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Severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly continued. The media and the judiciary, as well as political and religious institutions, remained under state control. Prisoners of conscience were tortured and otherwise ill-treated, and subjected to unfair trials. Physical attacks against human rights defenders continued, and prominent activists were subjected to daily surveillance and harassment. Peaceful dissidents and government critics were arrested and convicted on national security charges. Demonstrations were repressed, with participants and organizers arrested and tortured. The death penalty was retained.

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In July, a demonstration of around 400 ethnic minority Ede villagers in Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk province protesting against the sale of 100 hectares of the community’s ancestral land to a private company was violently repressed by security forces; at least seven demonstrators were arrested and held in incommunicado detention.

In August, land activist Cấn Thị Thêu was convicted under Article 245 of “causing public disorder” by a court in the capital Ha Noi and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment. She was accused of inciting protests against reclamation of land in Hà Đông district, Ha Noi, by posting photographs online.

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Torture and other ill-treatment (detention, prolonged solitary confinement, beatings, withholding of medical treatment) were practised on prisoners of conscience throughout the country. At least 88 prisoners of conscience were held in harsh conditions after unfair trials, some of whom were subjected to beatings, prolonged solitary confinement, deprivation of medical treatment and electric shocks. They included bloggers, labour and land rights activists, political activists, religious followers, members of ethnic groups and advocates for human rights and social justice.

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An ecological disaster in early April killed huge numbers of fish stocks along the coast of Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế provinces, affecting the livelihoods of 270,000 people. After a twomonth investigation, the authorities confirmed allegations by the public that a steel plant owned by the Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Group had caused toxic waste discharges. At the end of June, Formosa publicly acknowledged responsibility and announced that it would provide compensation of US$500 million. In October, a court in Hà Tĩnh rejected 506 cases filed by those affected. The plaintiffs were calling for increased compensation in damages for the impact on their livelihoods.

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Trần Thị Nga is a land rights activist and pro-democracy advocate from Hà Nam province, Viet Nam. In January, Nga was arrested under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code for “spreading propaganda against the state”, a provision that is regularly used to jail dissidents for lengthy periods. Nga joins 93 other prisoners of conscience behind bars in Viet Nam.

While recovering from a serious traffic accident she was involved in while working in Taiwan, where she suffered abuse as a migrant worker, Nga taught herself about human rights.

She returned to Viet Nam where she has relentlessly advocated for human rights, joining the independent Vietnamese Women for Human Rights network.  Nga has been targeted and physically assaulted on a few occasions by men in plain clothes, as well as police. These attacks have happened in front of her four children.

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Death sentences continued to be imposed, including for drug-related offences. Official 400 Amnesty International Report 2016/17 statistics remained classified as a state secret. Death sentences were reported in the media. There was no available information about executions.