The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Viet Nam 29 September 2023
“The arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raises serious concerns not only with respect to the charges levelled against them but also the conduct of their trials,” Laurence said.
“Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts,” he said.
After a trial lasting just three hours, Hong was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined USD 4,100. Her access to a defence counsel and her family has been limited throughout her detention.
Four other environmental rights advocates have been prosecuted on similar charges and sentenced to up to five years imprisonment, in what seems to be a wider crackdown on environmental rights defenders and against civic space in Viet Nam. The charges levelled against the sixth person are still unknown.
“Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that, to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making,” Laurence said.
“These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders, and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam,” the spokesperson said.
This issue has also been highlighted in the 2023 Secretary General’s report on intimidation and reprisals, as well as by UN Human Rights Mechanisms, including Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, Treaty Bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review.
“We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial and ensuring judicial independence,” Laurence stressed.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence + +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Tag and share
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
- Exterior shots : Palais des Nations.
- Wide shot: Briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “The arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raises serious concerns not only with respect to the charges levelled against them but also the conduct of their trials.”
- Cut away: Briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts.”
- Cut away: Briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that, to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making.”
- Cut away: Briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders, and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam.
- Cut away: Briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial and ensuring judicial independence,”
- Cut away: Briefing room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNWOMEN
Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR
Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home
As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained
Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.
1
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA
Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.