Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)
Global Witness
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Global Witness lodged a complaint with the European Commission’s trade department, stating that Hanoi’s ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders working on sustainable development violates the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
BRUSSELS-PARIS, 4 February 2025 – In a complaint filed to the European Commission’s Single Entry Point, FIDH, VCHR, CSW and Global Witness outlined how the Vietnamese government’s systematic suppression of individuals and organisations working on sustainable development violates EVFTA, which came into force in August 2020.
“The government of Vietnam is imprisoning individuals who express legitimate concerns on environmental protection, labour and land rights violations, and the socio-economic impacts of infrastructure and investment projects. This crackdown is unacceptable and also undermines effective monitoring of the EVFTA’s sustainable development clauses,” said Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH’s Business, Human Rights & Environment Desk.
“Our organisations call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained for their legitimate advocacy, and the creation of an enabling environment for civil society. Vietnam pledged to uphold these rights when it ratified the EVFTA, yet it has still not delivered on its promises. It is high time the EU held Vietnam accountable for these gross violations of the trade agreement. Vietnamese defenders must feel safe and free to demand accountability and stand up for the rights of their communities,” said Penelope Faulkner, VCHR’s President.
A feature of modern EU trade agreements, trade and sustainable development chapters require partners to ratify and implement fundamental international labour rights and environmental conventions, and to commit to upholding civil society participation, freedom of association, and access to information.
If EU member states or civil society representatives consider these commitments are being breached, they may lodge a complaint so that the European Commission can examine the allegations and consider appropriate action. Applicable measures could result in the suppression of certain economic benefits enjoyed by Vietnam under the EVFTA or the suspension of the Agreement as a whole.
“The EU needs to be firmer in insisting that states uphold the commitments and obligations they have made in their trade arrangements with the EU – in the case of Vietnam, this includes those listed in the EVFTA’s Trade and Sustainable Development chapter. Pursuing adherence to these terms is in line with both the interests and the values of the EU, including human rights – at a time when these are gravely under threat,” said Jonathan de Leyser, CSW’s Senior EU Advocate.
A full-on attack on labour, land, and environmental rights
Over the past several years, the Vietnamese government has intensified violations of rights, clamping down on critical voices with the declared aim to silence all forms of peaceful dissent. As the complaint demonstrates, such repression is inconsistent with Vietnam’s commitments under international human rights law as well as the EVFTA.
Since 2021, the government has broadened the range of offences used against human rights defenders. Alongside the use of vaguely worded “national security” provisions in the Penal Code, politically-motivated charges of “tax evasion” or disclosure of “classified information” have been used to detain prominent climate change leaders and labour reformers. The authorities have also adopted extensive legislation restricting the establishment and operations of civil society organisations, such as Decree 126 in 2024, and impeded the establishment of independent trade unions and a robust legal framework to protect workers’ rights.
The organisations filing the complaint estimate that scores of defenders of environmental, land, and labour rights are currently arbitrarily detained in Vietnam. The complaint documents around 40 emblematic cases of men and women serving prison sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 20 years for their actions in favour of sustainable development.
Several of these defenders face repercussions for their direct work on the EVFTA. In 2019, Vietnam arrested journalist Pham Chi Dung just two days after he sent a video message to the European Parliament calling for the postponement of the Agreement pending concrete progress on human rights. Before being sentenced to five years in prison in 2022, environmental lawyer Dang Dinh Bach was actively advocating for civil society participation in Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group, a body tasked with discussing and advising on the EVFTA’s implementation.
“We strongly condemn the arrest and imprisonment of land and environmental defenders in Vietnam, which appears to be part of a concerning pattern of criminalisation designed to punish them for their environmental and human rights work. We call on the Vietnamese authorities to end all harassment and intimidation of these defenders and to release those still imprisoned immediately and unconditionally. The EU must ensure that it upholds the highest environmental and human rights standards in its dealings with global trading partners and take immediate action if they fail to do so,” said Beate Beller, Campaigner at Global Witness.
Note to editors:
Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH’s Business, Human Rights & Environment Desk, is available for interviews.
Press contacts
FIDH: Lucia Posteraro | lposteraro@fidh.org | +33 7 81 21 26 05
VCHR: Penelope Faulkner | penelope.faulkner@gmail.com | +33 6 11 89 86 81
CSW: Jonathan de Leyser | jonathan@csw.org.uk | +32 4 56 16 95 61
Global Witness: Paul Hallows | phallows@globalwitness.org | +32 487 80 31 61
This post is also available in: French Vietnamese
