The Vietnamese government has escalated arrests of perceived dissidents in the weeks before Vietnam's 14th Communist Party Congress, which is scheduled to begin on January 19, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should end its intensifying campaign against its critics and release everyone imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political views.
Most recently, Hanoi police arrested the blogger Hoang Thi Hong Thai on January 7 for comments she made on social media critical of the government, which garnered thousands of views. In late December 2025, courts convicted several other dissidents and imposed severe sentences.
"'It's that time again' for escalating arrests and jailing prominent critics ahead of Vietnam's Communist Party Congress," said Patricia Gossman, senior associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Not only does the government block citizens from choosing their own leaders, but the authorities gag those they think might complain about the process."
Vietnam's party congress, held every five years since 1986, determines the country's next national leaders. The process is undemocratic and lacks transparency. Citizens who are not party members are prohibited from publicly discussing candidates for the top positions.
Ahead of past party congresses, the police have often intensified arbitrary arrests and home detentions to silence influential critical voices, Human Rights Watch said.
Since the mid-2010s, Hoang Thi Hong Thai, a 45-year-old blogger and businesswoman, has published hundreds of comments on social media focusing on sociopolitical issues and expressing sympathy for rights activists who have suffered repression. As of January 2026, her Meta account had 120,000 followers.
In late April 2025, the police prohibited her from leaving Vietnam, summoned her and interrogated her about her writing, and threatened to arrest her. A few days later, she posted a message on social media apologizing for having no choice but to stop writing as she was being pressured by the police to choose between expressing her views or taking care of her autistic child. "Be a mother, or go to prison." A few days later, she resumed writing on Meta.
In June, she published an online post criticizing articles 117 and 331 of Vietnam's penal code for violating the right to freedom of speech enshrined in Vietnam's constitution, and urged the National Assembly to amend or abolish these laws. Article 117 broadly prohibits "making, storing, disseminating or propagandizing information, materials and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Article 331 criminalizes acts deemed to "infringe upon the interests of the state" with up to seven years in prison.
