Search
Close this search box.

Advertisement here

UN human rights chief calls on Vietnam to free jailed activists

The United Nations has hit out at Vietnam’s human rights abuses, calling on the government to release jailed activists and live up to its commitment to meeting international human rights standards.

The comments came in its Global Update, released Monday, which criticized Vietnam for failing to live up to its commitments to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The government’s growing restrictions on civic space and fundamental freedoms, as well as the sentencing of people on charges related to their human rights work and efforts to promote a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment are worrisome,” said UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif. 

“I urge the government to ensure diverse and robust participation for civil society, including human rights defenders, and to release those who have been arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for such activities.”

Since the beginning of the year, Vietnamese authorities have arrested at least 16 human rights and social activists, eight of them accused of “conducting propaganda against the State,” or “making, storing and distributing documents for propaganda against the State.” Five were charged with “abusing democratic freedoms.”

Among those arrested was Radio Free Asia blogger Nguyen Lan Thang.

In the past week alone, three activists and bloggers were arrested and charged with “making, storing and distributing documents for propaganda against the state.”

Da Nang-based human rights activist Bui Tuan Lam, Dang Phuoc, a music lecturer at Dak Lak Pedagogical College and Hanoi-based blogger Phan Son Tung were all charged under Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code.

The Vietnam courts have also jailed 21 human rights activists this year. Among them, six were found guilty of anti-State propaganda or distributing propaganda materials and sentenced to prison terms of between five and eight years. Another 10 were sentenced to between one and five years on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms.”

Joseph Benedict, a researcher at the international human rights alliance CIVICUS, told RFA that Vietnam’s civic space is rated “closed” by the CIVICUS Monitor, which tracks threats to civil society.

“For many years human rights groups have been reporting on the dire human rights situation under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam,” he said. 

“This includes the systematic criminalization and jailing of human rights defenders, restrictions on movement, a crackdown on the media as well as pervasive censorship.”

Benedict also noted that Vietnam has recently started using tax evasion laws to target activists and said that the UN’s call for action puts more pressure on the government to improve its human rights record.

“The fact that human rights concerns in Vietnam have now been highlighted by the UN Acting Human Rights Commissioner in her update at the Human Rights Council, shows that Vietnam is now higher on their agenda and that finally these issues are getting increased global attention. Vietnam cannot continue to hide or try to cover up such abuses,” he said.

The UN’s Al Nashif said the coming months will be a critical test of whether countries that crack down on human rights freedoms have the political will to change.

“When galvanized through multilateral and concerted action, by building bridges rather than sowing division, political commitment that is grounded in international human rights standards can propel us forward towards more just and equal societies,” she said.

“The pursuit of peace, stability and justice unites us all. It lies at the core of the mission of this Council – to fulfill it is therefore, to uphold our collective commitment to the enduring principle that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”