Le Dinh Luong
Le Dinh Luong is a pro-democracy human rights defender who has has taken part in campaigns in support of imprisoned activists in Vietnam and actively used social media to share information about human rights violations in the country. He has also campaigned for compensating fishermen whose livelihoods were destroyed by the Formosa waste spill disaster in April 2016. He was previously attacked in Central Highlands province of Lam Dong in August 2015 following a celebration to mark the release of human rights journalist Tran Minh Nhat.
Vietnamese authorities treat human rights defenders as “enemies of the State”. HRDs are subjected to intimidation, threats, interrogation, harassment, arrest and routine beatings. Many defenders are victims of arbitrary detention and criminalisation. Most often, they are not informed of the reasons for their arrest or why their request for bail is denied. When put on trial, they are very often sentenced to heavy jail terms and mistreated in prison. Detained HRDs also do not have access to lawyers and families and can be denied medical care. They can be intentionally transferred to remote locations, thus making it more difficult for their families to visit them. Human rights lawyers are often abused and disbarred from their respective bar association.
