Truong Thi Ha
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2020-144-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2020
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 14.058324
Longitude: 108.277199
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Vietnam
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 31 March 2020
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Female
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Vietnamese lawyer and woman human rights defender
- Type of rights defended
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
In November 2019, she participated in a workshop organized by the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association in Geneva, where she voiced her fear of reprisals, and subsequently engaged with the UN over the next several months.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Unclear
- Dates of engagement
- November 2019; following months
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Unclear
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 25 March 2020
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Cha Lo Border Gate, Dân Hoá
- Reprisal information
On 25 March 2020, Ms. Truong intended to return to Viet Nam for the first time after her interaction at the UN, and was due to cross the land border at Cha Lo Border Gate, Dân Hoá into Viet Nam. As part of the measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Truong was reportedly quarantined with other Vietnamese nationals for two weeks at a government center in Quang Binh where border control authorities confiscated her identification card, driver’s license and passport, as well as her personal belongings. She was released on 13 April 2020 without her passport and other belongings.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Property damage/raid/search/confiscation
- Travel restriction
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 25 May 2020; 13 July 2020
- Government response content
stated that the allegations were drawn from unsubstantiated sources, the information was not accurate, and that Ms. Truong was not subject to reprisals. The Government noted that authorities put in place a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine of all individuals entering Viet Nam as of 21 March 2020, and stated that when Ms. Truong entered Viet Nam at the Cha Lo Border Gate of Quang Binh Province on 26 March 2020, she was asked to provide personal identity documents, contact tracing information and a health declaration and travel record. She was quarantined until 11 April 2020, plus an additional two days due to a high temperature, and then delivered by bus to her permanent residence in Viet Nam on 13 April 2020. The Government stated that she had 4 SIM cards but no personal communication devices, and borrowed other quarantined individuals’ phone to contact family.
On 13 July 2020, the Government responded in detail to the note verbale in connection to the present report. Regarding the situation of Ms. Truong Thi Ha, it informed that during her time in mandatory health quarantine, she received the same treatment as others; her rights were respected, including having her health monitored, staying in touch with her family, posting and sharing updates about her situation on Facebook and provided with adequate accommodation and meals. Currently, Ms. Truong Thi Ha is free and not a subject of any criminal detention or prosecution. On 19 June 2020, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances decided to consider the case clarified.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2021
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
- The case of Ms. Truong Thi Ha, a Vietnamese lawyer and human rights defender, was included in the 2020 report of the Secretary-General266 on allegations of arbitrary arrest and potential enforced disappearance in March 2020 following her cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and other UN mechanisms (VNM 1/2020). In May 2020, the Government267 responded indicating that Ms. Truong was placed in mandatory COVID-19 quarantine when entering the country, and asked to provide personal identity documents, contact tracing information, a health declaration, and travel record.
- On 15 May 2020, the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances addressed Ms. Thi Ha Truong’s case under its urgent action procedure, to which the Government responded on 26 May 2020 (A/HRC/WGEID 121/1, paras. 141–143). According to information provided to OHCHR, on 28 September 2020, Ms. Truong received her documents back from the Hanoi Public Security Department. However, her movements continue to be regularly monitored by the police and she is required to report to the police when she leaves her hometown for more than three days. Police reportedly also regularly make calls to her relatives to enquire on her whereabouts.
- Followup Trends 0
- Improvement
- Date of follow up 0
- 15 May 2020
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic