Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 7/2020 – Week of February 10-16
Featured Image: Journalist Le Anh Hung
Greetings from The 88 Project! We are bringing you news, analysis, and actions regarding human rights and civil society in Vietnam during the week of February 10-16. This week, we remember the birthdays and arrest anniversaries of several political prisoners. We also commemorate the one-month anniversary of the attack on Dong Tam commune by sharing the Dong Tam Task Force’s updated report on the January 9 incident. This week, the European Parliament approved two trade agreements with Vietnam, despite months of protests from civil society organizations demanding improved metrics for human rights monitoring. In the news, read about a new report on LGBT youth rights in Vietnam and Russian-Vietnamese security ties. In case you missed it, watch our video interview with imprisoned journalist Le Anh Hung’s mother. And please take action in support of an independent investigation into the Dong Tam commune raid.
HUMAN RIGHTS & CIVIL SOCIETY

- Anti-corruption activist Nguyen Van Truong, arrested February 9, 2018, still awaiting trial in pre-trial detention
- Activist Vo Thuong Trung, birthday February 10, serving three years in prison for “disrupting security”
- Environmental and labor rights activist Hoang Duc Binh, birthday February 10, serving a 14-year prison sentence
- Facebooker Le Van Sinh, arrested February 15, 2019, sentenced to five years in prison
- 22 members of An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist sect, arrested in February 2012, in what is called the “Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son” affair
NEWS & ANALYSIS
Vietnam: LGBT Youth Unprotected, Human Rights Watch, February 12, 2020: “The 65-page report, ‘My Teacher Said I Had a Disease’: Barriers to the Right to Education for LGBT Youth in Vietnam,” documents how LGBT youth in Vietnam face stigma and discrimination at home and at school over myths such as the false belief that same-sex attraction is a diagnosable, treatable, and curable mental health condition. Many experience verbal harassment and bullying, which in some cases leads to physical violence. Teachers are often untrained and ill-equipped to handle cases of anti-LGBT discrimination, and their lessons frequently uphold the widespread myth in Vietnam that same-sex attraction is a disease, Human Rights Watch found.”
Defense Minister Trip Puts Russia-Vietnam Security Ties into Focus, Prashanth Parameswaran, February 12, 2020: “Per a statement issued by Vietnam’s defense ministry, the meeting between Lich and Shoigu saw both sides take stock of recent developments in relations as well as chart out potential areas of collaboration. In terms of avenues for collaboration, they discussed not only areas of bilateral ties such as exchanges, dialogues, and training, but also wider cooperation including collaboration in multilateral fora – with Vietnam holding both a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council and the ASEAN chair in 2020 – as well as specific areas such as terrorism (with both sides co-chairing the ADMM-Plus Expert Group on Counterterrorism from 2020 to 2023).”