TNLT Ecard – Tet cards for vietnamese prisoners of conscience

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Date of Birth: 1975
Place Detained: Hanoi, Vietnam
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2021
Charges: Article 200 (2015 Penal Code) – Tax evasion

Past Work and State Repression: Bach Hung Duong was the director of Media in Educating Community (MEC), which was founded by Mai Phan Loi. Vietnamese officials allege that Duong helped Loi in evading taxes and detained both of them on June 24, 2021. On January 11, 2022, Duong was sentenced to 30 months in prison on charges of “tax evasion.” However, an appeals court ruled that Duong did not financially benefit from the tax evasion and is suffering from an unspecified illness, so the sentence was reduced by 3 months on August 11, 2022. The arrest of civil society leaders connected to a coalition of NGOs developed under the EVFTA framework indicates the Vietnamese government’s concern about the role these organizations might have in defending labor rights, land rights, and the environment.

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Teacher

Bùi Văn Thuận

Date of Birth: May 1, 1981
Place Detained: Thanh Hoa Detention Center, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: August 30, 2021
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and
material.

Past Work and State Repression: Bui Van Thuan is from the Muong ethnic minority community. He is a teacher and entrepreneur, who sold honey online. The Vietnamese authorities used social media posts on Thuan’s account to allege that he had defamed and critiqued the Vietnamese Communist Party, the state, and its leaders. His arrest on August 30, 2021, came days after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Vietnam and had stressed the importance of human rights in bilateral relations. On November 18, 2022, Thuan was sentenced to 8 years in prison and 5 years probation.

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Land Rights Activist

Cấn Thị Thêu

Date of Birth: August 14, 1962
Place Detained: Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Can Thi Theu became a land rights activist after her home was seized by the government in 2008. She helped others seek redress for land confiscated by the Vietnamese authorities.

She also defended victims in environmental disasters, such as the Formosa chemical discharge in 2016. She was previously arrested in 2014 and 2016 because of her advocacy for land rights. After her release from prison, the Vietnamese authorities have monitored and harassed Can Thi Theu. In 2019, she was physically assaulted by plainclothes officers while visiting prisoners of conscience at Prison No. 6 in Nghe An Province.

*On June 24, 2020, the Vietnamese authorities sent a force of a few hundred uniformed and plainclothes officers to arrest Can Thi Theu and her two sons, Trinh Ba Phuong and Trinh Ba Tu, both of whom are featured later in our list of profiles. The arrests occurred soon after the authorities concluded their investigation into the Dong Tam incident in mid-June 2020. On May 5, 2021, Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba
Tu were each sentenced to 8 years in prison and 3 years probation. On December 15, 2021, Trinh Ba Phuong was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years probation.

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Human rights activist

Châu Văn Khảm

Date of Birth: 1950
Place Detained: Thu Duc Prison, Binh Thuan Province
Date of Arrest: January 13, 2019
Charges: Article 113 (2015 Penal Code) – Terrorism aimed to oppose the people’s authority.

Past Work and State Repression: Chau Van Kham is a retired baker and a member of Viet Tan. He was detained in January 2019 while meeting with a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy in Vietnam. In November 2019, the Australian citizen was sentenced to 12 years in prison for terrorist activities, but the indictment did not describe any acts of violence. Human Rights Watch has likened the court verdict to a “death sentence,” particularly because of his elderly age. Kham’s wife and children have grave concerns for his well-being, especially because he suffers from glaucoma, high blood pressure, and kidney stones. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian consular has had limited abilities to visit him, which raises concerns about his current condition.

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Environmental lawyer

Đặng Đình Bách

Date of Birth: September 12, 1978
Place Detained: Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2021
Charges: Article 200 (2015 Penal Code) – Tax evasion

Past Work and State Repression: Dang Dinh Bach is an environmental lawyer and director of the nonprofit called Law and Policy of Sustainable Development (LPSD). Bach mobilized young people to volunteer for charitable projects such as assisting victims impacted by global warming and environmental catastrophes. He was a board member of a network established to monitor the implementation of the European-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). On June 24, 2021, Bach was detained by the police in Hanoi for questioning on charges of “tax evasion.” On January 24, 2022, Bach was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of nearly 1.38 billion dong ($57k USD). Bach has gone on hunger strikes to protest against his prolonged detention and not being allowed family visits. He denies the charges against him and refuses to pay the fine. The court of appeals upheld his sentence on August 11, 2022.

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Facebook activist

Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ

Date of Birth: September 5, 1982
Place Detained: An Phuoc Detention Center, Binh Duong Province
Date of Arrest: April 18, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Dinh Thi Thu Thuy is an activist who used Facebook to share documents critiquing the Vietnamese Communist Party’s leadership. In June 2018, she participated in protests against the Law on Special Economic Zones and the Cybersecurity Law. The Vietnamese authorities alleged that she opened multiple Facebook accounts to slander the state. They also attempted to claim that she was spreading disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. After 9 months in pre-trial detention, on January 20, 2021, she was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Her trial was held only five days before the start of the Vietnamese Communist Party Congress

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Labor and environmental activist

Hoàng Đức Bình

Date of Birth: February 10, 1983
Place Detained: An Diem Prison, Dai Loc District, Quang Nam Province
Date of Arrest: May 15, 2017
Charges: Article 331 (2015 Penal Code) – Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens

Past Work and State Repression: Hoang Duc Binh is a labor activist and environmental activist who works in trade, consultation, and civil construction. He is the Vice President of the Viet Labour Movement and a member of “No-U Saigon,” a soccer group that protests China’s encroachment on the Paracel and Spratly Islands. The Viet Labour Movement works to help protect the rights of factory workers and supports workers to establish trade unions. Binh was arrested on May 15, 2017 in Nghe An province, and was later sentenced to 14 years in prison. His appeal was denied on April 24, 2018.

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Medical doctor

Huỳnh Thị Tố Nga

Date of Birth: 1983
Place Detained: Dong Nai Province Detention Center
Date of Arrest: January 28, 2019
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Huynh Thi To Nga is a medical doctor and mother of 2 young children. In parallel with her professional activity in a hospital in Saigon, she maintains two Facebook accounts (Dieu Hang and Selena Zen) where she analyzes the political situation in Vietnam as well as posts articles promoting democratic pluralism in Vietnam. Huynh Thi To Nga was arrested on January 28, 2019 and sentenced at the end of 2019 to 5 years in prison for “propaganda against the state” under Article 117 of the Vietnamese 2015 Penal Code. Her brother, Huynh Minh Tam, was arrested at the same time and was sentenced to 9 years in prison under the same charges.

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Dong Tam Resident

Lê Đình Công

Date of Birth: Cong (b. 1964)
Place Detailed: Detention Center No. 2, Hanoi
Date of Arrest: January 9, 2020
Charges: Article 123 (2015 Penal Code) – Murder

Past Work and State Repression: Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc are the sons of Le Dinh Kinh, who was brutally killed in a police raid at their home in Dong Tam, Vietnam. The family has been defending their land from government seizures for several years. In the early morning of January 9, 2020, the police sent thousands of officers into the village, shooting and killing Le Dinh Kinh while claiming that three police officers were killed by local residents. 29 people were placed on trial in September 2020 for the “murder” of the police. Several of the defendants were tortured and beaten to give forced confessions. Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc were given the harshest sentence, which was the death penalty.
They tried to seek an appeal, but the sentence was upheld in a court hearing on March 9, 2021

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Dong Tam Resident

Lê Đình Chức

Date of Birth: Chuc (b. 1980)
Place Detailed: Detention Center No. 2, Hanoi
Date of Arrest: January 9, 2020
Charges: Article 123 (2015 Penal Code) – Murder

Past Work and State Repression: Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc are the sons of Le Dinh Kinh, who was brutally killed in a police raid at their home in Dong Tam, Vietnam. The family has been defending their land from government seizures for several years. In the early morning of January 9, 2020, the police sent thousands of officers into the village, shooting and killing Le Dinh Kinh while claiming that three police officers were killed by local residents. 29 people were placed on trial in September 2020 for the “murder” of the police. Several of the defendants were tortured and beaten to give forced confessions. Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc were given the harshest sentence, which was the death penalty.
They tried to seek an appeal, but the sentence was upheld in a court hearing on March 9, 2021

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Human rights activist

Lê Đình Lượng

Date of Birth: December 10, 1965
Place Detained: Ba Sao Prison, Nam Ha Province
Date of Arrest: July 24, 2017
Charges: Article 109 (2015 Penal Code) – Activities against the people’s government.

Past Work and State Repression: Le Dinh Luong is a businessman, environmentalist, and human rights activist. He campaigned to support imprisoned activists in Vietnam. He used social media to highlight human rights violations and protect victims of the 2016 Formosa environmental disaster. Luong was arrested on July 24, 2017, and charged with subversion because of his human rights work and association
with pro-democracy organization, Viet Tan. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 5 years probation.

While in prison, he has been denied the use of his Bible, his Catholic calendar, and even pen and paper. Along with other political prisoners, Luong engaged in a two-week hunger strike in October 2020 to protest the inhumane living condition in prison. In October 2022, Luong’s family attempted to visit him, but authorities said he could not come out because he refused to wear the prison uniform. The family remembers prior warnings that this could be a sign of trouble and is urging international support to see if anything has happened to Luong.

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Citizen journalist

Lê Hữu Minh Tuấn

Date of Birth: March 20, 1989
Place Detained: Bo La Prison Camp, Binh Duong Province
Date of Arrest: June 12, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Le Huu Minh Tuan is a citizen journalist who also goes by his pen name Le Tuan. In 2015, he became a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN). His writings focus on the political situation in Vietnam, and he hopes to one day publish a book on Vietnam’s history. He received a degree in history and studied at the Hanoi Law University. He is the fourth member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam to be detained in less than a year.

Prior to his arrest, Le Huu Minh Tuan was frequently harassed and requested to attend “working” sessions that were essentially interrogations. On January 5, 2021, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and 3 years probation. He was in bad health when his family visited him in May 2022, which was why he was transferred to another detention center.

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Independent journalist

Lê Văn Dũng (Dũng Vova)

Date of Birth: October 10, 1970
Place Detained: Nam Ha Prison, Ha Nam Province
Date of Arrest: June 30, 2021
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Le Van Dung is an independent journalist for Chan Hung Nuoc Viet, a Facebook and Youtube outlet that reports on national issues not covered by state media. Dung also shares his views on his personal Facebook page called Le Dung Vova. Dung is part of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), whose members have increasingly been harassed and arrested by the Vietnamese government. The authorities claimed video posts Dung created on social media distorted state policies and defamed government officials. On March 23, 2022, Dung was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 5 years probation.

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Journalist

Mai Phan Lợi

Date of Birth: 1971
Place Detained: Hanoi, Vietnam
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2021
Charges: Article 200 (2015 Penal Code) – Tax evasion

Past Work and State Repression: Mai Phan Loi is the founder of a nonprofit called Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC) that teaches communication skills and media techniques. Loi was a deputy editor of a state-controlled legal journal called Phap Luat. But in 2016, his credentials were not renewed after his investigation into the disappearance of a Vietnamese air force plane. He sat on the executive board of a network established to monitor the implementation of the European-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Loi’s arrest on June 24, 2021, appears to be the government’s attempt to prevent civil society groups from working together. However, the authorities have charged Loi with “tax evasion” and on January 11, 2022, sentenced him to 4 years in prison and pay a fine of nearly 1.97 billion dong ($82k USD). On August 11, 2022, the appeals court reduced the sentence by 3 months because Loi’s family already paid part of the fine.

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Environmental activist

Ngụy Thị Khanh

Date of Birth: June 15, 1976
Place Detained: Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi
Date of Arrest: January 11, 2022
Charges: Article 200 (2015 Code) – Tax evasion

Past Work and State Repression: Nguy Thi Khanh is an environmental activist. In 2011, Khanh founded the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID), which collaborated with the Vietnamese government to promote the use of sustainable energy rather than coal. She grew up near a coal plant and saw firsthand the resource’s negative impact. In 2018, Khanh received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize which came with a monetary prize of $200,000. On January 11, 2022, she was arrested for allegedly not paying the taxes from her prize. In that same month, three other environmental activists were sentenced under similar charges. On June 17, 2022, Khanh was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Because she is willing to pay the tax, an appeals court reduced her sentence by 3 months on November 21, 2022.

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Music teacher

Nguyễn Năng Tinh

Date of Birth: 1976
Place Detained: Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: May 29, 2019
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Nang Tinh is a music teacher, activist and member of various groups that the authorities regard as “opposition groups.” On November 15, 2019, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and 5 years probation. The content of the posts officials used as evidence against him
included protests against Vietnam’s law on Special Economic Zones (which many citizens feared would lead to China’s greater economic presence in Vietnam) and protests against Formosa, a Taiwanese steel plant that dumped toxic waste into Vietnam’s central coast and caused an environmental disaster in April 2016.

Tinh went on a 46-day hunger strike between March and April 2020 to protest the prison’s prevention of
access to a priest during Lent and Holy Week. He ended the hunger strike after the authorities scheduled a date for his appeals trial, but he stated he would resume the hunger strike if his right to practice religion was further restricted.

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Human Rights Defender

Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh

Date of Birth: May 25, 1963
Place Detained: Unknown
Date of Arrest: April 7, 2021
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Thuy Hanh is a prominent human rights defender who has a large following on social media, where she posts and discusses human rights issues. In 2017, she founded the 50K Fund that supports the families of those who are unjustly detained. In June 2018, Thuy Hanh was
arrested for participating in a protest against the Law of Special Economic Zones and the Cybersecurity Law.

Reports later revealed she was severely beaten and heavily interrogated during her temporary detention
from that demonstration. On April 7, 2021, the Vietnamese authorities arrested Thuy Hanh, and charged her under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code. In May 2022, she was transferred from pre-trial
detention to a hospital in Hanoi for severe depression.

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Protestant pastor

Nguyễn Trung Tôn

Date of Birth: September 2, 1971
Place Detained: Gia Trung Prison, Gia Lai Province
Date of Arrest: July 30, 2017
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Trung Ton is a Protestant pastor and human rights defender with the Brotherhood for Democracy. He advocates for freedom of religion and democracy in Vietnam.
As a blogger, he has written about government corruption and land seizures. Vietnamese authorities arrested Pastor Ton, and his colleagues from the Brotherhood for Democracy, at the end of July 2017.

On April 5, 2018, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 3 years probation. He has chronic pain from injuries sustained in a brutal attack in February 2017 from unknown thugs with special police equipment. Pastor Ton has been unable to walk correctly since the assault. He lacks access to adequate medical care and clean water in prison.

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Human rights activist

Nguyễn Trung Trực

Date of Birth: June 6, 1974
Place Detained: Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: August 4, 2017
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Trung Truc is an activist and member of the Brotherhood for Democracy. He has been targeted for his association with an oppositional organization. In July 2016, plainclothes police attacked and beat Truc and a group of activists he was with when they attended the wedding of a fellow activist. Truc was arrested at his home in Quang Binh province on August 4, 2017, just days after the arrest of other members of the Brotherhood for Democracy. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 5 years probation on September 12, 2018. According to his lawyer, Truc maintained his innocence, and was later denied his appeal request. Truc’s health has severely deteriorated during his time in prison.

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Human rights blogger

Nguyễn Tường Thuỵ

Date of Birth: 1952
Place Detained: An Phuoc Detention Center, Binh Duong Province
Date of Arrest: May 23, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Tuong Thuy is a blogger about human rights in Vietnam and has been a contributor to Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese service for over six years. In 2014, Thuy flew to Washington, DC, and spoke about press freedom at a Congressional briefing. However, the Vietnamese authorities in 2018 blocked him from leaving his home to meet with officials of the UN who were visiting
Vietnam. Thuy has faced harassment from government officials and was physically assaulted in 2015 by plainclothes police. In March 2020, Vietnamese authorities summoned him for their investigation on his colleague Pham Chi Dung, but Nguyen Tuong Thuy declined to meet due to his current health conditions and the coronavirus outbreak. On May 23, 2020, around 50 officials stormed his home in Hanoi, arresting him, confiscating documents, cell phones, and laptops. On January 5, 2021, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and 3 years probation. In May 2022, his wife told RFA that he is in failing health with multiple ailments but officials will not allow him to seek medical treatment.

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Environmental activist

Nguyên Văn Hóa

Date of Birth: April 15, 1995
Place Detained: An Diem Prison, Dai Loc District, Quang Nam Province
Date of Arrest: January 11, 2017
Charges: Article 88 (1999 Penal Code) – Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Van Hoa is a young Catholic activist from Ky Anh, Ha Tinh province, one of the areas most affected by the environmental disaster caused by Formosa dumping industrial waste into the sea.

After the Formosa environmental disaster occurred in April 2016, he became active in assisting fishermens’ families in demanding compensation and justice. Hoa is a digital security trainer and regular contributor to Radio Free Asia. Despite the risks, he live-broadcasted drone footage of peaceful protests
in October 2016 outside of Taiwanese-owned Formosa’s steel plant in Ha Tinh province that went viral. On November 7, 2017, in a secret trial, Hoa was sentenced to 7 years in prison and 3 years probation. Neither a defense lawyer nor his family were present at the trial.

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Human rights activist

Nguyễn Văn Túc

Date of Birth: May 28, 1964
Place Detained: Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province
Date of Arrest: September 1, 2017
Charges: Article 109 (2015 Penal Code) – Activities against the people’s government.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Van Tuc was the Deputy Head of the Brotherhood for Democracy, a Vietnamese organization that promotes democracy in Vietnam. He advocated for human rights and maritime sovereignty in Vietnam.

After serving 4 years in prison from 2008 to 2012 for his peaceful activism, he was arrested again in September 2017 for his affiliation with the Brotherhood for Democracy. He was charged with subversion and sentenced to 13 years in prison and 5 years probation. He suffers from various health conditions, such as heart disease and a degenerative spine. He has been denied proper medical treatment and his health has since worsened in prison

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Environmental activist

Nguyễn Văn Viễn

Date of Birth: 1971
Place Detained: HCM City Prison Detention Center, No.4 Phan Dang Luu, Ho Chi Minh City
Date of Arrest: January 13, 2019
Charges: Article 113 (2015 Penal Code) – Terrorism aimed to oppose the people’s authority.

Past Work and State Repression: Nguyen Van Vien is a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy. After the Formosa environmental disaster in 2016, he became an advocate to help those displaced and suffering from the incident. He was detained in January 2019 while he met with a Vietnamese Australian activist, Chau Van Kham.

On November 11, 2019, Nguyen Van Vien, Chau Van Kham, and Tran Van Quyen were tried under charges of terrorism because of their alleged association with political organizations. Nguyen Van Vien was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

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Journalist and writer

Phạm Chí Dũng

Date of Birth: 1966
Place Detained: Xuan Loc Prison, Dong Nai Province
Date of Arrest: November 21, 2019
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Pham Chi Dung is a journalist, writer, and President of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), which was founded in 2014 to promote press freedom. He has a Ph.D. in economics and was a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam for 20 years until he resigned in 2013. The Vietnamese authorities arrested him in July 2012 for “conspiring to overthrow the government” and “antigovernment propaganda.” After six months in detention, he was released without trial. Pham Chi Dung has been a commentator about Vietnamese politics for several media outlets such as VOA Vietnamese, NBC News, and the BBC. To silence Pham Chi Dung, the Vietnamese authorities intimidated and harassed him, banning him in 2014 from traveling to attend a Vietnam UPR side-event organized in Geneva. On November 21, 2019, the public security detained Pham Chi Dung after he dropped off his kids from school. On January 5, 2021, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 3 years probation.

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Journalist

Phạm Đoan Trang

Date of Birth: May 27, 1978
Place Detained: An Phuoc Detention Center, Binh Duong Province
Date of Arrest: October 6, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and material.

Past Work and State Repression: Pham Doan Trang is a well respected journalist, who worked for different state media outlets until she was detained for speaking out against China’s bauxite initiatives in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in 2009. She has helped co-found the Liberal Publishing House to produce independent books, and established online magazines such as Luat Khoa and The Vietnamese, focused on issues of human rights, law, and politics. She has constantly been harassed, surveyed, and detained by the Vietnamese authorities. On October 6, 2020, the Vietnamese authorities arrested Pham Doan Trang despite concluding a few hours earlier the annual US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. On December 14, 2021, Trang was sentenced to 9 years in prison and her appeal in August 2022 was not granted. She has been recognized by numerous human rights award, including the latest one from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in November 2022.

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Student

Phan Kim Khánh

Date of Birth: June 3, 1993
Place Detained: Ba Sao Prison, Nam Ha Province
Date of Arrest: March 21, 2017
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and
material.

Past Work and State Repression: Phan Kim Khanh was studying international relations at Thai Nguyen
University. He created and hosted two blogs, Bao Tham Nhung, an anti-corruption newspaper and Tuan Viet Nam (Vietnam Weekly), as well as three Facebook pages and two YouTube channels. He was arrested on March 21, 2017, for “propaganda against the state.”

After being detained for seven months, his trial began on October 25, 2017 and lasted only four hours. The young student was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 years probation. He had difficulty in appealing his conviction and was the victim of abuse and threats from the prison authorities. In May 2020, the United Nations Arbitrary Detention Working Group (UNGWAD) recognized the arbitrariness of the arrest and detention of Phan Kim Khanh, calling for his immediate release from prison.

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Human rights defender

Phạm Văn Trội

Date of Birth: October 10, 1972
Place Detained: Ba Sao Prison, Nam Ha Province
Date of Arrest: July 30, 2017
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s
administration.
Past Work and State Repression: Pham Van Troi is a human rights defender and member of the Brotherhood for Democracy. He was formerly the organization’s President. In 2008, the Vietnamese authorities had arrested and charged him with conducting propaganda against the state. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

After he was released, he continued to speak out against human rights abuses. In May 2015, he was prevented from meeting US diplomats who were present for the annual US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. He has been harassed and assaulted by the authorities. On July 30, 2017, he was arrested and this time charged with subversion against the state. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison and 1 year probation. At the end of 2019, his wife reported that he was not well and after several petitions to get medical attention and fainting on the job, he was finally taken to a hospital but constantly in handcuffs.

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Writer of poems

Trần Đức Thạch

Date of Birth: 1952
Place Detained: Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: April 23, 2020
Charges: Article 109 (2015 Penal Code) – Activities against the people’s government.

Past Work and State Repression: Tran Duc Thach is a prolific writer of poems, stories, and articles on the injustices in Vietnam. Although a veteran of the North Vietnamese armed forces, he later wrote about the abuses of the communist government. In 2008, the Vietnamese authorities arrested him for violating Article 88 (1999 Penal Code), conducting propaganda against the state.

After the three-year sentence ended, Tran Duc Thach continued his activism and joined the Brotherhood for Democracy to advance human rights. This organization was about to mark its 7th Anniversary on April 24, 2020 when Tran Duc Thach was arrested. Around 20 public security officials barged into his house with an arrest warrant during the COVID-19 pandemic and confiscated cell phones, computers, and cameras. On December 15, 2020, Tran Duc Thach was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 3 years probation.

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Law Student

Trần Hoàng Phúc

Date of Birth: April 30, 1994
Place Detained: An Phuoc Detention Center, Binh Duong Province
Date of Arrest: June 29, 2017
Charges: Article 88 (1999 Penal Code) – Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Past Work and State Repression: Tran Hoang Phuc was a law student, but the school did not let him graduate because of his activism. While in school, he founded the Vietnamese Students for Human Rights Association and is a member of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), a training program developed by the United States. He helped seek compensation for those affected by the Formosa environmental disaster in 2016 and provided relief for victims of annual floods. In May 2016, the Vietnamese authorities prevented him from attending a civil society meeting with President Barack Obama. On June 29, 2017, the Vietnamese authorities kidnapped Tran Hoang Phuc from his apartment,
and charged him for propaganda against the state because of video posts he made online. On January 31, 2018, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 years probation. Tran Hoang Phuc suffers from Hepatitis C, but receives inadequate medical attention while in prison. He is also prevented from accessing books, writing materials, and adequate food.

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Engineer and entrepreneur

Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức

Date of Birth: November 29, 1966
Place Detained: Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province
Date of Arrest: May 24, 2009
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.

Past Work and State Repression: Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is a Vietnamese engineer, entrepreneur, and human rights activist. He helped establish the Chan Research Group that was planning to publish a book about political reforms centered on human rights. The book was called Con Duong Vietnam [The Path of Vietnam], which later inspired a movement by that same name. On May 25, 2009, Thuc was arrested and eventually charged with subversion. On January 20, 2010, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. While in prison, he has denied exile to the US, he refused to admit guilt for a lesser sentence, and engaged in several hunger strikes to protest poor prison conditions. His most recent hunger strike was from February 20 to July 8, 2021.

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Journalist and labor rights activist

Trương Minh Đức

Date of Birth: August 10, 1960
Place Detained: Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province
Date of Arrest: July 30, 2017
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s
administration.

Past Work and State Repression: Truong Minh Duc is a journalist and labor rights activist. He is a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy. He was also a member of Bloc 8406 and the Vietnam Populist Party, which promoted greater political pluralism in Vietnam. He was previously imprisoned in 2007 and served a sentence of 5 years for his activism. On July 30, 2017, he was arrested in a crackdown against members of the Brotherhood for Democracy. Duc was charged with subversion and sentenced to 12 years in prison and 3 years probation. In June 2019, he and several political prisoners went on a hunger strike for nearly two weeks to protest the lack of access to fans in prison while the weather was extremely hot in the summer months. Truong Minh Duc suffered a stroke in May 2017, and his health has worsened in prison.

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Environmental activist

Trần Thị Xuân

Date of Birth: October 10, 1976
Place Detained: Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa Province
Date of Arrest: October 17, 2017
Charges: Article 79 (1999 Penal Code) – Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s
administration.

Past Work and State Repression: Tran Thi Xuan is a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy.
After the 2016 Formosa toxic spill, she participated in protests in her hometown of Loc Ha District and
demanded compensation for those affected by the environmental disaster. She was arrested on October
17, 2017, under charges of subversion. Several hundred parishioners held a prayer vigil in protest of
her arrest. On April 12, 2018, she was sentenced to 9 years in prison and 5 years probation. Prior to her
arrest, she suffered from multiple health problems including kidney disease. In 2019, she frequently
fainted and had to be rushed to the emergency room because of the poor prison conditions and lack of
medicine.

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Electronics trade worker

Trần Văn Quyền

Date of Birth: 1999
Place Detained: B34 Detention Center, Ho Co Minh City
Date of Arrest: January 23, 2019
Charges: Article 113 (2015 Penal Code) – Terrorism aimed to oppose the people’s authority.

Past Work and State Repression: Tran Van Quyen is an electronics trade worker. His family suffered from land grabs by local officials and he had to quit school to support his family. Witnessing social injustice at a young age, Quyen became outspoken about freedom, democracy, and human rights, particularly after the Formosa environmental disaster in 2016. Tran Van Quyen was arrested on January 23, 2019. On November 11, 2019, he was tried with Nguyen Van Vien and Chau Van Kham under charges of terrorism because of their alleged association with pro-democracy organizations. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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Land rights activist

Trịnh Bá Phương

Date of Birth: January 26, 1986
Place Detained: Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and
material.

Past Work and State Repression: Trinh Ba Phuong is a land rights activist. In January 2020, Trinh Ba Phuong
provided on-the-ground coverage when the authorities prevented media outlets from reporting about the Dong Tam police raid over land issues. Previously, he fought for his mother’s release from prison and helped others seek redress for land seized by the government. This activism resulted in Phuong being subjected to intimidation, harassment, and short detainment over the past four years. Trinh Ba Phuong met with US Embassy officials in February 2020, providing handwritten letters and personal testimonies about the Dong Tam police raid and calling for an independent investigation into the attack.

*On June 24, 2020, the Vietnamese authorities sent a force of a few hundred uniformed and plainclothes officers to arrest Trinh Ba Phuong, Trinh Ba Tu, and their mom, Can Thi Theu. The arrests occurred soon after the authorities concluded their investigation into the Dong Tam incident in mid-June 2020. On May 5, 2021, Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba Tu were each sentenced to 8 years in prison and 3 years probation. On December 15, 2021, Trinh Ba Phuong was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years probation.

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Land rights activist

Trịnh Bá Tư

Date of Birth: April 24, 1989
Place Detained: Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province
Date of Arrest: June 24, 2020
Charges: Article 117 (2015 Penal Code) – Making, storing, and spreading anti-state information and
material.

Past Work and State Repression: Trinh Ba Tu is a land rights activist and reported on the Dong Tam
police raid in January 2020. Back in 2015, he and forty others were physically assaulted by plainclothes police after they went to Prison No. 6 in Nghe An Province to welcome Trinh Ba Tu’s father home. Trinh Ba Tu’s father, Trinh Ba Khiem, was being released from prison after he was arrested with his wife in 2014 for filming a government land-grab incident. In the attack, Trinh Ba Tu suffered the worst injuries, which required him to undergo two eye surgeries. His right eye is now unable to see clearly. He has been frequently monitored by the public security.

*On June 24, 2020, the Vietnamese authorities sent a force of a few hundred uniformed and plainclothes officers to arrest Trinh Ba Phuong, Trinh Ba Tu, and their mom, Can Thi Theu. The arrests occurred soon after the authorities concluded their investigation into the Dong Tam incident in mid-June 2020. On May 5, 2021, Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba Tu were each sentenced to 8 years in prison and 3 years probation. On December 15, 2021, Trinh Ba Phuong was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years probation.

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Democracy activist

Trương Văn Dũng

Date of Birth: 1958
Place Detained: Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi
Date of Arrest: May 21, 2022
Charges: Article 88 (1999 Penal Code) – Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Past Work and State Repression: Truong Van Dung is a democracy activist and co-founded Hoi Bau Bi Tuong Than in 2013 to support political prisoners, victims of land dispossession, and their families. Dung is also involved in defending human rights and Vietnam’s sovereignty against China’s territorial aggression. Radio Free Asia reported that from 2013 to 2018, the public security had physically assaulted Dung at least 6 times. Dung’s teeth and ribs have been broken as a result of these police attacks. On May 21, 2022, Dung was arrested a week after Vietnam released four prisoners of conscience ahead of the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s visit to the United States. Breaking away from recent trends, the authorities charged Dung under the 1999 penal code, rather than the 2015 penal code. No court date has been set, yet.

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Freedom and Human rights activist

Y Wo Nie

Date of Birth: 1970
Place Detained: Unknown
Date of Arrest: September 20, 2021
Charges: Article 331 (2015 Code) – Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.

Past Work and State Repression: Y Wo Nie advocates for religious freedom and human rights for minorities such as the Ede ethnic group and the Montagnard people. Since the early 2000s, he demonstrated against the state’s seizure of land in the Central Highlands. He was first arrested in 2004 and sentenced to 9 years in prison with 5 years probation.

He was released early from prison in 2011. He continued to carry out missionary activities and arranged classes for local community members to learn about their rights. On September 20, 2021, local police charged him with “abusing democratic freedoms,” because he wrote three reports on human rights violations that occurred in Vietnam. He was sentenced on May 20, 2022, to 4 years in prison. On August 16, 2022, the appeals court upheld the sentence.

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Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience

Bạch Hùng Dương

Bùi Văn Thuận

Cấn Thị Thêu

Châu Văn Khảm

Đặng Đình Bách

Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ

Hoàng Đức Bình

Huỳnh Thị Tố Nga

Lê Đình Công

Lê Đình Chức

Lê Đình Lượng

Lê Hữu Minh Tuấn

Lê Văn Dũng (Dũng Vova)

Mai Phan Lợi

Ngụy Thị Khanh

Nguyễn Năng Tinh

Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh

Nguyễn Trung Tôn

Nguyễn Trung Trực

Nguyễn Tường Thuỵ

Nguyên Văn Hóa

Nguyễn Văn Túc

Nguyễn Văn Viễn

Phạm Chí Dũng

Phạm Đoan Trang

Phan Kim Khánh

Phạm Văn Trội

Trần Đức Thạch

Trần Hoàng Phúc

Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức

Trương Minh Đức

Trần Thị Xuân

Trần Văn Quyền

Trịnh Bá Phương

Trịnh Bá Tư

Trương Văn Dũng

Y Wo Nie

Bạch Hùng Dương

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Bùi Văn Thuận

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Cấn Thị Thêu

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Châu Văn Khảm

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Đặng Đình Bách

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Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ

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Hoàng Đức Bình

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Huỳnh Thị Tố Nga

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Lê Đình Công

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Lê Đình Chức

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Lê Đình Lượng

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Lê Hữu Minh Tuấn

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Lê Văn Dũng (Dũng Vova)

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Mai Phan Lợi

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Ngụy Thị Khanh

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Nguyễn Năng Tinh

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Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh

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Nguyễn Trung Tôn

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Nguyễn Trung Trực

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Nguyễn Tường Thuỵ

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Nguyên Văn Hóa

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