{"id":54696,"date":"2025-07-07T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=54696"},"modified":"2025-07-07T09:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:49:08","slug":"vchr-fidh-denounce-gross-violations-of-iccpr-ccpr144","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vchr-fidh-denounce-gross-violations-of-iccpr-ccpr144\/","title":{"rendered":"VCHR & FIDH denounce gross Violations of Civil and Political Rights in Vietnam before top UN Human Rights body"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

GENEVA, 7 July 2025 (VCHR): As the UN Human Rights Committee meets to examine the fourth periodic report of Vietnam on implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at its 144th<\/sup> Session in Geneva, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)<\/strong> and FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)<\/strong> have presented a joint \u201cShadow Report\u201d<\/a> documenting Vietnam\u2019s systematic violations of fundamental freedoms and lack of compliance with its engagements to respect the civil and political liberties defined in the ICCPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam acceded to the ICCPR, one of the\nUN\u2019s most important human rights instruments, in 1982. State parties have a binding\nobligation to submit regular reports to the UN Human Rights Committee, yet this\nis only the fourth time Vietnam has presented a report in 43 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testifying<\/a> today before the 18-member UN Committee of experts on behalf of the two organisations, VCHR President Penelope Faulkner expressed deep disappointment with the report of Vietnam, presented by Vice-Minister of Justice Nguy\u1ec5n Thanh T\u1ecbnh and a delegation of 24 officials from Vietnam:   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVietnam\u2019s report has a distinct air\nof d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. It contains a list of laws, decrees and regulations adopted since\nits last report, with little or no information as to their implementation\u201d<\/em><\/strong> she said. \u201cIt responds with blanket denials to the UN\u2019s\nconcerns on torture, inhumane prison conditions and arbitrary detention and\nclaims that there are \u2018no prisoners of conscience in Vietnam\u2019. Worse still, Vietnam\nprovides blatantly false information to the UN Human Rights Committee.\nResponding to questions on detained environmental rights defenders, Vietnam\nsaid they had all been released. This is a lie. Lawyer \u0110\u1eb7ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch is in\njail, serving a five-year prison term under extremely harsh conditions in the\nnotorious Prison No. 6 in Ngh\u1ec7 An\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Faulkner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its\nobligations to uphold the rights enshrined in the ICCPR, Vietnam continues to\nrepress civil society and adopt restrictive legislation to limit the exercise\nof civil and political rights. Political repression is \u201clegalised\u201d\nby broadly-defined \u201cnational security\u201d provisions in the Criminal Code, in\nparticular Article 109<\/strong> on \u201cactivities aimed at overthrowing\nthe people\u2019s administration;\u201d<\/em> A<\/strong>rticle 117<\/strong> on \u201cmaking, storing, disseminating information, document, materials,\nitems against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;\u201d<\/em> and Article 331<\/strong> on \u201cabusing democratic\nfreedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese\nvague, catch-all provisions are in fact a legal veneer to suppress human rights\u201d<\/em><\/strong>, Faulkner told the Committee. \u201cThey\nmake no distinction between violent acts and the legitimate exercise of the\nright to freedom of expression, and transform peaceful human rights advocates\ninto criminals\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. Virtually all domestic legislation contain clauses\nrestricting human rights on the grounds of \u201cundermining national security\u201d<\/em> or\n\u201cthreatening the interests of the state,\u201d<\/em> in gross violation of the\nICCPR.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under this\npretext, Vietnam is intensifying arrests of human rights defenders, bloggers,\nreligious followers, civil society activists and government critics. In an\nunprecedently fierce crack-down on freedom of expression between January 2019\nand March 2025, at least 209 persons (including 35\nwomen)<\/strong> were arrested, and at least 177 (including\n28 women)<\/strong> were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years. Politically\nmotivated charges of \u201ctax evasion\u201d and \u201cdisclosing state secrets\u201d have also\nbeen used to prosecute climate change leaders and labour rights advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfair\ntrials, systematic denial of legal defense, degrading detention conditions and\nill-treatment of prisoners are routine in Vietnam, in violation of Article 14\nof the ICCPR. The 2015 Criminal Procedures Code permits virtually unlimited\npre-trial detention, prolonged incommunicado\n<\/em>incarceration and secret trials for suspected \u201cnational security\u201d\noffenders. Prisoners who protest detention conditions are subjected to\ndisciplinary measures including shackling and solitary confinement, and even\nrisk additional prosecution. In May 2025, land-rights activist Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1\nPh\u01b0\u01a1ng<\/strong>, who is serving a 10 year sentence under Article 177 of the Criminal\nCode was charged with a second prison term after wardens found a document in\nhis cell in which he wrote \u201cdown with Communism.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decree 121 on Lawyers<\/strong>, which came into force in June 2025, severely undermines the right\nto judicial protection by shifting the power to grant, renew and revoke\nlicences to practice law from the Ministry of Justice to Chairpersons of\nprovincial People\u2019s Committees (the local CPV authorities). This exposes\nlawyers to intimidation by local officials, and limits their ability to defend\ntheir clients, especially government critics and human rights defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of the death penalty is increasing,\ndespite reductions in the number of capital crimes. Detention conditions on\ndeath row are inhumane. Prisoners are detained in shackles, which are removed\nfor only 15 minutes per day. Many prisoners have been awaiting execution for\nover 15 years because the President is \u201ctoo busy\u201d to sign the execution orders,\nwithout which executions cannot take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside physical repression, Vietnam uses the law to restrict human rights and reduce civil society space. The Communist Party\u2019s \u201cDirective 24\u201d identifies the development of civil society and independent trade unions as a key threat. Numerous new regulations have been issued to limit civil society\u2019s access to foreign funding and reduce the scope of their activities. Most disturbing is Decree 126\/2024 on Associations, <\/strong>which VCHR and FIDH described as \u201ca grave backslide in the protection of the right to freedom of association in Vietnam\u201d. <\/em>The Decree grants the authorities broad powers to control, veto and suspend associations, and obliges them to \u201ccomply with the Party\u2019s policies\u201d<\/em> and \u201cpropagate and popularise the Party\u2019s guidelines\u201d<\/em>, in violation of Article 19 of the ICCPR on the right to freedom of association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom of expression and the press, both online and offline, are gravely restricted. There are no independent media outlets in Vietnam. Even the state-controlled press is subjected to censorship under the government\u2019s \u201cPlan 2025\u201d, which bans the media from \u201cdelving into political issues and reporting on negative phenomena\u201d. Journalist who post news deemed to \u201cdeny revolutionary achievements\u201d or \u201coffend national heroes\u201d risk fines and imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCHR\nand FIDH also expressed grave concern on increasing\nacts of transnational repression <\/strong>against Vietnamese activists and dissidents\nabroad, including harassments, abduction and forced repatriation. Blogger D\u01b0\u01a1ng\nV\u0103n Th\u00e1i, <\/strong>abducted in Thailand where he had obtained refugee status, was\nrepatriated and and sentenced to 12 years in prison in Vietnam. Y Qu\u1ef3nh Bdap<\/strong>,\nco-founder of Montagnards for Justice, condemned in absentia <\/em>to 10 years\nin prison, also risks repatriation from Thailand. Vietnamese police in\nconnivance with Chinese secret agents arrested Buddhist monk Tulku Hungar\nDorje<\/strong> after he fled Tibet to escape religious persecution in March 2025. He\ndied in custody in Ho Chi Minh City only a few days after his arrest and his\nbody was secretly cremated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nApril 2025, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Th\u00edch\nMinh Tu\u1ec7 <\/strong>was intercepted by police in Sri Lanka and banned from continuing\na barefoot pilgrimage through the country after the state-sanctioned Vietnam\nBuddhist Sangha circulated reports that the monk was a \u201cthreat to public\norder\u201d.<\/em> FIDH and VCHR told the UN Human Rights Committee: \u201cwe fear for\nthe safety of Th\u00edch Minh Tu\u1ec7 if he returns to Vietnam\u201d.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese massive and systematic human rights abuses are particularly disturbing in the light of sweeping government restructuration in Vietnam led by CPV General Secretary T\u00f4 L\u00e2m to cement his grip on power and reinforce the Communist Party\u2019s political control.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Faulkner said. \u201cThe CPV and the Vietnamese government pay lip service to UN institutions, but 43 years after acceding to the ICCPR, they have clearly no political will to protect the fundamental rights of the people of Vietnam.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact:<\/em><\/strong> Penelope Faulkner: + 33 6 11\n89 86 81<\/strong> or Vo Tran Nhat: + 33 6 62 17 42 29<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GENEVA, 7 July 2025 (VCHR): As the UN Human Rights Committee meets to examine the fourth periodic report of Vietnam on implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at its 144th Session in Geneva, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) and FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) have presented a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":54712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,113,98,64],"tags":[1792,312,1813,1814,1809,1793,343,222,313,1810,1811,1806,1808,1747],"class_list":["post-54696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr","tag-ccpr144","tag-death-penalty","tag-decree-121-2025","tag-decree-126-2024","tag-duong-van-thai","tag-freedom-of-association","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-iccpr","tag-national-security","tag-nguyen-thanh-tinh","tag-thich-minh-tue","tag-trinh-ba-phuong","tag-tulku-hungar-dorje","tag-y-quynh-bdap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}