Human rights in Vietnam
Human rights in Vietnam (Vietnamese: Nhân quyền tại Việt Nam) are among the poorest in the world, as considered by various domestic and international academics, dissidents and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).[1][2][3]
This has long been a matter of controversy between the Government of Vietnam, led by its Communist Party (CPV), and other countries and political unions, such as the European Union (EU) and the United States. Under the current constitution, the CPV is the only legal political party: all other parties are outlawed, making Vietnam one of a few legally constituted one-party states, along with China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, and North Korea.[4]
Elections in Vietnam have been characterized as nothing more than a rubber stamp, with every election resulting in 99% of votes for the CPV. Freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to a healthy environment are severely restricted.[5] Citizens critical of the Vietnamese government or who discuss certain topics deemed "unacceptable" by the CPV are often subject to intimidation and imprisonment.[6]
The Vietnamese government has also made use of online operatives and nationalist netizens or "public opinion brigades", state-sponsored anonymous political commentators and trolls who combat any perceived dissent against CPV policies or protest over the status of human rights.[7] A Vietnam Human Rights Day is observed each year on 11 May in the U.S. state of Virginia, particularly by the Vietnamese diaspora who left after the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon[a] as well as by dissidents who fled the country in subsequent decades.[8]
Rights
Environmental rights
De jure, the article 43 of the constitution of Vietnam includes a right to a healthy environment.[9] The state is obliged to "…protect the environment; manage, and effectively and stably use natural resources; protect nature and biodiversity; take initiative in prevention and resistance against natural calamities; and respond to climate change."[9] These rights were further advanced through the Law on Environmental Protection in 2014.[9]
In 2009, Lê Công Định, a lawyer who several years previously had acted for the government in a successful case against American catfish farmers, was arrested and charged with the capital crime of subversion; several of his associates were also arrested.[38][39] Many Western governments condemned the move, and human rights groups alleged that the arrest was due to Le Cong Dinhs' support for freedom of speech.[39] Amnesty International named him and his arrested associates prisoners of conscience.[39]
Vietnam currently holds several other individuals in detention whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience: Cù Huy Hà Vũ, convicted of "conducting propaganda against the state" for giving interviews to foreign press;[40] Nguyễn Đan Quế, convicted of "red-handed keeping and distributing documents" calling for the overthrow of the government;[41] and Roman Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý (also known as Father Thaddeus) detained for "spreading propaganda against the state."[42]
In January 2019, the authorities of Vietnam arrested and sentenced an Australian democracy activist, Chau Van Kham, to 12 years of imprisonment on charges of "financing terrorism". The 70-year-old was arrested over his membership of pro-democracy group Việt Tân. The charges against him were claimed to be baseless and politically motivated by human rights advocates, lawyers and his family. In June 2023, after serving four years in prison, The Guardian reported that the activist was released from imprisonment on humanitarian grounds, with the efforts of the Australian government.[43]
Dozens were arrested and tried in 2021. [44]
In May 2023, activist Trần Văn Bang was sentenced to eight years in prison after making Facebook posts critical of the government.[45]
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