Obama Foundation Scholar Hoang Thi Minh Hong Detained in Vietnam: Global Call for Release

In an escalating international concern, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, a renowned climate activist and scholar of the Obama Foundation, has been arrested and detained by the Vietnamese authorities. Her arrest, supposedly on false charges of tax evasion, has triggered a wave of condemnation, with numerous civil society groups and institutions calling for her immediate release.

Hong, a pioneer in the Vietnamese climate action movement, was a member of the first cohort of the Obama Foundation and the founder of the Centre of Hands-on Action and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE). The organisation, instrumental in mobilising opposition against new coal-fired power plant projects in Vietnam, was forced to close in October 2022 after Hong was subject to government harassment.

The activist was arrested on 1 June 2023 and has since been held incommunicado, with access to legal representation denied. She faces a maximum sentence of seven years if found guilty in the controversial trial that awaits her. Alarmingly, she could be exposed to a prison system notorious for torture and deliberate neglect.

Hong's arrest marks the fifth such instance of climate activists in Vietnam being accused of tax evasion in the last two years. Among others, Dang Dinh Bach, who also advocated for energy sector decarbonisation, is serving a five-year sentence on similar charges. A human rights investigation report published in April confirmed that these prosecutions appear to be politically motivated attempts to suppress climate activism.

The U.S. State Department and the United Nations have already made public statements demanding Hong's release. Civil society organisations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace UK, and Human Rights Watch, are now urging former U.S. President Barack Obama to join this call, considering his foundation's association with the detained activist. The Obama Foundation still features Hong's name and image on its website.

As the international community watches closely, it remains to be seen how the Obama Foundation and other global entities will further respond to this alarming crackdown on climate activism in Vietnam.