Human Rights Watch Urges Vietnam to Free Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen Before His Trial

Key events:

• Human Rights Watch Urges Vietnam to Free Democracy Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen
• Recently Appointed General Secretary To Lam Set to Visit China, Sources Say
• Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Releases its Vietnam Report

Human Rights Watch Urges Vietnam to Free Democracy Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen

The New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a public statement on Aug. 13, urged Hanoi to immediately drop all charges against democracy activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen, also known as Anh Chi. Vietnam schedules trial for prominent democracy activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen for Aug. 15.. Tuyen was arrested in February on a charge of “distributing anti-state propaganda,” a violation of Article 117 of the Penal Code. The 50-year-old activist could face up to 12 years of imprisonment if convicted.

Patricia Gossman, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said she believed that Nguyen Chi Tuyen became a target of the Vietnamese authorities simply because he expressed views that the government doesn’t like. Gossman called on Hanoi to stop jailing peaceful critics, repeal its repressive criminal laws, and end the systematic violation of fundamental human rights. Before his arrest, Tuyen has faced police harassment, intimidation, and restrictions of movement, in addition to arbitrary detention and interrogation.

Most importantly, HRW notes that the trial of Tuyen comes after the recent appointment of To Lam as the new Communist Party general secretary. Lam’s hallmark as the public security minister between April 2016 and May 2024, before he was appointed as president in May,  involved the arrests of critics and a crackdown on civil and political rights. “The Vietnamese government will remain mired in oppression so long as it continues to lock up dissidents like Nguyen Chi Tuyen who dare to speak their minds,” Gossman said in the public statement, adding that Hanoi’s international donors and trade partners “shouldn’t have any illusions when dealing with this rights-abusing government.”

Recently Appointed General Secretary To Lam Set to Visit China, Sources Say

General Secretary To Lam is set to make his first foreign visit to China next week after he assumed the highest position of general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party this August, Reuters reported, quoting three officials familiar with the situation. According to these figures, who declined to be named since the trip was not publicly announced, To Lam is expected to arrive on Aug. 18 and meet with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials.

The general secretary’s trip to China is believed to underscore the importance of the bilateral China-Vietnam relationship. To Lam, a police officer, formally visited Laos and Cambodia as president in May. He also met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in June, when the latter arrived in Hanoi after he had visited North Korea. Both Putin and President Joe Biden extended congratulatory messages to To Lam after he ascended to party chairman.

Several officials and diplomats also told Reuters that To Lam may step down from the presidency after the National Assembly convenes in October and chooses his successor. Before that, he may attend the United Nations General Assembly this September and meet with President Biden there. 

In a press conference on Aug. 13, Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said he had “no information to share” about To Lam’s planned trip to China. He added that China and Vietnam “are a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance” and it “stands ready to work with Viet Nam, under the guidance of the strategic common understandings between the top leaders of the two parties and two countries.” Vietnam’s foreign affairs ministry has published no details regarding the possible visit.

Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Releases its Vietnam Report

Vietnam received 320 recommendations to improve its human rights situation from 133 national delegations in the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that occurred on May 7 in Geneva, according to a report by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.

The report, released on June 21, presents the statements of the Vietnamese delegation at the UPR and concerns raised by other countries. The Vietnamese government must respond to these recommendations before the 57th session of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 9.

Regarding the death penalty, almost all European Union member states and other nations, including Nepal, Chile, New Zealand, and Canada, have urged Vietnam to abolish capital punishment and reduce the crimes punishable by death towards its final abolition. Meanwhile, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have advocated repealing national security laws such as Articles 117 and 331.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Portugal have called on Hanoi to create a favorable condition for civil society organizations to operate without state interference. At the same time, Austria, Belgium, and Canada suggested that Hanoi ratify ILO Convention 87, which guarantees workers the right to form independent associations and organizations. Furthermore, Germany wants Vietnam to ensure its prison conditions align with international regulations and the Ministry of Health’s guidelines on minimum nutrition standards.

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Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association Revokes Membership of Human Rights Lawyers Due to ‘Unpaid Fees’:

The Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association announced on Aug. 13 that it had revoked the membership of attorney Dao Kim Lan, 57, from the list of its member lawyers because attorney Lan had “not paid membership fees for many years.” Previously, the same bar association had canceled the membership of attorney Dang Dinh Manh, 56, and Nguyen Van Mieng, 58, for the same reason. These three lawyers have defended the practitioners of Thiền am bên bờ vũ trụ (“A small zen hermitage on the edge of the universe”), an independent Buddhist temple located in Long An Province after members were charged with “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331. They fled to the U.S. in June 2026 after the Long An Provincial Police issued a warrant to search for them due to the lawyers’ potential violation of Article 331.

Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

As Philippines, Vietnam Close ranks, China Adopts ‘Divide and Conquer’ Approach

South China Morning Post/ Maria Siow/ Aug. 12

“Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales, said unlike the Philippines, Vietnam had refrained from deploying its navy to confront Chinese ships in its exclusive economic zone.

Instead, Hanoi had deployed coastguard and civilian vessels to monitor Chinese activities, exercised tight control over Vietnamese media coverage of maritime incidents and pursued diplomatic channels with Beijing over their South China Sea dispute, Thayer said.

As for the Philippines, China’s approach would have taken into account the various military exercises that the Southeast Asian nation conducts regularly with its allies such as the annual Balikatan exercise with the US, according to Thayer, who is a specialist on Vietnamese defence issues.”

No pause in Vietnam elite political jockeying for Nguyen Phu Trong’s funeral

Radio Free Asia/ Zachary Abuza/ Aug. 6

“Even before [Nguyen Phu Trong’s] funeral, [To] Lam was working to strengthen his position. He quickly  maneuvered to place two of his deputies from the Ministry of Public Security in critically important positions.

Luong Tam Quang became his successor as the Minister of Public Security. Quang is not just from Lam’s home province of Hung Yen, but is deeply tied to Lam through family: Quang’s father served as Lam’s father’s personal body guard in the south during the war against the Americans.

The second deputy, Nguyen Duy Ngoc, who also hails from Hung Yen province, is now the head of the Central Committee Office, which is critically important in terms of organizing meetings and agenda setting. He will play an important role in the personnel selection for the 14th Party Congress.”