Vietnam’s pledges to uphold human rights, made in recent agreements with France and the European Union, have yet to yield tangible improvements on the ground, according to Human Rights Watch. In a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of his upcoming visit to Hanoi from 25 to 27 May 2025, the group criticised Vietnam’s continued repression of civil liberties.

During a meeting in Paris in October 2024, President Macron and Vietnamese President ToLam signed a France–Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The accompanying joint declaration reaffirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and highlighted the importance of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. The statement also cited existing agreements between the EU and Vietnam—the 2021 Free Trade Agreement and the 2016 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement—which condition bilateral ties on respect for human rights.

Despite these declarations, Human Rights Watch says Vietnam’s record has only worsened. “The Vietnamese authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent, which starkly contradicts the commitments made to France and the EU,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, the organisation’s France director. “More and more critics of the government are being imprisoned, while essential reforms remain elusive.”

The Vietnamese state is currently detaining over 170 political prisoners; many charged under vague national security laws used to stifle peaceful activism and free speech. Promised legal reforms under the trade and cooperation deals have seen little progress. Groups seeking to operate independently—whether labour unions, media organisations, religious communities, or rights advocates—continue to face systematic suppression.

Human Rights Watch has called on President Macron to raise Vietnam’s deteriorating human rights situation during his visit, and to make clear that continued backsliding could jeopardise broader bilateral relations, particularly on trade. The group is also urging Macron to directly raise the cases of several detained activists, including Pham Doan Trang, Bui Tuan Lam, Pham Chi Dung, Dang Dinh Bach, Le Dinh Luong, Dinh Van Hai, and Nguyen Thai Hung.

HRW.