Bach Hong Quyen
Bach Hong Quyen is an environmental rights defender and a member of the Vietnam Path Movement, a human rights group led by prisoner of conscience, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, and human rights lawyer, Le Cong Dinh. Bach Hong Quyen has been under surveillance since he organised, on 3 April 2017, a march to mark the one-year anniversary of the Formosa waste spill. Bach Hong Quyen is also an active blogger and covered the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese steel plant, Formosa, in April 2016, its impact on local populations, as well as protests against the company as a result of the pollution.
Vietnamese authorities treat human rights defenders as “enemies of the State”. In Vietnam, there is no independent, privately-run media – domestic newspapers, television and radio stations are strictly controlled by the state. Internet communication is also strictly controlled and restricted. HRDs working for accountability and democracy receive accusations of being “foreign spies or agents”, “traitors”, or “violators of public order and peace”. HRDS are also subjected to intimidation, threats, interrogation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention. When put on trial, they are very often sentenced to heavy jail terms for their human rights work, and mistreated in prison.
