Vietnam arrests prominent parliamentary official as top UN rights official visits
]br>
Luu Binh Nhuong, an outspoken former member of Vietnam’s National Assembly until 2021 and current deputy chair of a parliamentary committee, was arrested on Tuesday night.
He was known for occasionally expressing critical opinions about government officials and the security forces.
Nhuong’s detention coincided with a visit to Vietnam of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Surya Deva.
In a press conference on Wednesday at the end of his ten-day visit, Deva warned about “the selective use of the law” by authorities in Vietnam to target some human rights defenders and climate activists.
When asked about Nhuong’s arrest, Deva said he had not been informed before adding: “The government should not use the law as a device to target certain people because of their political or religious views”.
In September, days after US President Joe Biden signed agreements with Vietnam and elevated bilateral relations, an energy expert was detained in the Communist-ruled country for misappropriating government documents.
That followed the arrest of five climate activists since 2021 over tax evasion charges. That apparent crackdown occurred while Hanoi was negotiating with Group of Seven (G7) nations for financial support to reduce the use of coal.
Vietnam’s ministry of foreign affairs, who is in charge of communications with foreign media, did not immediately reply to questions about the timing of Nhuong’s arrest.
!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
function loadFBEvents(isFBCampaignActive) {
if (!isFBCampaignActive) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(…arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘ n, t, s);
fbq(‘init’, ‘593671331875494’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
};
function loadGtagEvents(isGoogleCampaignActive) {
if (!isGoogleCampaignActive) {
return;
}
var id = document.getElementById(‘toi-plus-google-campaign’);
if (id) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
t.id = ‘toi-plus-google-campaign’;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘ n, t, s);
};
function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = []){
const section = window.location.pathname.split(‘/’)[1]
const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === ‘/’ && allowedSurvicateSections.includes(‘homepage’)
if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed){
(function(w) {
var s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.src=”
s.async = true;
var e = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];
e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e);
})(window);
}
}
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
var TimesApps = window.TimesApps;
TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) {
var isConfigAvailable = “toiplus_site_settings” in f && “isFBCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings && “isGoogleCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings;
var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime;
if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) {
loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections);
} else {
var JarvisUrl=”
window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){
if (config) {
loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(config?.allowedSurvicateSections);
}
})
}
};
})(
window,
document,
‘script’,
);