Vietnamese author, journalist, and celebrated human rights defender Pham Doan Trang was sentenced to nine years in prison on December 14. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price condemned the conviction and sentencing of Trang noting she “did nothing more than peacefully express her opinions.”
Trang was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on October 6, 2020 and charged under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code which criminalizes “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” After charging her, the Government of Vietnam held her for more than a year in pretrial detention without access to a lawyer. The case against her and her mistreatment violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Vietnam ratified in 1982.
On October 25, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concurred, finding Trang’s detention to be arbitrary and in contravention of Vietnam’s international human rights commitments and obligations.
The indictment against Trang includes as evidence several of her published works on environmental and human rights issues, as well as two interviews she gave to Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Trang has authored several books on a wide variety of issues and is an outspoken blogger on topics including LGBTQI+ rights, women’s rights, environmental issues, the territorial conflict between Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China, police brutality, suppression of activists, and aspects of law and human rights.
As documented by Amnesty International and other human rights groups, Vietnamese authorities have regularly used Article 88, and later Article 117, of the Criminal Code to punish human rights defenders, independent journalists and writers, and others who have peacefully exercised their human rights.
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price called on “the Vietnamese government to release Trang, who has been recognized internationally for her work to advance human rights and good governance in Vietnam, and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and without fear of retaliation.” He also urged the government to ensure its laws and actions are consistent with the human rights provisions of Vietnam’s Constitution and its international obligations.
