Trần Hoàng Phúc
Trần Hoàng Phúc is the founder of Viet Nam Human Rights Students Association. He is also a member of the Young South East Asia Leadership Initiative (YSEALI), which runs training program for young leaders. In 2016, he was taken for interrogation by the police whilst waiting to meet with former US President Barack Obama along with other YSEALI members during a visit to Viet Nam. He is a student activist who has campaigned for compensation for the victims of the Formosa disaster, relief for flood victims in the central regions, and participated in other advocacy initiatives for human rights.
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.
