Three activists detained in Vietnam have been on a hunger strike since 5 September 2020, Radio Free Asia reports. Among them is Nguyen Ngoc Anh, an outspoken critic of Vietnam’s environmental and mistreatment of activists records. According to his wife, Anh began his hunger strike in protest of prison conditions. Last year, a fellow inmate attacked Anh after inflicting upon him months of verbal abuse, including death threats. The attack left him with serious injuries to the head, arms, and legs “He could barely walk to see me... he could not use his right hand to pick up food,” his wife said. Following his ordeal, Anh was denied medical treatment and put in solitary confinement, which suggests the attack had the support of prison authorities.
Anh is one of many Vietnamese activists detained because of their demonstrations. Radio Free Asia’s report surfaced shortly before US lawmakers called for the release of another Vietnamese activist, Nguyen Bas Truyen, ahead of the 24th Annual US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, held this month. However, as the US, EU and Japan are all looking to court Vietnam to contain a belligerent China, criticism of the country’s mistreatment of activists has been more muted in comparison to that which its northern neighbour has received.
THE ARRESTS OF NGUYEN NGOC ANH & NGUYEN VAN DUC DO
Anh was arrested in August 2018 and charged under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” Anh, a shrimp farmer by trade, had criticised the government’s handling of the 2016 Formosa environmental disaster in which industrial sewage from the Formosa Steel Plant spilled into the South China Sea, killing marine life and destroying the livelihoods of tens of thousands of fishermen. The disaster sparked protests once rare in the communist state. Anh was one of the many citizen-protesters arrested in the crackdown that followed (here, here and here).
Nguyen Van Duc Do and Huynh Duc Than Binh are also reported to have joined Anh in his strike (although Binh is believed to have stopped now). Like Anh, Do was charged under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for pro-democracy and environmentalist activities. Similarly, Do has also been subjected to beatings by fellow inmates and torture by prison guards during his incarceration.
A fourth activist, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, is also reported to have begun a hunger strike as of early October.
THE CURRENT CRACKDOWN
Despite navigating the coronavirus pandemic well and enjoying two decades of economic growth, public protests have become more common in Vietnam, with protesters rallying against everything from land leases to foreign companies, to environmental pollution, draconian cyber laws, and corruption. Unlike its northern neighbour, the Vietnamese Communist Party has usually refrained from clamping down on street protests, seeing them as a “safety valve” which ensures the people do not get angry enough to overthrow the party itself, preferring to imprison troublesome protest leaders later.
However, in January 2021, the party will hold its 13th party congress, when it will elect new members to the Politburo—its executive body—and a new General Secretary, who will be the country’s de facto leader. The party will want to ensure a smooth transition with both a global recession and a territorial dispute with China looming. This perhaps explains the recent crackdown on dissent.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least 150 people have been convicted of political crimes in Vietnam over the first half of 2020. This includes members of the Independent Journalists Association—an organisation whose members have participated in many of the recent environmental and land-related protests. With the US, EU, and Japan too focused on their geopolitical struggles with China to stand up for activists on the ground, the Vietnamese will have to stand up for themselves in the time being.
Samuel is a trainee solicitor and postgraduate at Cardiff University. He is active in several U.K.-based organisations campaigning on behalf of Hong Kong and BNOs. His research interests include transitional justice and the rule of law.