WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Jamie Raskin (MD-08) announced he will sponsor Vietnamese climate activist and political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s (Lantos Commission’s) Defending Freedoms Project. As Bach’s sponsor, Rep. Raskin will lead efforts in Congress to advocate for his immediate release.

Bach, who was imprisoned in 2021 for his clean energy advocacy, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence under charges of tax evasion widely regarded among human rights experts as fraudulent.

“Vietnam’s communist government maintains its clutch on power by crusading hard against good faith dissenters like Dang Dinh Bach, breaching the fundamental political, social and civil rights of their people,” said Rep. Raskin. “Mr. Bach’s continued unjust detainment is an affront to global human rights law and climate activism around the world, and I am honored to sponsor his case through the Lantos Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project. Mr. Bach should be released immediately.”

“Dang Dinh Bach is a dedicated rights defender focused on climate issues, currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Vietnam on dubious charges of ‘tax evasion,’” said Kat Cosgrove, Deputy Director, Policy and Advocacy, Asia, at Freedom House. “Since 2021, Vietnamese authorities have frequently used this charge to target and silence local activists and these charges appear aimed solely at stopping Mr. Bach’s vital work and weakening civil society. We thank Congressman Raskin for agreeing to be Mr. Bach’s advocate and join with the United Nations and State Department in calling for Mr. Bach’s immediate release.”

“Dang Dinh Bach is serving five years in prison for speaking out about clean energy and advocating for stronger environmental and public health measures to protect communities,” said Maureen Harris, Senior Advisor for International Rivers and coordinator of the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition.“ Environmental human rights defenders like Bach are critical to the battle against climate change. Vietnam's government should stop persecuting climate leaders. I hope that the international community stands up for Bach and calls on the Vietnamese government to end his wrongful incarceration.”

In May 2023, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion finding Bach's imprisonment to be arbitrary and in “violation of international law.” The Working Group called for his immediate release and expressed concerns about a "systemic problem with arbitrary detention" of environmental defenders in Vietnam.

Bach is one of several climate activists and energy experts imprisoned in Vietnam after advocating for the country’s transition away from coal-based energy. Bach is an environmental lawyer and the co-founder and former Executive Director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center (LPSD), a public interest law firm advising affected communities on cases of environmental harm, including, for example, industrial pollution, involuntary displacement due to hydropower construction, and pollution from coal plants.

Bach was initially removed from his home and detained by police on June 24, 2021. On July 2, 2021, state media reported that Bach had been charged with ‘tax evasion’ under the Criminal Code. He was held in pretrial detention for seven months, with limited opportunities to communicate with family members or his lawyers. On January 24, 2022, he was tried and sentenced to five years in prison. He was given only one opportunity to meet with his lawyers ten days prior to the trial. Bach appealed his sentence and was again only allowed to meet his lawyers once before his appeal was rejected in a hearing on August 11, 2022. Bach’s organization, LPSD, was shut down by authorities following his arrest.

Bach has been subjected to harsh and inhumane treatment in prison and has undertaken multiple hunger strikes to protest his prison conditions. A recent statement issued by the United Nations Human Rights Office noted that, in prison, Bach has endured “deplorable conditions, discriminatory and differentiated treatment,” including being beaten, subjected to physical assault, food and water restriction, unsafe temperatures and medical neglect. The United States Department of State, European Union and United Nations agencies, have issued statements calling for the release of Bach and other wrongfully imprisoned climate advocates in Vietnam.

Raskin is a leader among his Lantos Commission colleagues in Defending Freedoms Project sponsorships, sponsoring a total of six prisoners of conscience. In July, Raskin sponsored Hong Kong political prisoner Jimmy Lai—a prominent advocate for democracy—who was arrested for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party through his work as a publisher. 

###