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A Hanoi court on Sept. 10 sentenced Hoang Tung Thien to six years in prison under Section 1, Article 117 of the Penal Code for allegedly “drafting and posting numerous articles on social media defaming party and state leaders.” Furthermore, the Security Investigation Bureau of the Hanoi Police Department found that Thien, 46, had allegedly established two web pages and planned to form an independent political party that advocated for political pluralism and a multi-party system in Vietnam.
According to the indictment via state media, since April 2023, Thien has drafted and posted several articles on Facebook that “slandered the honor and reputation of several organizations and individuals” and attracted significant public attention and interactions. In October of the same year, he reportedly created two websites, “Vietnamese Dream” (uocmoviet.net) and “Party and Union” (dangdoan.org), to share his political views and advocate for a multi-party system.
The police also alleged that Thien had used these platforms to recruit new members for his groups and potential candidates to run a campaign committee of the nascent General Party Congress (Tổng hội Đảng đoàn). After that, according to the indictment, Thien planned to use these resources to establish a political party named “Lạc Hồng,” but no one joined the organization.
The Security Investigation Bureau said that among the 33 screenshots of dangdoan.org they collected, five documents contained information that “induces psychological warfare, spreads fabricated news, and causes confusion among the people.” The introduction of this web page says it aims to help Vietnamese people pursue fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, such as freedom of religion and beliefs, freedom of speech, press, and information, and to ensure that everyone remains equal under the law. It also declares Communism as “the most dangerous threat to the [Vietnamese] people.”
The New York-based rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges and release democracy campaigner Phan Van Bach, whose trial is scheduled for Sept. 16. Bach, 49, was arrested in December 2023 and charged with violating Article 117 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes the “distribution of anti-state propaganda.” Those convicted under Article 117 could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
HRW notes that the trial of Phan Van Bach occurred a week before Vietnamese General Secretary To Lam attended the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York. His arrest also underscores a recent crackdown on human rights activists and campaigners in the country, including Nguyen Vu Binh, Nguyen Chi Tuyen, and Tran Van Khanh.
Bach has actively campaigned for civil and political rights, joining protests against Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co.'s release of toxic waste into Vietnamese waters and raising his voice in support of many fellow activists who have been imprisoned for criticizing the government. In 2016, Phan Van Bach nominated himself as an independent candidate for the National Assembly, Vietnam’s parliament, but he was eventually rejected, highlighting the Communist Party’s influence in the vetting process.
Another cornerstone of the democracy campaigner's work includes his participation in Chan Hung TV, a YouTube channel managed by other activists such as Le Van Dung and Le Trong Hung. The channel ran live streams and discussions of social and political issues. Recently, Bach’s family has expressed concerns over the deterioration of his health while in detention, saying he had lost nearly 25 kg since his arrest last December.
Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at HRW, said that Bach is “the latest victim of the Vietnamese government’s ongoing campaign to crush all dissent” and that his “only crime” was to call on the government to respect the human rights of its citizens and cease all forms of abuses. “Vietnam’s trade partners, including the US, European Union, Australia, and Japan, need to stop sweeping the Vietnam government’s violations under the rug,” Gossman added.
Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations Lotte Knudsen on Sept. 10 expressed her deep concerns over the arrests of human rights activists, labor and environmental experts, and the shrinking civil society in Vietnam. In her speech, Knudsen called on the country to guarantee the protection of freedoms of expression and association - a precondition for the active participation of civil society “in all aspects of development.”
The EU ambassador's statements came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk mentioned Vietnam among the states that intensified their crackdowns on human rights activists and political dissidents. Additionally, the EU ambassador recommended that Vietnam release those imprisoned for their peaceful expression of opinions and guarantee that everyone has the right to a fair trial. Knudsen added that “the EU welcomes Vietnam’s ratification of ILO Conventions and urges it to ratify the remaining Convention No 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.”
During a general discussion on Sept. 11, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UN Mai Phan Dung rejected accusations by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about human rights violations in Vietnam, saying such comments “are based on unverified, malicious and false information.” Dung added that those criticisms would not lead to a constructive dialogue or promote cooperation, and he opposed interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
Meanwhile, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sept. 10 released a report regarding authoritarian governments’ use of intimidation and reprisals to punish those who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the UN to report human rights violations in their countries. The report was published and presented at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council between Sept. 9 and Oct. 9.
According to the report, Vietnam was one of those countries where human rights activists, especially indigenous followers of Christianity, had allegedly faced threats, harassment, travel restrictions, and other forms of violence and intimidation that prevented their direct engagement with UN bodies and other mechanisms that oversee the violations of human rights. Several incidents of victims who were prosecuted with vague national security charges, including the cases of Y Khiu Nie and Y Si Eban, have been documented in the reports of special rapporteurs who work on the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
Furthermore, the fear of government intimidation and reprisals resulted in limited civil society contributions to the fourth cycle of Vietnam’s Universal Periodic Review last May. Those who submitted the reports requested anonymity because they feared possible consequences.
The new Chinese ambassador to Vietnam, He Wei, underscored the importance of consolidating solidarity and handling differences “with patience” between the two countries after he touched down in Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Sept. 11, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The new ambassador replaced Xiong Bo, who was in charge of the Chinese mission after the former ambassador left his post in a diplomatic reshuffle, according to China’s foreign ministry via SCMP.
He Wei, formerly working at the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, hailed Sino-Vietnamese ties as a “comrades plus brothers” relationship. He pledged to collaborate with the Vietnamese people and leaders to “firm up confidence in the [socialist] system, to resolve to work in solidarity and cooperation, and to maintain patience in controlling differences.” The ambassador also expressed his willingness to continue the cooperation between the two countries and “give new meaning” to the existing traditional friendship.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Sept. 10 urged the Vietnamese authorities to release blogger and journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, condemning Hanoi’s treatment of independent voices and critics as a criminal offense. CPJ added that at least 19 reporters are held in Vietnamese prisons, making the country the fifth worst jailer of journalists in the world. Meanwhile, PEN America has signed a joint statement with Radio Free Asia (RFA), PEN International, and the Vietnamese Abroad PEN Centre (VNAPC) to oppose Binh’s seven-year imprisonment and call the international community to take a stand against this conviction. The joint statement highlights the need to uphold Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression.
Congresswoman Michelle Steel, in a public statement released on Sept. 12, criticized the Biden administration’s failure to designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern given its recent persecution and violation of religious freedoms. Steel previously made the designation request on March 6, following the Vietnamese government’s crackdown on prisoners of conscience and the mysterious disappearance of Buddhist monk Thich Minh Tue in a nighttime police raid. The California congresswoman wrote in the statement that the Biden administration’s lack of action “is actively empowering repressive governments across the globe.” Currently, the State Department classifies Vietnam in the Special Watch List regarding religious freedom.
The Bac Giang Provincial Police announced that they have summoned and fined four local social media users for posting information about levee breach incidents across the province. Such rumors were prevalent due to heavy rainfall in the aftermath of the Yagi typhoon. The police declared such information “fabricated” and sought to discipline the accused. On Sept. 9, the police in Bac Giang’s Yen Dung Commune said they had fined two internet users, V.T.T., 30, and T.G.H., each 5 million dong, for declaring that a dike in their locality had broken. The police in Tan Yen Commune also fined a social media user, P.T.M., 32, for sharing similar content. Meanwhile, the police in Bac Giang City issued a 7.5 million dong fine for N.T.L., 40, for posting an unverified photo of a broken dike and saying it had occurred in his/her area.
Fulcrum/ Dien Nguyen An Luong/ Sept. 13
“These inconsistent responses to the incident might have stemmed from internal rifts within the CPV over how to navigate its burgeoning ties with the US. The forthcoming visit by Vietnam’s party chief and president To Lam to the US might have influenced the moderation of the reaction. However, one certainty remains: the fixation on the threats of foreign forces co-opting Vietnamese youth to overthrow the Communist regime continues to dominate the mindset of certain conservatives within the CPV.
Vietnam’s history of external interference and colonialism fuels the authorities’ heightened sensitivity to even the slightest suggestion of foreign influence. Such a preoccupation manifests in a formulaic strategy that blames external forces for any potential domestic instability. This approach, however, driven by ideological posturing and political expediency, mostly creates noise without addressing real issues.”
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It has become widely recognized that the Vietnamese government is steadily eroding the right to free speech and expression. This
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