UN Experts Concerned about the Safety of Environmental Activist Dang Dinh Bach 

In a press release published on Feb. 14, a group of United Nations experts expressed concerns about the well-being of imprisoned Vietnamese environmental advocate and lawyer Dang Dinh Bach, who is on a hunger strike in protest against poor detention conditions. The statement mentioned reports that Bach had been attacked and beaten while in custody. They also urged Hanoi to stop targeting and mistreating human rights defenders.

The statement, co-signed by 10 UN experts, was posted on the website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a day after Vietnam had its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) pre-session on Feb. 13, organized to discuss the country’s human rights situation. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has concluded in its Opinion 22/2023 that Bach’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary as he was held incommunicado during the investigation period and had limited access to his lawyer.