC and its engagement in human rights dialogues.

With the various questionable arrests and charges against activists and journalists, CIVICUS divided the long list of cases into three categories: association, expression, and peaceful assembly. The association category involves activists; the expression category involves journalists and bloggers, and the peaceful assembly category protests.

Association:

• Do Nam Trung, a democracy activist, was charged with “spreading materials against the State” under Article 117 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced to prison for 10 years in a trial lasting just under four hours. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found his detention arbitrary.
• Truong Van Dung, a land rights activist who campaigned against land appropriation by the authorities, was sentenced to six years in prison under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code, which sanctions “conducting propaganda against the state.”
• Tran Bang, a democracy activist, was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of probation under Article 117 of the Penal Code.
• Bui Tuan Lam, a democracy activist, was sentenced to five years, six months in prison, and four years of probation under Article 117 of the Penal Code. The activist was arrested for posting a parody video imitating the celebrity chef Salt Bae, whose restaurant in London was frequented by To Lam, the influential minister of public security. General To Lam’s video of being fed gold-crusted steak in a high-end restaurant understandably received much criticism at home.
• Dang Dinh Bach, a prominent environmental lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison on tax evasion charges.
• Hoang Thi Minh Hong, a prominent environmental activist, was arrested earlier this month on a tax evasion charge and denied a lawyer access. She is an Obama Foundation scholar and the founder of the non-governmental organization Centre of Hands-on Action and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE).
• Nguyen Quang A, a scholar and human rights defender, was barred by the police from leaving the country.
• Dang Dang Phuoc, an anti-corruption activist and music teacher, was sentenced to eight years in prison and four years of probation under Article 117 of the Penal Code.
• Nguy Thi Khanh, the prominent environmental activist who was sentenced to two years in prison for alleged tax evasion, was quietly released last month, five months earlier than scheduled, without any formal announcement by the government or mention in the state-sanctioned media.

Expression:

• Nguyen Lan Thang, an independent journalist, was sentenced to six years in prison and two years of probation under Article 117 of the Penal Code.
• Duong Van Thai, a blogger and political dissident, was living in exile in Thailand when Vietnamese security agents allegedly abducted him.
• Nguyen Tuong Thuy, a blogger affiliated with Radio Free Asia (RFA), was sentenced to 11 years under Article 117 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced alongside two other members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN). The UN Working Group found his detention to be arbitrary.
• Dang Tien, a literary critic and poet, passed away in April in France. After he passed away, the authorities ordered media outlets inside the country to delete content about him and not to publish any further information because he was deemed anti-communist.

Peaceful Assembly:

• The police violently attacked members of the Ede ethnic minority in Dak Lak Province this past April. They were protesting against a drainage project over concern that it would pollute a nearby lake they depend on. Three villagers were hospitalized, and 12 were arrested.

The CIVICUS report also highlights two reports on human rights violations of the Vietnamese authorities: Project 88’s “Weaponizing the Law to Prosecute the Vietnam Four” and FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)’s “A History of Violence - Repression of the right to freedom of assembly in Vietnam.”

Read the CIVICUS full report here.