{"id":57291,"date":"2026-06-30T09:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=57291"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:45:17","slug":"briefing-paper-14th-eu-vietnam-human-rights-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/briefing-paper-14th-eu-vietnam-human-rights-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam: Briefing paper for the 14th EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARIS, 30 June 2026 (VCHR) – Ahead of the 14th EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue, which will be held on 2 July 2026 in Brussels, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<\/strong> (VCHR)<\/strong> and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)<\/strong> produced a briefing paper<\/a> on the grave and deteriorating human rights situation in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting the cases of 12 political prisoners, the briefer demonstrates how Vietnam is using the law to clamp down on critical voices and stifle all peaceful dissent. The 12 prisoners, including human rights defenders, bloggers, journalists, environmental and land rights activists, lawyers and freedom of religion advocates, are detained under vaguely defined \u201cnational security\u201d provisions of the 2015 Criminal Code for prison terms of up to 21 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam\u2019s abuse of \u201cnational security\u201d provisions is especially disturbing in the light of proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to introduce a new offence of \u201cpropaganda against the Communist Party of Vietnam.\u201d<\/em> The revised draft Criminal Code is expected to be released to the public in July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the upcoming Human Rights Dialogue, VCHR and FIDH urge the EU to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons detained in Vietnam for the peaceful and legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and freedom of religion or belief; cease arbitrary arrests and harassment against human rights defenders and civil society activists, including government critics; and suspend the ongoing revision of the Criminal Code and ensure that its reform entails amending the vaguely worded \u201cnational security\u201d provisions to bring them into line with international standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Briefing paper<\/strong>
for the 14th European Union \u2013 Vietnam<\/strong>
human rights dialogue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

29 June 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the previous EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue in July 2025, Vietnamese members of civil society, including human rights defenders, bloggers, journalists, lawyers, environmental rights activists, and freedom of religion advocates, have continued to be detained under overly broad and vaguely defined \u201cnational security\u201d provisions of the 2015 Criminal Code, which are inconsistent with international human rights law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This FIDH-VCHR briefing paper highlights the cases of 12 political prisoners who remain arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association, assembly, and religion or belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these cases, the most frequently invoked provisions of the 2015 Criminal Code to criminalise their peaceful activities included Article 117 on \u201cmaking, storing, disseminating information, document, materials, items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam\u201d and Article 331 on \u201cabusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, the legitimate rights and interests of organisations and\/or citizens.\u201d Some individuals were prosecuted prior to the entry into force of the current Criminal Code in 2018 under equivalent provisions (Articles 88 and 258, respectively) of the 1999 Criminal Code. All of them have been sentenced to long prison terms following trials that did not comply with fair trial standards. They are held in poor detention conditions, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and denied adequate medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns regarding the Vietnamese government\u2019s abuse of \u201cnational security\u201d provisions have been compounded by the Ministry of Public Security\u2019s proposed introduction of a new offence of \u201cpropaganda against the Communist Party of Vietnam\u201d in the revised Criminal Code in May 2026, despite public opposition to the measure. The revised draft Criminal Code is expected to be released to the public in July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1 Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng
Land rights activist (expected release: 2042)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Land rights activist Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1 Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng is serving 21 years in prison<\/strong> for exercising his right to freedom of expression. He was first arrested in June 2020 and sentenced to 10 years in prison<\/strong> under Article 117 for denouncing the use of excessive police force to evict farmers in Dong Tam Village, near Hanoi. His mother, C\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb Th\u00eau<\/strong>, and his brother, Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1 T\u01b0<\/strong>, were sentenced to eight years in prison each for the same offence. In detention, Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1 Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng has been subjected to torture, ill-treatment, and frequent periods of solitary confinement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2025, while he was serving his sentence in An Diem Prison, in Quang Nam Province, he was charged with a second offence, again under Article 117, after wardens found a sheet of paper in his cell with the slogan \u201cDown with the Communist Party, violator of human rights\u201d and \u201cDown with the court that convicted me.\u201d He was sentenced to additional 11 years in prison<\/strong> at an unfair trial that lasted about three hours at the Danang City People\u2019s Court. He was not allowed to make a statement, and his lawyers were not allowed to present their defence. Neither family members nor foreign diplomats were allowed to attend the three-hour trial. On 27 December 2026, the sentence was upheld on appeal. Since he must serve two sentences consecutively, Tr\u1ecbnh B\u00e1 Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng is not due for release until 2042.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng
Journalist and labour rights activist (expected release: 2034)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng is a prominent journalist\u00a0and labour rights activist, founder of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam (IJAVN). On 19 November 2019, he sent a video message to members of the European Parliament urging them to postpone ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), pending concrete human rights progress in Vietnam. Two days later, he was arrested. Police seized documents on his computer related to his advocacy activities with the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After more than a year in pre-trial detention, in January 2021, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison<\/strong> under Article 117 along with two other IJAVN members, Nguy\u1ec5n Th\u01b0\u1eddng Th\u1ee5y<\/strong> and L\u00ea H\u1eefu Minh Tu\u1ea5n<\/strong>, who were sentenced to 11 years in prison each. L\u00ea H\u1eefu Minh Tu\u1ea5n, detained in Xuy\u00ean M\u1ed9c Prison, is currently in very poor health, and has been denied adequate medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ho\u00e0ng \u0110\u1ee9c B\u00ecnh
Environmental and labour rights activist (expected release: 2031)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Hoang \u0110\u1ee9c B\u00ecnh is an environmental and labour rights defender. He is detained for reporting on the environmental disaster caused by the Formosa steel plant in 2016, seeking to defend the fishing communities and advocating for the creation of an independent trade union. In May 2017, as he was escorting a group of environmental activists, police violently dragged him from his car and placed him under arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2018, Hoang \u0110\u1ee9c B\u00ecnh was sentenced to 14 years in prison<\/strong> on charges of \u201cresisting persons in the performance of their official duties\u201d and \u201cabusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state\u201d (formerly Articles 257 and 258 of the 1999 Criminal Code, now Articles 330 and 331 of the 2015 Criminal Code). In April 2018, his sentence was upheld on appeal. During his detention, Hoang \u0110\u1ee9c B\u00ecnh was forced to share a cell with prisoners on death row, who physically attacked him several times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0169 B\u00ecnh
Journalist (expected release: 2031)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n B\u00ecnh is a journalist and former political prisoner. On 29 February 2024, he was arrested, and on 10 September 2024, he was sentenced to seven years in prison<\/strong> under Article 117. He was accused of making critical comments on political, economic, and social topics in videos posted on a YouTube<\/em> channel \u201cTNT Media Live\u201d in January and March 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n B\u00ecnh was formerly a journalist at the Communist Party of Vietnam\u2019s Communist Review<\/em>. In 2003, he served a first seven-year prison sentence for \u201cespionage\u201d after he sent testimony to the United States (US) Congress on human rights violations in Vietnam. From 2015 until his arrest in 2024, he worked as freelance journalist, writing about corruption, land rights, police brutality, unfair trials, the right to peaceful assembly, the economy, education, and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguy\u1ec5n M\u1ea1nh H\u00f9ng
Freedom of religion activist (expected release: 2030)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Nguy\u1ec5n M\u1ea1nh H\u00f9ng is a Protestant pastor, defender of human rights and freedom of religion. On 16 January 2025, he was arrested in a raid on his home in Ho Chi Minh City. Police confiscated his belongings, including phones and a laptop. He was accused of using social media to criticise the Communist Party of Vietnam, including for violations of land rights. On 30 October 2025, he was convicted under Article 117 and sentenced to six years in prison<\/strong> by L\u00e2m Dong Provincial People\u2019s Court. On 8 June 2026, he was sentenced to five years and six months in prison in the appellate trial, a reduction of six months from his original sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Nguy\u1ec5n is a former solider, associated with the Chuong Bo Protestant Church which is affiliated with the independent Mennonite Church. Neither is officially registered with the Vietnamese authorities, which is a requirement under Vietnam\u2019s Law on Belief and Religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ph\u1ea1m \u0110oan Trang
Writer and journalist (expected release: 2029)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Pham<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ph\u1ea1m \u0110oan Trang is a renowned writer, journalist, pro-democracy advocate, founder of the online magazine Lu\u1eadt Khoa<\/em>, and editor of The Vietnamese<\/em> English-language news site. She authored numerous in-depth reports on issues such as Sino-Vietnamese relations, the Formosa pollution disaster, the Dong Tam land conflict, LGBTIQ rights, and books including \u201cHandbook for Prisoners\u2019 Families,\u201d \u201cPolitics for the ordinary people,\u201d and \u201cStrategies for non-violent resistance.\u201d All her works are banned in Vietnam. She is the recipient of many international awards for her writings and advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2020, Trang was arrested for \u201canti-state propaganda\u201d under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code (now Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code) and held incommunicado in pre-trial detention for almost a year. In December 2021, she was sentenced to nine years in prison<\/strong> at an unfair trial in Hanoi. She is detained in An Phuoc Prison, Binh Duong Province, 1,500 km away from her home. She suffers from low blood pressure and pain in her legs, which were seriously injured by police beatings during prior arrests. She has not received any medical care during her detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguy\u1ec5n Ch\u00ed Tuy\u1ebfn aka Anh Ch\u00ed
Citizen journalist (expected release: 2029)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Nguy\u1ec5n Ch\u00ed Tuy\u1ebfn, also known by his pen name Anh Ch\u00ed, is a citizen journalist and one of Vietnam\u2019s most prominent rights activists. On 29 February 2024, he was arrested, and on 15 August 2024, he was sentenced to five years in prison<\/strong> under Article 117 for criticising the government on social media. Nguy\u1ec5n Chi Tuy\u1ebfn founded one of Vietnam’s first independent civil society groups – the No-U<\/a> Football Club – and was actively involved in causes<\/a> ranging from independent publishing and environmental protection to land seizures and police accountability. He regularly travelled to visit political prisoners with their families, and mobilised fellow activists to provide humanitarian assistance to the rural poor and victims of natural disasters. He was the target of repeated police intimidation, harassment, bans on international travel, arbitrary detention, and interrogations. Explaining his activism, he said: \u201cThe only thing we did was to act in accordance with our conscience, speak up our thoughts, our desire, our longing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb Tuy\u1ebft Di\u1ec7u
Blogger (expected release: 2028)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tran<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb Tuy\u1ebft Di\u1ec7u is a journalist and blogger. She worked at the State-run newspaper in Ph\u00fa Y\u00ean Province until 2017, then became an independent journalist, using social media and online platforms to post stories about official corruption and other social issues. In 2020, she was arrested and charged with \u201cdefaming\u201d the party\u2019s leadership, and \u201cslandering\u201d revolutionary history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 22 March 2021, she was charged for violating Article 117. She pleaded innocence, saying that her blogs had harmed no-one. The court replied that they had \u201ccaused harm to the nation\u201d<\/em>. According to her lawyer, this is a tactic commonly used by the courts in Vietnam to avoid producing specific harmed persons as witnesses during trials. She was sentenced to eight years in prison<\/strong>. The verdict was upheld on appeal in September 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguy\u1ec5n L\u00e2n Th\u1eafng
Independent journalist (expected release: 2028)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Nguy\u1ec5n L\u00e2n Th\u1eafng actively defended human rights in Vietnam for over a decade. As an independent journalist, he photographed and documented land evictions, demonstrations in favour of environmental protection, and other socio-political and human rights issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 5 July 2022, he was arrested by the Investigation Bureau of the Hanoi police and accused of \u201cdefaming the Party and state\u201d by publishing articles critical of the government on social media and giving interviews to the BBC<\/em>. After nine months in pre-trial detention, he was charged under Article 117 and sentenced to six years in prison<\/strong> at a closed-door trial in Hanoi. For years, Nguy\u1ec5n L\u00e2n Th\u1eafng was the target of harassment and intimidation on account of his advocacy. He was arbitrarily detained, interrogated, placed under house arrest, banned from travelling, and subjected to frequent beatings by plainclothes police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u00f4 Th\u1ecb T\u1ed1 Nhi\u00ean
Environmental activist (expected release: 2027)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Ng\u00f4 Th\u1ecb T\u1ed1 Nhi\u00ean is the Chief Executive Officer of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise (VIETSE), a prominent think tank specialised in energy transition policy and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2023, she was arrested, and in June 2024 she was sentenced to three and a half years in prison<\/strong> at a secret trial in Hanoi on charges of \u201cstealing, buying, selling, or destroying the seal or documents of a state agency or organisation\u201d under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. Police raided VIETSE\u2019s offices in Hanoi and later forced the organisation to close and cease operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of her arrest, she was working on the implementation plan for Vietnam\u2019s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), a 15.5 billion USD project funded by the G7 to help reduce the country\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels. Ms. Nhi\u00ean\u2019s detention has been widely denounced as arbitrary and politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0110\u1ecbnh Th\u1ecb Thu Thu\u1ef7
Environmental activist (expected release: 2027)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Dinh<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u0110\u1ecbnh Th\u1ecb Thu Thu\u1ef7 is an environmental activist and an aquaculture engineer. An advocate of free expression, she used social media to criticise the government\u2019s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Formosa pollution disaster and other social issues. She also posted satirical poems by her father on an anti-corruption drive launched by the Communist Party of Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2020, she was arrested on charges of \u201csatirising and ridiculing\u201d the Party leadership, and detained incommunicado in H\u1eadu Giang Detention Centre for almost eight months, with no access to legal counsel. At an unfair trial in January 2021, she was sentenced to seven years in prison<\/strong> under Article 117. The only evidence brought against her were five Facebook posts. \u0110\u1ecbnh Th\u1ecb Thu Thu\u1ef7 is currently detained in An Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Prison in B\u00ecnh D\u01b0\u01a1ng Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tr\u1ea7n \u0110\u00ecnh Tri\u1ec3n
Lawyer (expected release: 2027)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Tr\u1ea7n \u0110\u00ecnh Tri\u1ec3n is a lawyer, former deputy chair of the Hanoi Bar Association (2013-2018), and founder of the law firm \u201cV\u00ec D\u00e2n\u201d [For the People]. In June 2024, he was arrested and in January 2025 he was sentenced to three years in prison<\/strong> by a Hanoi court on charges of \u201cabusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State\u201d under Article 331. He was convicted for posting comments on social media criticising the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the restrictions on access to justice in Vietnam. The court said his posts \u201cundermined the prestige of the state.\u201d His licence to practice law has been suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tr\u1ea7n \u0110\u00ecnh Tri\u1ec3n is well-known for defending government critics, including victims of land disputes. In a letter to the National Assembly in 2016, he said that lawyers were routinely denied the right to meet their clients, making it difficult to prepare adequate defence. Moreover, he denounced that lawyers who defended dissidents were often accused by the authorities of being dissidents themselves, thus discouraging them from taking on sensitive cases and depriving activists of the right to legal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIDH and VCHR call on the EU to demand the Vietnamese government take all the necessary steps to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n