Viet Nam
26.06.25
Reports

Viet Nam: Systematic Repression and Torture Detailed in UN Submission

The OMCT and the Vietnamese Advocates for Change (VAC) have submitted a joint report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee ahead of its review of Viet Nam’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Based on 34 interviews and extensive documentation, the report paints a chilling picture of a regime targeting human rights defenders and political dissidents through enforced disappearances, transnational repression, incommunicado detention, torture, and judicial harassment.

Among the many alarming cases documented is that of Trinh Ba Phuong, a land rights activist sentenced to 10 years in prison under article 117 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Phuong was arrested without a warrant, denied access to legal counsel, beaten during interrogations, and later forcibly transferred to a psychiatric hospital without informing his family. He now faces a second prosecution under the same article while already serving his sentence. His family has not heard from him since March 2025.

The report calls on the Vietnamese authorities to end the criminalisation of peaceful dissent, bring domestic law in line with international standards, and immediately investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment. It also urges the international community to step up efforts to protect Vietnamese human rights defenders—both inside and outside the country.

Tags

Threats, intimidation and harassment
Human rights defenders
Justice system
Detention
Enforced disappearance
Torture and other ill-treatment
Arbitrary detention

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