Trinh Ba Tu
Trinh Ba Tu is a land rights defender who actively advocates against the confiscation of lands in the country. He first began his human rights activism at a young age, calling for the release of his parents, both land rights defenders, from prison. The human rights defender has also been vocal on the issue of democracy in Vietnam.
Human Rights defenders in Vietnam have been facing a diverse range of attacks, including but not limited to, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, intimidation, house arrest, threats and judicial harassment. State actors have often been the perpetrators of violence against HRDs, which is almost always carried out without impunity. HRDs who work on citizen participation, the freedom of expression and environment rights face the most amount of threats and harassment in the hands of the state.
Right to free assembly and association, though enshrined in Article 25 of the 1959 Vietnam Constitution, has often been infringed when it comes to those expressing dissent or dissatisfaction with the State. HRDs engaging in free speech online and in public fora, including bloggers, writers, journalists, and documentary film makers, have been subjected to judicial proceedings.
