Vietnam

Background info

Vietnamese authorities treat human rights and environmental defenders as enemies of the State. Many defenders are victims of detention and criminalization.

Some individual cases:

Dinh Thao: human rights defender who began protesting a Hanoi tree-felling project in 2015 and has since engaged in numerous pro-democracy and rights-based activities including organising public events to advocate for environmental issues. She was briefly detained in November 2019 and released but her passport was confiscated.

Le Dinh Luong: defender who advocated on behalf of the victims of the 2016 Formosa pollution incident, which resulted in the loss of livelihood and sometimes life for thousands of Vietnamese fishermen and farmers. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with an extra 5 years of house arrest.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh: she is a defender who led advocacy efforts following the Formosa disaster where the steel company released pollutants into the sea. She was arrested and given a 10 year sentence, transferred to a remote detention centre with limited contact with her family, before being released into exile and sent to the US.

Nguyen Van Hoa: an environmental activist who blogged about the Formosa spill in April 2016. His footage of the peaceful protests went viral. He was sentenced to seven years in prison as a result and remains imprisoned.

There were calls for transparency and accountability in the government’s handling of the Formosa environmental disaster which was a water pollution crisis that affected the livelihoods of thousands. Peaceful demonstrations around the country resulted in mass arrests and attacks against participants by police. The spill polluted more than 200km of coast.

Land rights activists are also frequently arrested.

How you can help

Scroll down to the bottom to share this story and the stories of each active environmental defender case in Vietnam:

#Vietnam⁠

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Updates on individual cases:

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Arbitrary detention and confiscation of passport of Dinh Thao⁠

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Vietnam: 10 year sentence upheld for Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh⁠

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Le Dinh Luong on trial⁠

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Nguyen Van Hoa jailed for seven years⁠

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