Key Events * Hà Nội Slams U.S. Rights Findings, Warns Against One-Sided Assessments; * UN Panel Deems Việt Nam’s Jailing
Bảo La wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luat Khoa Magazine on August 5, 2025. While the
Thiên Ngân wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luat Khoa Magazine on July 14, 2025. In a
Vietnamese authorities have voiced disappointment over the U.S. State Department’s 2024 human rights report. They called it “biased” and based on “inaccurate and unverified information” that fails to acknowledge the country’s progress, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Phạm Thu Hằng.
Released on August 12, the report included assessments of Việt Nam’s track record on freedom of expression, press, and religion. Phạm Thu Hằng noted that while the report does touch upon Việt Nam’s human rights achievements, it remains marred by subjective judgments that do not reflect reality on the ground.
The spokesperson reaffirmed that the protection and promotion of human rights is a core, consistent policy of Vietnam’s Party and State. She said that citizens are considered central to the country’s development, and that efforts are ongoing to ensure no one is left behind. According to Hằng, these fundamental rights are enshrined in the Constitution and are backed by specific legal documents that have been put into practice.
Việt Nam further affirmed its willingness to engage in open, constructive dialogue with the United States on areas of difference—with the goal of fostering mutual understanding and strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.
Regrettably, other international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, do not share the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and continue to call on the country to release political prisoners and improve its human rights record.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has ruled that the imprisonment of Vietnamese dissidents Tô Hoàng Chương and Thạch Cường is arbitrary and violates international law, calling on Hà Nội to release them immediately and provide reparations.
According to the WGAD’s Opinion No. 30/2025 (issued July 10, 2025), both men are members of the Khmer Krom indigenous community and practise Theravada Buddhism, a minority faith in Vietnam, and their detention stems from the peaceful exercise of their protected rights.
Chương and Cường were arrested in Trà Vinh Province on July 31, 2023 and later convicted under Article 331 (“abusing democratic freedoms”). At first instance on March 20, 2024, Cường received 4 years’ imprisonment and Chương 3 years 6 months; appeals were upheld on May 23, 2024. International media reports and human rights groups have identified both men as Khmer Krom Buddhist advocates.
The WGAD found violations under its multiple categories, including Category I (no legal basis), Category II (deprivation of liberty for exercising freedoms of expression, religion, and culture), Category III (serious due-process violations), and Category V (discrimination based on religion and Indigenous status). It criticized the vague, overbroad nature of provisions used to criminalize speech and association and noted the authorities’ failure to ensure fair-trial guarantees, including access to counsel and equality of arms.
Independent sources have reinforced the panel’s findings. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 International Religious Freedom Report has recorded the arrests of “Khmer Krom Buddhist advocates” Chương and Cường, while Radio Free Asia, VOA Vietnamese, and The Vietnamese Magazine have detailed their prosecutions and sentences under Article 331 of Việt Nam’s Penal Code. Rights groups such as the Human Rights Foundation and CSW have also campaigned on their cases for their releases.
The WGAD urges Vietnam to release Chương and Cường without delay, provide compensation, and align its domestic law with international obligations. It also calls for investigations into the responsible Vietnamese officials who investigated and prosecuted these cases. The decision adds to mounting scrutiny of Vietnam’s use of national-security-adjacent crimes to curb dissent, particularly against Khmer Krom Theravada Buddhists and other minorities.
The WGAD decision is non-binding but carries significant political weight, signaling growing pressure on Hà Nội to curb its criminalization of free speech. Whether Việt Nam will respond to these calls remains uncertain, but the opinion deepens scrutiny of Hà Nội’s commitments as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
Việt Nam’s National Assembly is set for a frenetic legislative session at the end of this year, as the government under Public Security Minister–turned–President Tô Lâm continues what critics have dubbed “lightning-speed lawmaking.” According to official announcements, the government intends to submit 47 draft laws and 43 additional agenda items for consideration in a single session.
Among the bills slated for debate are sweeping changes to Việt Nam’s judicial and criminal framework. These include the Law on Extradition, the Law on the Transfer of Persons Serving Prison Sentences, the Law on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil Matters, the Law on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, and a new Law on the Enforcement of Temporary Detention, Custody, and Residence Bans. Revisions to both the Law on Criminal Judgment Enforcement and the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement are also expected.
The package signals an unprecedented acceleration of legislation touching on core civil liberties, due process, and cross-border judicial cooperation—raising concerns among observers about whether such rapid drafting allows sufficient public debate or legal scrutiny.
Beyond the justice sector, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has also approved two additional items for submission:
This sprint follows two earlier sessions this year, each lasting more than a month, during which the Assembly passed 18 laws and debated 34 more. The pace marks one of the most intense legislative schedules in the country’s recent history, reflecting both the central government’s growing control over lawmaking and the limited space for independent parliamentary oversight.
For international observers, the scope and speed of Việt Nam’s legislative agenda underscore the country’s push to consolidate political and legal power while simultaneously pursuing ambitious infrastructure goals. The question remains whether quality and democratic safeguards can keep up with such velocity.
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm wrapped up a four-day visit to South Korea (August 10–13), during which he met President Lee Jae-myung and signed 50 cooperation agreements, signaling Hanoi’s intent to hedge against escalating global trade frictions.
The trip comes as the United States raises new tariff barriers, reshaping global supply chains and prompting countries like Vietnam to seek closer economic and technological partners. In their joint statement, Tô Lâm urged Seoul to expand market access and strengthen cooperation in supply chain development, aiming to embed Vietnamese enterprises more deeply into South Korea’s global production networks.
The breadth of the agreements reflects a comprehensive push: they include cooperation in nuclear energy workforce development, technical support for central banking operations, and broader industrial partnerships. In a notable commercial move, Việt Nam’s CT Group secured a deal to export 5,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to South Korea.
On August 13, Tô Lâm also inaugurated Việt Nam’s new Consulate General in Busan, home to more than 15,000 Vietnamese residents, students, and workers—a gesture underscoring both economic diplomacy and the significance of the diaspora in bilateral relations.
This is not the first time Tô Lâm has acted in a role more typically reserved for Việt Nam’s head of state or prime minister. By directly negotiating and signing international treaties, he is consolidating both symbolic and practical power as Hà Nội’s top political figure. His South Korea visit underscores a shift in Việt Nam’s diplomatic playbook: placing the Party’s leader, rather than the ceremonial president or government head, at the forefront of international negotiations.
With 50 new accords and growing engagement in high-tech sectors, Việt Nam’s leadership is betting on South Korea as both a strategic economic partner and a counterbalance to the uncertainties of an increasingly protectionist global trade order.
On August 12, Việt Nam’s prime minister stripped former Hồ Chí Minh City Chairman Lê Thanh Hải of his title and dismissed Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyễn Bá Hoan, marking the latest escalation in the Communist Party’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
The decision against Lê Thanh Hải, once one of the country’s most powerful political figures, comes years after his downfall over the controversial Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area project. In 2020, he was dismissed as party secretary of Hồ Chí Minh City for violations tied to the multi-billion-dollar development scandal. By May 2024, the Party’s Central Committee had erased all of his party titles, a disciplinary practice that has become common under General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s “blazing furnace” campaign. While symbolic, such retrospective measures often foreshadow criminal prosecution in Vietnam’s tightly controlled political system.
Nguyễn Bá Hoan, meanwhile, faces a more immediate reckoning. Formerly a deputy labor minister, Hoan was expelled from the Communist Party and removed from office after being indicted in June for bribery and abuse of office. Investigators allege he orchestrated illegal “sub-licenses” for labor export firms, forcing companies to pay bribes to secure contracts for sending Vietnamese workers abroad. The scheme, according to police, benefited senior officials in multiple ministries.
These latest punishments underscore the dual nature of Việt Nam’s anti-corruption push: symbolic disciplinary measures against former leaders no longer in power, alongside active prosecutions of officials implicated in current scandals. For Lê Thanh Hải, the removal of past titles deepens his political disgrace but leaves unclear whether criminal charges will follow. For Nguyễn Bá Hoan, the trajectory appears headed toward trial.
Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s high-profile campaign has already taken down hundreds of officials, including former presidents, ministers, and senior party leaders. Critics argue that while the drive exposes entrenched corruption, it is also a tool of political consolidation, eliminating rivals under the banner of Party discipline.
The simultaneous downfall of a former city chief and a serving deputy minister reflects the expanding reach of this campaign, which continues to reshape Vietnam’s political landscape and which is a signal to both domestic and international observers that the Party remains determined to police its ranks—even if selectively.
Authorities in Hà Tĩnh Province have arrested Phạm Viết Công on charges under Article 331 of Việt Nam’s Penal Code, a provision widely criticized for criminalizing free expression. Công allegedly represented villagers in Trung Long, Đồng Lộc Commune, filing petitions demanding compensation for land seized in the North–South Expressway project. Investigators also accused him of “abusing democratic freedoms” by posting Facebook content that “defamed” Communist Party organizations and officials. His detention adds to the growing list of Vietnamese citizens targeted under Article 331, a law increasingly used to silence grassroots dissent and online criticism of state policies.
On August 11, police in Phú Thọ Province arrested Trần Ngọc Bình, 40, administrator of the Facebook group “Traffic Laws and Road Safety,” along with Nguyễn Quang Mạnh, 25, on charges of “fraud and asset appropriation.” Investigators allege the two men regularly filmed and photographed traffic police patrols and posted the material online. Authorities have not disclosed how such activity constitutes financial fraud, raising concerns that the arrests may reflect broader state efforts to control social media groups that scrutinize police behavior and amplify public complaints about corruption, harassment, and abuse of power by law enforcement.
On August 7, the Communist Party’s Central Office re-elected Lâm Thị Phương Thanh as party secretary for a second five-year term (2025–2030). The Central Office is among the party’s most powerful institutions, overseeing the operations and assets of the Central Committee. Thanh’s reappointment comes as her husband, former National Assembly member Nguyễn Sỹ Cương, faces public scrutiny after allegedly causing a May 30 traffic accident that killed a female student and injured her father. The case has drawn sharp attention, intertwining political power, family ties, and lingering questions of accountability in Vietnam’s elite circles.
On Aug. 12, during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc, officials from Hưng Yên Province announced they are drafting a proposal to establish a free economic zone, following a directive from Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. The plan underscores Hà Nội’s broader strategy of creating special economic zones to attract foreign investment and accelerate regional development. In June, the National Assembly also debated a pilot resolution granting Hải Phòng City special mechanisms and policies, reflecting a trend of decentralization where local governments seek greater autonomy to spur growth amid rising global economic headwinds.
Farmers Displaced by $1.5bn Trump Golf Course Reportedly Being Offered Rice and Cash
The Guardian/ Rebecca Ratcliffe/ Aug. 11
“Villagers whose farms in Vietnam will be bulldozed to make way for a $1.5bn golf resort backed by the Trump family have reportedly been offered rice provisions and cash compensation of as little as $12 for a square metre of land by state authorities.
Thousands of villagers will be offered compensation based on land size and location, according to a report by Reuters. The agency spoke to elderly farmers who said they feared they would struggle to find a stable livelihood.”
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