human rights defender

Trinh Ba Tu

Actions and Campaigns

HRD's year of birth

1989

HRD's Gender

Man

Type of HRD

  • Other

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Land rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

Current Status

In prison (sentenced)

HRD's bio and work

Trinh Ba Tu is a human rights defender and land rights activist who - along with his mother, Ms Can Thi Theu, father, Mr Trinh Ba Khiem, and brother, Mr Trinh Ba Phuong - has campaigned against land grabbing in the region of Dong Tam, Vietnam, to highlight its impact on small-scale farmers across the country.

Detained since

Jun 24, 2020

Charge(s)

  • Anti-government propaganda

Sentence

8 years in prison

Latitude: 18.816460132267306

Longitude: 105.20741704366351

Geolocation of detention

Country or area of detention

Region of detention

  • Asia: South-eastern Asia

Location of detention - City/Town

Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province

Location of detention - Facility

Prison number 6

Allegations / reports of ill-treatment

Trinh Ba Tu has been subjected to several forms of torture and ill-treatment while in detention. These include severe physical violence which caused his hospitalisation, prolonged solitary confinement while being foot shackled, lack of light in his cell, lack of access to adequate food and sanitation as well as to his family, and forced hard labour. He has engaged in hunger strikes to protest his treatment.

Recent case update / evolution

On 5 May 2021, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Trinh Ba Tu to 8 years in prison on the charge of “preparing, publishing and disseminating video clips and writing distorted contents that sow confusion among the people in order to oppose the state” (Article 117 of the Criminal Code of Vietnam).

Any other relevant documents

Joint communication, UN special procedures, AL VNM 6/2021: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26765

Joint communication, UN special procedures, AL VNM 6/2022: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27619

Joint communication, UN special procedures, AL VNM 8/2025: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30638

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