“The Vietnamese government has broken its pledges for reform and continues to crack down on basic freedoms,” Kanae Doi, HRW’s Japan director, said in a statement. “Japan should stop giving Việt Nam a free pass on repression.”
The Latest: On Nov. 1, Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, urging her to raise serious human rights concerns with Vietnamese President Tô Lâm during his Nov. 8–11 visit to Japan.
- HRW repeated this call in a follow-up statement issued two days later, on Nov. 3.
The Details: In total, HRW states that Việt Nam holds more than 160 political prisoners; Vietnamese authorities convicted at least 31 activists and arrested 46 others in the first nine months of this year alone.
The organization specifically named 10 detained political prisoners:
- Journalist Phạm Đoan Trang
- Land rights activist Cấn Thị Thêu
- Independent journalists Phạm Chí Dũng and Nguyễn Tường Thụy
- Labor activist Hoàng Đức Bìn
- Democracy campaigners Lê Đình Lượng, Nguyễn Văn Túc, Trần Đức Thạch, Trần Văn Bang and Nguyễn Trung Tôn
HRW also cited bloggers Hoàng Thị Hồng Thái and Huỳnh Ngọc Tuấn.
Additionally, HRW is pressing Japan to urge Việt Nam to free those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, religion and assembly.The group is also demanding the repeal of vague “national security” provisions of the Penal Code, including
- Article 117 (propaganda against the state)
- Article 116 (undermining the unity policy)
- Article 331 (abusing democratic freedoms)
Furthermore, HRW insists that Việt Nam allow:
- Independent unions
- Ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87
- Amend the Criminal Procedure Code so people—to give individuals under investigation prompt access to lawyers
Regarding Cross-Border Abductions: HRW’s letter also cites cases of Vietnamese security forces abducting people in Germany and Thailand, pressuring Thailand and Cambodia to return asylum seekers, and trying overseas critics in absentia.
- In response to this trend, Luật Khoa interviewed Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.
Why It Matters: HRW states that Japan has been Việt Nam’s largest bilateral donor of official development assistance (ODA) for more than 20 years.
- ODA is aid that foreign governments or international organizations give developing countries as grants or low-interest loans.
- In March 2026, Japan agreed to lend Việt Nam $609 million in ODA.
HRW argues that the ongoing crackdown violates Việt Nam’s labor commitments under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an agreement to which Japan is a party.
- Additionally, Việt Nam promised to ratify Convention 87 by January 2024 but has yet to do so.
Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on Nov. 4, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
