Another prominent human rights defender, were several lockdowns in Ho Chi Minh City Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh, was arrested on 7 April under which residents were not permitted to and charged under Article 117 of the leave their homes for a total of 16 weeks. Criminal Code. She is the founder of the This included a four-week-long military- “50K Fund”, which fundraises to provide enforced lockdown starting in late August support for the families of unlawfully detained when, forced to rely on the military to deliver persons in Viet Nam, and she frequently food and other supplies, many people, discussed human rights issues on Facebook. especially the already vulnerable, were left in On 5 May, two land rights activists, Cấn Thị a position of severe food insecurity and Thêu and her son Trịnh Bá Tư, were hunger.4 convicted under Article 117 of the Criminal The authorities also imposed criminal Code and sentenced to eight years’ punishments against individuals who failed to imprisonment followed by three years’ abide by lockdown regulations. On 6 probation for their peaceful advocacy of land September, the People’s Court in Cà Mau rights. They had been arrested in June 2020 province sentenced Lê Văn Trí to five years’ together with Trịnh Bá Phương (another son imprisonment for breaking Covid-19 of Cấn Thị Thêu) and fellow land rights regulations and “spreading the virus”. On 30 activist Nguyễn Thị Tâm. The four had March, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh spoken out about a high-profile land dispute City handed a two-year suspended prison in Đồng Tâm village near the capital, Hanoi, term to flight attendant Dương Tấn Hậu in which a clash during a police raid in under the same charge of “spreading January 2020 resulted in the deaths of an dangerous infectious diseases”. 84-year-old village leader and three police DISCRIMINATION officers. In December, Trịnh Bá Phương and Nguyễn Thị Tâm were sentenced respectively The Covid-19 pandemic affected all sectors to 10 years in prison with five years’ of Vietnamese society, but some groups were probation, and six years’ imprisonment with disproportionately affected, including LGBTI three years’ probation. Before his trial, Trịnh people, and women migrant workers Bá Phương was held incommunicado for 16 including informal sector workers. months, with all requests for family visits Some young LGBTI people reported denied by authorities. undergoing intense difficulties as a result of TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT being confined in their family homes during lockdowns, where they faced discrimination Reports of torture and other ill-treatment of and violence from relatives because of their prisoners remained widespread. In March, sexual orientation or gender identity. Amnesty International revealed that political Government-supported research revealed activist Nguyễn Văn Đức Độ, who was that women migrant workers from within Viet serving an 11-year prison sentence, had Nam, including street vendors, suffered been kept in solitary confinement since May especially severe economic effects. Many 2020 in inhumane conditions at Xuân Lộc reported experiencing food insecurity and prison in Đồng Nai province. His prolonged struggling to meet other basic needs because solitary confinement and ill-treatment by of a lack of work opportunities and prison guards severely affected his mental inadequate social assistance from the health.3 government. RIGHT TO HEALTH Responding to a surge in Covid-19 infection 1. “Viet Nam: Fresh crackdown as National Assembly election looms”, 1 April rates in late August, the authorities imposed 2. “Viet Nam: Click and Bait: Vietnamese human rights defenders harsh and disproportionate lockdown targeted with spyware attacks”, 24 February measures in the hardest-hit regions. There Amnesty International Report 2021/22 405