Letter to the UN Nations: Introduction of Report –The Systematic Repression of Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of [Country] to the United Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
July 6, 2025
Subject: Introduction of Report – The Systematic Repression of Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam
Your Excellency,
On behalf of the Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy, we respectfully write to share with you a newly released publication entitled “Report on the Systematic Repression of Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam.” This comprehensive report provides an in-depth and evidence-based account of the widespread and coordinated campaign by the Vietnamese authorities to suppress peaceful dissent through arbitrary arrest, torture, inhumane prison conditions, and long-term surveillance.
Despite Vietnam’s ongoing membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council (2023–2025), the report finds that severe and systematic human rights violations persist – and in many areas, have worsened. More than 170 prisoners of conscience remain behind bars today, many convicted under vague national security laws such as Articles 117 and 331 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code. These individuals – including journalists, bloggers, environmental activists, and religious leaders – have been sentenced to long prison terms solely for the peaceful exercise of their fundamental freedoms.
Drawing on witness testimony, legal analysis, and independent documentation, the report details the following key areas:
- The routine use of solitary confinement, shackling, and physical and psychological torture in detention;
- The denial of medical care leading to multiple documented deaths in custody;
- Retaliation against former prisoners and their families, including travel bans, surveillance, and extrajudicial harassment;
- The deliberate use of vaguely worded laws and internal party directives to criminalize nonviolent political expression and civil society.
This report aims to provide Permanent Missions and UN human rights bodies with credible, up-to-date information to support informed engagement on Vietnam. It concludes with specific and actionable recommendations, including calls for:
- An independent UN investigation into the situation of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam;
- Immediate and unconditional release of all individuals imprisoned for peaceful expression;
- Amendment or repeal of abusive laws contravening the ICCPR and Convention Against Torture;
- Improved prison conditions in line with the Nelson Mandela Rules; and
- An end to harassment against former prisoners and their families.
The full report is available online here: https://www.allianceforvietnamsdemocracy.org/home/report-on-the-systematic-repression-of-prisoners-of-conscience-in-vietnam
We respectfully urge your Mission to review this report and consider raising these urgent concerns in relevant discussions at the Human Rights Council, Third Committee, or bilateral engagements with the Government of Vietnam. We are prepared to provide further briefings or documentation as needed.
Thank you for your attention to this matter of grave human rights concern. We look forward to continued dialogue and cooperation toward the protection of fundamental freedoms in Vietnam and beyond.
Respectfully yours,
Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy
📧 info@endcommunism.net
🌐 www.allianceforvietnamsdemocracy.org
