Key Events
- Social Media Users from Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa Provinces Arrested under Article 331
- Ho Chi Minh City Police Detain and Interrogate Former Imprisoned Dissidents and Relatives of Political Prisoners
- Updates on Prisoners of Conscience Bui Van Thuan and Trinh Ba Phuong
- Beijing-Backed Think Tank Confirms Detention of Vietnamese Fishermen
Social Media Users from Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa Provinces were Arrested under Article 331
The Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa Provincial Police have arrested two social media users and charged them with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state and the legitimate rights of other individuals” under Article 331 of the Penal Code. Both of these internet users were accused of sharing information or hosting live streams on Facebook that contained defamatory details about Communist Party leaders, government officials, and local cadres, which allegedly violated Section 2 of Article 331.
The Nhu Xuan District Police Department in Thanh Hoa Province on Nov. 4 prosecuted Bui Van Tuan, 41, under Article 331 after their investigation found that the internet user had used his Facebook account, “Tuan Dung,” to live stream and purportedly “make false statements to slander and damage the reputation, honor, and dignity of officials in Nhu Xuan District.” According to state media, Tuan also incited the public to protest the construction of several projects in the locality, but it did not state if there was any conflict between residents and the constructors.
Meanwhile, the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention of Quang Nam Provincial Police on Nov. 5 coordinated with Dai Loc District Police to prosecute and impose a house arrest order on Le Manh, 73, who lives in Dai Loc, to investigate his alleged “abusing democratic freedom” activities. The police announced that between 2018 and October 2024, this senior resident had used a Facebook account named “T.N.D.” to publish more than 300 articles with false information to defame state leaders and distort the history of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. State media reported that the police gathered evidence and is continuing to investigate both cases.
Article 331 of the Penal Code is a vague and broadly defined provision that the government frequently uses to stifle freedom of expression. Individuals prosecuted and imprisoned under this controversial law are diverse, including social activists, land rights petitioners, social media users, and journalists.
Ho Chi Minh City Police Detain and Interrogate Former Imprisoned Dissidents and Relatives of Political Prisoners
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department had reportedly detained and interrogated around 20 individuals, including several former political dissidents and relatives of political dissidents after they gathered to attend a party hosted by a Vietnamese-Australian friend. According to some individuals who attended the meeting and requested anonymity, the incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Nov. 1, when they returned home after having a party at a restaurant in District 12.
The traffic police pulled them over on their way home, saying they needed to check the drug and alcohol concentration in their blood, and then divided them into smaller groups and took them to different police stations for questioning. An anonymous source told RFA that after the police forced them to go to the police station, they did not conduct the testing. Instead, the police interrogators reportedly questioned the attendees about the purpose of the meeting and their social connections.
According to RFA, among those taken to the police station were two former prisoners of conscience, Do The Hoa and Ho Dinh Cuong, who finished their sentences in 2023. Nguyen Thi Chau, wife of political prisoner Nguyen Ngoc Anh, was also detained and questioned. Many of these detainees were freed between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. the following day, and some were forced to write a commitment “not to share information critical of the party and the state” on their social media accounts. Two other individuals, including a Vietnamese-Australian citizen, were held for at least 24 hours before being released.
Prisoner of conscience Bui Van Thuan has slightly regained weight, increasing from 57 kg to 61 kg, after he ended the weeks-long hunger strike to demand better treatment of political inmates and abolish the “tiger cage” detention method. Trinh Thi Nhung, Thuan’s wife, learned about her husband’s health situation when she and Thuan’s father and brother-in-law visited him at Nghe An Province’s Prison Camp No. 6 on Nov. 2.
According to Nhung, her husband ended his hunger strike on Oct. 19 after drinking only water for 21 straight days. During the first six days of the hunger strike, his body became weak very quickly, but he got used to it in the following days. Thuan said that he and Trinh Ba Tu, an imprisoned activist who also initiated a hunger strike, started to eat porridge after the strike and switched to eating rice recently.
Although his weight has improved, Thuan said his legs still hurt because of joint pain. He added that he had been transferred to a new prison cell with a large yard, enabling him to exercise and grow vegetables.
Meanwhile, Do Thi Thu, wife of imprisoned land rights activist Trinh Ba Phuong, wrote on social media that the correctional officers of An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province did not allow her to visit Phuong on Nov. 1 because he had violated prison regulations. She believed the prohibition was discrimination against her husband.
Thu visited Trinh Ba Phuong on Oct. 31 and scheduled to revisit him on Nov. 1 to make use of her long travel, as family members of prisoners can visit their relatives once a month.
However, Thu wrote on social media that when she came to the An Diem Prison on Nov. 1, a warden named Pham Duy Sang stopped her and said that she could only visit Phuong once every two months (instead of the regular once a month) because he was punished for violating prison regulations in September 2023 and had not yet shown any progress.
Thu stated that when Phuong was brought to the visitation area, he said that the correctional authorities discriminated against him because, according to Vietnamese law, a prisoner can only be punished for up to six months for violation in prison, and this disciplinary period could not be extended unless the prisoner committed another violation.
During the visit, Thu also learned from Phuong that Phan Cong Hai, another prisoner of conscience held at An Diem Prison, was disciplined and had both his legs shackled, making it impossible for him to lie down to sleep. Hai had to sleep while sitting up. Additionally, he could not use a mosquito net in his cell despite the scores of mosquitos in his prison cell.
Beijing-Backed Think Tank Confirms Detention of Vietnamese Fishermen
The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Beijing-backed think tank that studies maritime disputes in the South China Sea, confirmed on X that China had detained several Vietnamese fishermen in April and May this year for “illegally harvesting live coral, electrofishing and other environmentally destructive activities in the internal waters and territorial waters of the Paracel Islands.”
The leader of the SCSPI, Hu Bo, is also director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies at Peking University.
SCSPI released the information after a spokesperson of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Oct. 31 asserted Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracels and urged Beijing to “immediately release the Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen” it captured near these islands and provide them with sufficient compensation.
In a regular press conference on Nov. 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian affirmed with Reuters reporters that the Paracels were China’s “inherent territory” and called on Hanoi to “raise the awareness of its fishermen and make sure they will not engage in illegal activities in waters under China’s jurisdiction.”
Quick Takes
Political Prisoner Nguyen Doan Quang Vien’s Health Worsens Due to Severe Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Nguyen Doan Quang Vien, a political prisoner serving a 14-year sentence on “subversion” charges due to his accused participation in the Provisional Government of Vietnam, has suffered from severe pulmonary tuberculosis and was transferred to an infirmary in Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province. Nguyen Thi Lanh, wife of Protestant Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, wrote on social media she learned about Vien’s worsening health during a recent visit to her husband on Nov. 2. Nguyen Thi Dao, Vien’s wife, said she feared for her husband’s survival because he had coughed a lot of blood and was put into isolation to prevent infection. Dao sent him a can of milk powder, but the prison authorities did not accept it and returned it to her.
Blogger Bui Thanh Hieu Appeared in Public, Easing Concerns about His Disappearance
A recent picture of Bui Thanh Hieu, a blogger known by his pen name “The Wind Trader,” and who has lived in exile in Germany for 12 years, appeared in public after his whereabouts were unknown for several weeks when he returned home to visit his seriously ill mother on Oct. 20. Hieu, 52, is famous for his writing on the internal affairs of the Vietnamese Communist Party. His disappearance has prompted public concerns about possible police detention. But on Nov. 3, Bui Kim Oanh, Hieu’s sister, shared this photo of him on social media, showing him sitting beside his elderly mother. Oanh told an RFA reporter that Hieu was safe at his family’s house but she did not give further information.
EU Delegation to Vietnam Raises Concerns Over Duong Van Thai’s Sentencing
The European Union Delegation to Vietnam and the diplomatic missions of Canada, Norway, and the UK have released a statement to express their concerns over a Hanoi court’s harsh sentencing of independent blogger Duong Van Thai on Oct. 30. Thai received 12 years of imprisonment and three years under house arrest on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Penal Code. The statement said that the Vietnamese court did not respond to trial observation requests from the EU delegation and other diplomatic missions in Hanoi. The EU reiterated its call to Vietnam to respect the freedom of opinion and expression of its citizens under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Hanoi is a signatory.
Vietnam’s New President Confronts Turmoil
DW/ Tommy Walker/ Nov. 4
“The new power-sharing arrangement will likely last until 2026 when all top positions will again be up for grabs as part of a regular five-year reorganization of Vietnam’s political leadership.
[Nguyen Khac] Giang said Cuong’s appointment highlights the rise of strongmen in Vietnamese politics, where three out of the four pillars are held by either police or military generals.
[Luong] Cuong is from the military, [To] Lam came from the ranks of the police, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh previously served in the Public Security Ministry.
That leaves only Tran Thanh Man, the chairman of the National Assembly, among the top four who did not come through the ranks of the military or internal security apparatus.”
The US Must Stop Accepting the Vietnamese Communist Party’s Human Gifts
Radio Free Asia/ David Hutt/ Nov. 1
“By not discouraging pardons of political prisoners and by not condemning these in the same manner as it would condemn the unfair arrest of an individual exercising their rights, the U.S. helps undermine Vietnam’s rule of law.
The U.S. would be more helpful if it were to say that it only welcomes the release of political prisoners if the Vietnamese Communist Party acquits them, not pardons them.
The Communist Party could pardon all political prisoners and empty its cells tomorrow, as some demand, but that act will make it easier to double the prison population the next day.”
Shooting the Climate Change Messenger in Vietnam
Asia Times/ Andrea Giorgetta and Maureen Harris/ Oct. 24
“[Dang Dinh] Bach’s case is not isolated. Since 2021, six of Vietnam’s most prominent climate leaders have been imprisoned on similar dubious charges. The silencing of critical voices like Bach’s fundamentally undermines the possibility of achieving critical transitions to clean energy in Vietnam – and around the world.
Without robust civil society participation, there is a real risk that international climate agreements will not lead to meaningful change and may even exacerbate existing inequalities or environmental harms.
Bach’s hunger strike is a stark and timely reminder of both the human and climate costs of state repression. Next month, the international community will converge in Azerbaijan for the 29th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).”