Environmental activist and lawyer Dang Dinh Bach before his arrest in 2021
Imprisoned Vietnamese lawyer and environmental activist Dang Dinh Bach has been awarded the Roger N. Baldwin Medal for Liberty by the U.S.-based Human Rights First organization in recognition of his work protecting communities from environmental harm.
Bach is serving a five-year sentence for tax evasion since 2021, but his supporters say the government used tax laws to to unfairly target him for his activism.
Bach was a lawyer and director of the Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development, a public interest law firm that advises communities on cases of environmental harm, including industrial pollution, involuntary displacement due to hydropower construction and pollution from coal plants.
Human Rights First awarded Bach the award on Jan. 24, exactly three years after the day he was sentenced. It includes US$30,000 of financial support.
“For more than three decades, the Baldwin Medal has provided international recognition and support to Human Rights Defenders in all corners of the world, many of whom, like Bach, work at enormous risk to themselves,” said President and CEO Sue Hendrickson in a media release issued on Jan. 24.“Bach’s legal advocacy to encourage his country away from coal-based energy has earned him a five-year prison sentence on charges of ‘tax evasion,’” she said. “His work advising affected communities about environmental harm should be celebrated, not punished, and this is what the Baldwin award will do.”
Bach was also a member of the Management Board of the VNGO-EVFTA network, a coalition by seven civic organizations that monitors and disseminates information about the impact of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement alongside the Domestic Advisory Group.
Bach is the second jailed environmental activist in Vietnam to receive an international award with significant financial support. Another activist, Nguỵ Thị Khanh received $200,000 Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 but was arrested four years later for “tax evasion” and imprisoned for 16 months.
Resilience and courage
Environmental activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who was also sentenced to three years in prison on the same charge, said she had collaborated with Bach on several projects.
Hong was released from prison in late September 2024 shortly before General Secretary To Lam’s visit to the United States, and is now living in the United States as a political refugee.
She said Bach fully deserves the award, as it demonstrates the international community’s admiration for his resilience and courage, as well as its recognition of his past contributions to efforts towards a more sustainable, clean-energy future for Vietnam.
“Given the Vietnamese government’s ambitious commitment to achieving net-zero emissions before 2050 …, leaders of climate and environmental organizations like us should be considered the government’s important partners and allies, not sentenced to years in prison on charges of ‘tax evasion’ and forced to dissolve our organizations,” she said.
She said she believes that imprisoning environmental activists could harm Vietnam, not only affecting the communities benefiting from their projects but also reducing international support for the Vietnamese government.
RFA emailed the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington for comment, but received no response.
Impact on prisoner?
Awarding international prizes to convicted activists might cause them to receive harsher treatment while in prison, but it depends on each individual case, Nguyen Tien Trung, a former prisoner of conscience, told RFA.
“Some people have seen their situation in prison improved, others are more severely oppressed,” he said, recalling the case of Can Thi Theu and her two sons, who were imprisoned together for criticizing the government on its violent handling of protests over a land rights dispute.
“I remember she and her sons got a human right award, but her sons’ situations got even worse,” said Trung.
Meanwhile, California-based International Rivers said in a press release that Bach’s jailing is part of a greater trend: Vietnam’s vague tax laws are being weaponized to silence climate and environmental defenders.
Despite the ongoing targeting of climate leaders in Vietnam, development partners continue to finance the JETP. This includes the EU’s release of an additional 15 million euros of budget support just last month, the organization said.
Imprisoning climate leaders like Bach, and targeted attacks on independent organizations in Vietnam, severely limits or even eliminates enuine opportunities for consultation with civil society –- a necessary aspect of a “just” transition, the release said.
“The criminalization of environmental leaders in Vietnam must end,” said Maureen Harris, senior advisor for International Rivers. “Bach should be with his family this New Year. Instead, he will spend the holiday in a prison cell.” (RFA)
Height Insoles: Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon …
http://fishinglovers.net: Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Keep writi…
Achilles Pain causes: Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site, as i w…
February 1, 2025
Vietnamese environmental activist wins human rights award while in prison
by Defend the Defenders • [Human Rights]
Environmental activist and lawyer Dang Dinh Bach before his arrest in 2021
Imprisoned Vietnamese lawyer and environmental activist Dang Dinh Bach has been awarded the Roger N. Baldwin Medal for Liberty by the U.S.-based Human Rights First organization in recognition of his work protecting communities from environmental harm.
Bach is serving a five-year sentence for tax evasion since 2021, but his supporters say the government used tax laws to to unfairly target him for his activism.
Bach was a lawyer and director of the Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development, a public interest law firm that advises communities on cases of environmental harm, including industrial pollution, involuntary displacement due to hydropower construction and pollution from coal plants.
Human Rights First awarded Bach the award on Jan. 24, exactly three years after the day he was sentenced. It includes US$30,000 of financial support.
“For more than three decades, the Baldwin Medal has provided international recognition and support to Human Rights Defenders in all corners of the world, many of whom, like Bach, work at enormous risk to themselves,” said President and CEO Sue Hendrickson in a media release issued on Jan. 24.“Bach’s legal advocacy to encourage his country away from coal-based energy has earned him a five-year prison sentence on charges of ‘tax evasion,’” she said. “His work advising affected communities about environmental harm should be celebrated, not punished, and this is what the Baldwin award will do.”
Bach was also a member of the Management Board of the VNGO-EVFTA network, a coalition by seven civic organizations that monitors and disseminates information about the impact of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement alongside the Domestic Advisory Group.
Bach is the second jailed environmental activist in Vietnam to receive an international award with significant financial support. Another activist, Nguỵ Thị Khanh received $200,000 Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 but was arrested four years later for “tax evasion” and imprisoned for 16 months.
Resilience and courage
Environmental activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who was also sentenced to three years in prison on the same charge, said she had collaborated with Bach on several projects.
Hong was released from prison in late September 2024 shortly before General Secretary To Lam’s visit to the United States, and is now living in the United States as a political refugee.
She said Bach fully deserves the award, as it demonstrates the international community’s admiration for his resilience and courage, as well as its recognition of his past contributions to efforts towards a more sustainable, clean-energy future for Vietnam.
“Given the Vietnamese government’s ambitious commitment to achieving net-zero emissions before 2050 …, leaders of climate and environmental organizations like us should be considered the government’s important partners and allies, not sentenced to years in prison on charges of ‘tax evasion’ and forced to dissolve our organizations,” she said.
She said she believes that imprisoning environmental activists could harm Vietnam, not only affecting the communities benefiting from their projects but also reducing international support for the Vietnamese government.
RFA emailed the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington for comment, but received no response.
Impact on prisoner?
Awarding international prizes to convicted activists might cause them to receive harsher treatment while in prison, but it depends on each individual case, Nguyen Tien Trung, a former prisoner of conscience, told RFA.
“Some people have seen their situation in prison improved, others are more severely oppressed,” he said, recalling the case of Can Thi Theu and her two sons, who were imprisoned together for criticizing the government on its violent handling of protests over a land rights dispute.
“I remember she and her sons got a human right award, but her sons’ situations got even worse,” said Trung.
Meanwhile, California-based International Rivers said in a press release that Bach’s jailing is part of a greater trend: Vietnam’s vague tax laws are being weaponized to silence climate and environmental defenders.
International Rivers recalled Vietnam joining the $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership in 2022 from the U.K., the EU, the U.S., and other G7 countries plus Denmark and Norway.
Despite the ongoing targeting of climate leaders in Vietnam, development partners continue to finance the JETP. This includes the EU’s release of an additional 15 million euros of budget support just last month, the organization said.
Imprisoning climate leaders like Bach, and targeted attacks on independent organizations in Vietnam, severely limits or even eliminates enuine opportunities for consultation with civil society –- a necessary aspect of a “just” transition, the release said.
“The criminalization of environmental leaders in Vietnam must end,” said Maureen Harris, senior advisor for International Rivers. “Bach should be with his family this New Year. Instead, he will spend the holiday in a prison cell.” (RFA)