Human rights in Vietnam

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A rally demanding for the release of Nguyễn Quốc Quân on 30 April 2012, during "Black April"
Việt Tân Party info booth at a pro-democracy, pro-human rights rally

Human rights in Vietnam (Vietnamese: Nhân quyền tại Việt Nam) are among the poorest in the world, as considered by various domestic and international academics, dissidents and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).[1][2][3]

This has long been a matter of controversy between the Government of Vietnam, led by its Communist Party (CPV), and other countries and political unions, such as the European Union (EU) and the United States. Under the current constitution, the CPV is the only legal political party: all other parties are outlawed, making Vietnam one of a few legally constituted one-party states, along with China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, and North Korea.[4]

Elections in Vietnam have been characterized as nothing more than a rubber stamp, with every election resulting in 99% of votes for the CPV. Freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to a healthy environment are severely restricted.[5] Citizens critical of the Vietnamese government or who discuss certain topics deemed "unacceptable" by the CPV are often subject to intimidation and imprisonment.[6]

The Vietnamese government has also made use of online operatives and nationalist netizens or "public opinion brigades", state-sponsored anonymous political commentators and trolls who combat any perceived dissent against CPV policies or protest over the status of human rights.[7] A Vietnam Human Rights Day is observed each year on 11 May in the U.S. state of Virginia, particularly by the Vietnamese diaspora who left after the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon[a] as well as by dissidents who fled the country in subsequent decades.[8]

  1. ^ "Vietnam: World Report". English. Human Rights Watch. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Overview: Vietnam". Amnesty International. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. ^ Ratcliffe, Rebecca (17 February 2022). "Vietnamese activists routinely placed under house arrest, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  4. ^ "How One-Party States Work in Cuba, Vietnam & North Korea". study.com. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  5. ^ Sochua, Mu. "Vietnam's National Assembly Vote: A Futile Gesture". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 9 June 2022. The May 23 election is designed to affix a rubber stamp to the Vietnamese Communist Party's monopoly on political power.
  6. ^ "Vietnam jails journalists for 'propaganda' critical of state". Reuters. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. ^ Vietnam: Challenges and Opportunities for Freedom of Expression, Internet Freedom Festival, 2016, archived from the original on 7 April 2022, retrieved 9 June 2022
  8. ^ "§ 2.2-3310.3. Vietnam Human Rights Day". Virginia's Legislative Information System.


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