Enclosed below is the Vietnam chapter from Human Rights Watch's World Report 2009, which covers human rights developments during 2008. The 564-page report summarizes major human rights issues in more than 90 countries, reflecting the extensive investigative work carried out in 2008 by Human Rights Watch staff. For the full report please see: www.hrw.org For more information regarding the Vietnam chapter, please contact: * In London: Brad Adams: (o) +44 20 7713 2767; (m) +44 7908 728 333 * In Washington, DC: Sophie Richardson: (o) 1 202 612 4341; (m) 1 917 721 7473 Vietnam - Human Rights Development in 2008 The Vietnamese government continues to crackdown on democracy activists, journalists, human rights defenders, cyber-dissidents, and members of unsanctioned religious organizations. Social unrest increased in 2008 as thousands of workers joined strikes for better pay and working conditions. An informal nationwide land rights movement swelled, as thousands of farmers traveled to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to publicly express their grievances about land seizures and local corruption. Ethnic Khmer Buddhists in the Mekong Delta and Montagnard Christians in the Central Highlands protested against land confiscation and religious persecution. 2008 saw the harshest crackdown on Catholics in Vietnam in decades as Vietnamese authorities sought to curtail mass prayer vigils in Hanoi calling for the return of government-confiscated church properties. Political and Religious Prisoners More than 400 political and religious prisoners remain behind bars in harsh prison conditions. Prisoners are placed in solitary confinement in dark, unsanitary cells, and there is compelling evidence of torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners, including beatings and electric shock. Credible sources report the use of forced prison labor in a cashew processing facility at Xuan Loc prison, where many political prisoners are imprisoned. ... Freedom of Religion Vietnamese law requires that religious groups register with the government. Those that do not join one of the officially authorized religious organizations—the governing boards of which are under the control of the government—are considered illegal. Authorities harass and arrest church leaders campaigning for rights or choosing not to affiliate with state-controlled religious oversight committees. For decades, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Do, now Supreme Patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, has either been in prison or under house arrest for publicly protesting government policies. Five ethnic Khmer Buddhist monks remain in prison in Soc Trang province after participating in a peaceful protest in 2007 calling for greater religious freedom. On June 28, ethnic Khmer monk Tim Sakhorn was released from a year’s imprisonment in An Giang province. Although a recognized citizen of Cambodia , Vietnamese authorities have prohibited him from returning to Cambodia since his release. Authorities beat and arrest members of ethnic minorities in remote areas such as Montagnards in the Central Highlands for refusing to join state-sanctioned church organizations, protesting land confiscation, making contact with relatives or groups abroad, or trying to seek political asylum in Cambodia .... During 2008 unprecedented numbers of CatholicsDone of the largest officially recognized religions in Vietnam gathered in Hanoi for prayer vigils calling for return of government confiscated church property. In September police used tear gas and electric batons to disband the vigils, detained protesters, and bulldozed properties considered sacred to Vietnamese Catholics. Hundreds of thugs, some in the blue shirts of the Communist Youth League, harassed, cursed, and spat at parishioners and destroyed church statues. Vietnam is due to be reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council in May 2009 EXPAND PERMANENT LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE   more »