Vietnam: Trade unionists, activists and journalist criminalised despite UN human rights review

The state of civic space in Vietnam is rated ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Among ongoing concerns documented are systematic attempts to silence human rights defenders, journalists and bloggers, including their jailing under national security laws, restrictions on their freedom of movement, and torture and ill-treatment in detention. There are also strict controls on the media, online censorship and controls on social media as well as ongoing restrictions on peaceful protests.

On 7th May 2024, Vietnam’s human rights record was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The government received a total of 320 recommendations including a number related to civic space. They include:

• Establish an independent national human rights institution in line with the Paris Principles
• Create an enabling environment for independent civil society organisations, free expression online and offline, as well as independence of the media
• Ensure the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and end practices of arbitrary arrests and detention of human rights defenders, political dissidents and journalists
• Take all necessary measures to guarantee freedom of expression, including for human rights defenders and journalists, including by investigating threats and reprisals against them and sanctioning the perpetrators (Argentina)
• Amend legislation to allow NGOs and other civil society actors to operate freely in the country
• Revise Decree 80 and decision 06/2020/QD-TTg, which are directly hindering the operations of NGOs in Vietnam, to make them consistent with Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• Repeal or review Articles 117, 118 and 331 of the criminal code to harmonise it with international law on the freedom of expression, of association and of assembly
• Strengthen its legal framework to protect freedom of expression both offline and online and amend its penal law and law on cybersecurity to ensure consistency with international human rights law

Despite this, in recent months, the Vietnamese government has continued to stifle dissent. Labour rights reformer Nguyen Van Binh and trade unionist Vu Minh Tien were arrested and charged with leaking state secrets. UN experts raised concerns about the health of journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan; a lawyer Tran Dinh Trien was arrested; a Khmer Krom activist was denied a passport; and a woman was jailed for 12 years for participation in a banned organisation. Two teachers were jailed for criticising authorities on social media while prominent journalist Truong Huy San was detained and charged.

Association

Labour rights reformer arrested for leaking state secrets

A prominent reformer at Vietnam’s Labor Ministry was arrested in April 2024 and charged with leaking state secrets. Nguyen Van Binh, Director General of the Ministry’s legal department, was arrested on 24th April 2024 and prosecuted for “having deliberately disclosed State secrets” under Article 337 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

According to The 88 Project, Binh was the Director General of the Legal Affairs Department at Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). At the time of his arrest, Binh was leading efforts to ratify ILO Convention 87, which, if passed, would guarantee workers the right to form independent trade unions without prior authorisation.

Binh is a trade unionist who has agitated within the government to expand protections for workers. He worked his way up through the country’s only trade union, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL), before spending five years at the Hanoi office of the International Labor Organisation (ILO), and then becoming a policymaker in MOLISA’s legal affairs department. At MOLISA, Binh was responsible for overseeing labor law reform. He was a key force behind the 2019 Labor Code, which provided the legal basis for Vietnam to ratify ILO conventions that protect workers’ rights.

Trade unionists arrested

On 20th May 2024, police in the capital Hanoi arrested trade unionist Vu Minh Tien (pictured above).

According to The 88 Project, Tien is head of policy and legal affairs at the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and director of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions (IWTU). Tien was being held under Article 337 of Vietnam’s criminal code, which covers “deliberate disclosure of classified information; appropriation, trading [and] destruction of classified documents.”

Tien was leading efforts to bring Vietnam’s labor law into line with international standards. In his role at the VGCL, Tien was tasked with amending the Trade Union Law, which is due to be signed into law by the National Assembly later in 2024. The VGCL is Vietnam’s state-controlled confederation of trade unions - the country does not permit independent trade unions.

According to The Vietnamese, Tien’s detention exemplifies the increasing crackdown on civil society groups since the IWTU is part of Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group (DAG), established under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to monitor Vietnam’s compliance with labour and sustainability commitments.

UN experts raise concerns about the health of journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan

In May 2024, a communication from UN experts to the authorities was made public concerning the health situation of Le Huu Minh Tuan, also known as Le Tuan, an independent journalist, a human rights defender and a member of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam (IJAVN).

The experts were gravely concerned about the sharp deterioration in Tuan’s health, exacerbated by insufficient medical attention and treatment while in detention. They also noted reports of the alleged poor standard of living conditions in the prison and about prison officials refusing to give Tuan vital medication being sent by his family.

In 2021, Tuan was sentenced to 11 years in prison and four years on probation alongside two other members of the IJAVN under article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code. At the time of sentencing the journalist and human rights defender was reported to be in good health.

Lawyer defending political cases arrested and charged

According to The 88 Project, lawyer Tran Dinh Trien was arrested in June 2024. Trien was the former deputy director of the Hanoi Bar Association. He’s currently the head of the law office Luat Vi Dan (Law For Citizens) and has been involved in defending political cases

The Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security on 7 June 2024, confirmed the arrest. Trien was charged under Article 331 of the Penal Code, which prohibits the “abusing of democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of others.”

Lawyers defending cases of human rights activists or minority groups have faced harassment from the state including being summoned for questioning or face criminal investigations.

Khmer Krom activist denied passport

In June 2024, it was reported that an activist from the ethnic Cambodian Khmer Krom was denied a passport by the authorities.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), a 35-year-old Khmer Krom activist called Trieu Sieu was refused a passport by the Immigration Management Department and the Soc Trang provincial police department. The deputy head of the department said in a letter on 24th May 2024 that Trieu Sieu is banned from leaving the country between August 2023 and August 2026 and could not get a passport until he was removed from an exit ban list.

His relatives told RFA that the reason Trieu Sieu is banned from leaving the country is “due to his activities fighting for the rights of the local Khmer people.” They added: “He participated in disseminating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples along with many other human rights activists.

As previously documented, the 1.3-million strong Khmer Krom - ethnic Khmer who live in what was historically southeastern Cambodia, but now controlled by Vietnam - face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association, information and movement in Vietnam, despite being recognised as one of 53 ethnic minorities in the country. The Vietnamese government has banned Khmer Krom human rights publications and tightly controls the practice of Theravada Buddhism by the minority group.

Woman jailed for 12 years jail for participation in a banned organisation

On 15th April 2024, a court in Long An Province sentenced Nguyen Thi Bach Hue to 12 years in prison for her alleged participation in “activities against the people's government.”

According to The Vietnamese, Hue, 60, has reportedly become a member of the Provisional National Government of Vietnam, a US-headquartered organisation the Vietnamese Public Security Ministry has declared a “terrorist group.” Hue was arrested in April 2023.

The government accused Hue of receiving 10 million dong (USD 394) from that organisation to “slander, defame, and insult the government and the leaders” of Vietnam and that she also “used social media platforms to encourage people to overthrow the Vietnamese state.” It added that in early 2020, Hue went to Ho Chi Minh City to meet a Vietnamese woman who had returned from the United States and lured her into joining the Provisional Government of Vietnam.

Expression

Teachers jailed for criticising authorities on social media

Two teachers were sentenced to prison on 24th April 2024 in separate cases for criticising authorities on social media.

Duong Tuan Ngoc, 39, was sentenced by the Lam Dong People’s Court to seven years in prison and three years of probation under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code for disseminating anti-state propaganda and “smearing senior leaders” on his social media accounts.

Retired teacher Nguyen Thu Hang, 62, received a two-year sentence under Article 331 for abusing democratic freedom that violated the interests of the state and the rights and legal interests of organisations and individuals.

She was convicted by the Dong Hoi People’s Court for using her personal Facebook accounts to defame a judge who had presided over the land dispute case in which she was involved. She was also accused of streaming such video clips at various provincial offices.

Prominent journalist Truong Huy San detained

Independent journalist Truong Huy San, a well-known political commentator and author also known by his pen names Huy Duc, was apprehended by the police on 1st June 2024 in the capital Hanoi while traveling to an event where he was scheduled to speak, and his home was also searched.

The authorities waited seven days before notifying Huy Duc’s family of his arrest and detention, effectively forcibly disappearing him and raising concerns about his safety. Since his detention, neither his lawyer nor his family have been permitted to meet with him.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), days before his arrest, San wrote critical commentary about Vietnamese politics on his Facebook page, which was shut down on 2nd June 2024 for unknown reasons. In his posts, San wrote about two of Vietnam’s top leaders — the ruling Communist Party’s long-serving chief Nguyen Phu Trong and President To Lam, who was appointed on 22nd May 2024.

In his post to his 350,000 followers, San argued that Vietnam’s development could not be based on fear and noted Lam’s long-time role as Minister of Public Security. Lam is widely seen as a contender to replace 80-year-old Trong in the top political position when his third five-year term ends in 2026.

According to the International Press Institute (IPI), authorities stated San was “abusing democratic freedoms” through these Facebook posts, which “infringed on the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals.” The charges were brought under Article 331 of the Penal Code, which authorities have frequently used to silence government critics.