HRW has highlighted a significant increase in prison penalties in connection with the criticism of the government in Vietnam since 2018.
The Vietnamese government has intensified interventions against the dissent in order to punish people for expressing concerns about government policy or local officials. This was stated by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), writes TASR according to the DPA report.
HRW said in its 26-page report that the Vietnamese government is increasingly using the Criminal Code to combat those who draw attention to problems through social networks and other means. According to HRW, the Vietnamese authorities abuse Article 331 of the Criminal Code, the Act on “violations of state interests”.
Law as a tool of repression
According to a representative of the human rights organization Patricia Gossman, the law is the “skilful instrument of the government to violate the fundamental rights” of Vietnamese citizens.
“The Vietnamese authorities are abusing the law on violations of state interests not only for the silence of important activists and informants, but also to retaliation against ordinary people who complain about bad services or abuse by the police,” Gossman said.
The growing number of convicts
She added that the authorities should immediately put an end to systemic repression and release anyone who has been detained or imprisoned for the exercise of their fundamental rights.
The HWR report shows that between 2018 and February 2025, Vietnamese courts imposed on strict prison penalties under the aforementioned law to approximately 124 persons. This was a significant increase over the previous period in 2011-2017, when 28 people were convicted.
Challenge to business partners
Gossman called on Vietnam’s business partners to take an opinion because they normally overlook “increased human rights violations by government on behalf of economic development and investment opportunities”. He argues that international donors and business partners should publicly and privately urgently insist at Vietnam to immediately release anyone who has been detained for a peaceful expression of their opinion on the Internet and to abolish the “violation of government interests”.
