Viet Nam

Table of Contents

The Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) is the sole political party within the country. Ruling the country for almost 50 years, the CPV severely punishes anyone who seeks to undermine its monopoly on power. Under the CPV, there has been a history of systematic denial, in practice, of rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly.¹

According to the 2019 national census,² 86% of the population are non-religious. However, the US State Department reports that “many religious adherents choose not to make their religious affiliation public for fear of adverse consequences, resulting in substantial discrepancies among various estimates.”³

Based on the available data, Roman Catholics represent the largest religious group, accounting for 6.1% of the population, with Buddhists accounting for 4%, and Protestants 1%. Smaller populations of religious groups such as Hindus (mostly ethnic Cham in the south-central coastal area), Muslims scattered throughout the country (approximately 40% are Sunnis; the remaining 60% practice Bani Islam), Baha’is, Mormons, and other groups following syncretic religions established in Viet Nam – such as Cao Đài, Đạo Tứ n Hiếu nghĩa, and Hòa Hảo Buddhists – make up the remainder of the religious demography.⁴

Constitution and government	Education and children’s rights	Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals	Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
Quasi-divine veneration of a ruling elite is enforced, or a single-party regime holds uncontested power, subject to severe punishment
		Government authorities push a socially conservative, religiously or ideologically inspired agenda, without regard to the rights of those with progressive views	Expression of core humanist principles on democracy, freedom or human rights is severely restricted
	Some concerns about children's right to specifically freedom of religion or belief
			Some concerns about political or media freedoms, not specific to the non-religious Concerns that secular or religious authorities interfere in specifically religious freedoms

Constitution and government

Quasi-divine veneration of a ruling elite is enforced, or a single-party regime holds uncontested power, subject to severe punishment

Education and children’s rights

Some concerns about children's right to specifically freedom of religion or belief

Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals

Government authorities push a socially conservative, religiously or ideologically inspired agenda, without regard to the rights of those with progressive views

Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values

Expression of core humanist principles on democracy, freedom or human rights is severely restricted

Some concerns about political or media freedoms, not specific to the non-religious

Concerns that secular or religious authorities interfere in specifically religious freedoms

Legend

Grave Violations

Severe Discrimination

Systemic Discrimination

Mostly Satisfactory

No Rating

More information about rating table

Constitution and government

Key articles from the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam⁵ provide the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief, in theory.

Article 24:

“1. Every one shall enjoy freedom of belief and of religion; he can follow any religion or follow none. All religions are equal before the law
2. The State respects and protects freedom of belief and of religion.
3. No one has the right to infringe on the freedom of belief and religion or to take advantage of belief and religion to violate the laws.”

Whilst Article 25 provides protection for the rights to free expression, assembly and association:

“The citizen shall enjoy the right to freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, to access to information, to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations. The practice of these rights shall be provided by the law.”

Article 40 protects cultural rights (i.e. those rights articulated in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights):

“Every one has the right to carry out scientific and industrial research, engage in literary and artistic creation, and enjoy benefits from those activities.”

Despite these Constitutional protections, severe restrictions exist in policy and practice. For instance, when read together, Articles 14 and 15 indicate that citizens’ human rights may be restricted when they impinge on “national interests,” such as “national defence, national security, social order and security, social morality, and the health of the community.” Article 44 emphasizes this point:

“The citizen must show loyalty to his Fatherland. To betray one’s Fatherland is the most serious crime.”

Emphasis on the country’s policy of national unity and harmony often conflicts with the exercise of individuals’ rights. In practice, those who are perceived to “betray” Viet Nam – such as writers, journalists, human rights defenders, members of religious groups, among others – face heavy sanctions that fall both within and outside of the law (for more information, see ‘Freedom of Expression’ section below).

Regulation of religious groups

While the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam publicly presents itself as welcoming and supportive of the rights of the religious and non-religious,⁶ these claims do not stand up to close scrutiny.

The State officially recognizes at least 36 religious organizations, but reportedly admitted that it has not officially recognized about 140 religious groups with approximately 1 million followers.⁷

According to Human Rights Watch:⁸

“The Vietnamese authorities ban religious activities that they arbitrarily deem to be contrary to “national interest,” “public order,” or “national unity.” Followers of unapproved religious groups are criticized, forced to renounce their faith, detained, interrogated, tortured, and imprisoned.”

Further, according to the World Report 2024:⁹

“Police monitor, harass, and sometimes violently crack down on religious groups operating outside government-controlled institutions. Unrecognized religious groups, including Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Christian, and Buddhist groups, face constant surveillance, harassment, and intimidation. Followers of independent religious group are subject to public criticism, forced renunciation of faith, detention, interrogation, torture, and imprisonment.”

In 2018, the Law on Belief and Religion (Decree No. 162/2017/ND-CP)¹⁰ entered into force. The law was introduced in order to address inadequacies of previous laws to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief as enshrined in the Constitution. Certain provisions contained within it are deemed to represent progress in this regard; namely the recognition of registered religious groups as legal entities, as well as the recognition of “detainees’ rights to use holy books and to express their religious faith (Article 6), reducing the waiting period for religious groups to apply for recognition from 23 years to five years (Article 21), and the rights of religious organizations to participate in education, vocational training, healthcare, and social services under the relevant regulations (Article 55).”¹¹

Whilst the law specifies that recognized religious organizations and their affiliates are noncommercial legal entities, and that they are allowed to conduct educational, health, social protection, charitable, and humanitarian activities in accordance with relevant laws, it fails to provide clarity around which specific activities are permissible.¹²

The law states that individuals “may not use the right of belief and religious freedom to undermine peace, national independence, and unification; incite violence or propagate wars; proselytize in contravention of the state’s laws and policies; divide people, nationalities, or religions; cause public disorder; infringe upon the life, health, dignity, honor or property of others; impede the exercise of civic rights and performance of civic obligations; or conduct “superstitious activities” or otherwise violate the law.”¹³

Certain religious activities do not need advance approval but instead require notification to the appropriate authorities. These include, but are not limited to: recurring or periodic “belief festivals;” conducting fundraising activities; the repair or renovation of religious facilities not considered cultural-historical relics; ordination, appointment, assignment, or dismissal of religious clergy (such as monks); routine religious activities (defined as “religious preaching, practicing religious tenets and rites, and management of a religious organization”); and internal conferences of a religious organization.¹⁴

Under Article 40 of the Criminal Code,¹⁵ the death penalty is permissible for “extremely serious crimes that infringe national security, human life, drug-related crimes, corruption-related crimes, and some other extremely serious crimes defined by this Code.”

The Criminal Code (as revised in 2015), establishes penalties for vaguely defined offenses, such as sowing “division between religious believers and nonbelievers” (Article 116(d), Chapter XIII ‘Offences against National Security’). The government continues to limit the organized activities of independent religious groups and of individuals who are regarded as a threat to Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) authority.¹⁶

Additionally, Article 331 of the Criminal Code criminalizes “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens,” stating:

“1. Any person who abuses the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and other democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens shall receive a warning or face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence or 06 – 36 months’ imprisonment.

2. If the offence has a negative impact on social security, order, or safety, the offender shall face a penalty of 02 – 07 years’ imprisonment.”

Education and children’s rights

The government does not permit religious instruction in public or private schools; but nor is atheism taught officially. The Law on Belief and Religion permits religious organizations to operate private schools, and provides the basis for regulating this.¹⁷ Religious education may not be conducted in private schools operated by religious organizations.¹⁸

Sex education

According to Human Rights Watch, “Vietnam’s sex education policies and practices fall short of international standards and do not include discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.“¹⁹ Until recently, abstinence reportedly formed the basis of sex education.²⁰ The government is now reported to be in the process of implementing Comprehensive Sexuality Education into the curriculum.²¹

Violent discipline

According to Human Rights Watch:

“Violence against children, including sexual abuse, is a serious problem in Vietnam, including at home and in schools. Numerous media reports have described cases of guardians, teachers, or government caregivers engaging in sexual abuse and physically beating children.”²²

Family, community and society

According to Freedom House:

“[m]embers of ethnic and religious minority groups face societal discrimination, and some local officials restrict their access to schooling and jobs. They also sometimes encounter harassment by authorities seeking to suppress dissent and suspected links to exile groups.”²³

In its 2022 International Religious Freedom Report, the US State Department noted that:²⁴

“Most representatives of religious groups continued to report anecdotally that adherence to a registered religious group generally did not seriously disadvantage individuals in nongovernmental, civil, economic, and secular life, but that adherence to an unregistered group was disadvantageous. Religious leaders said that religious belief itself did not lead to official discrimination, but rather it was the implication of being affiliated with any type of extralegal group that could attract additional scrutiny from authorities.“

LGBTI+ rights

Although the government repealed legislation banning same-sex marriage in 2015, it has yet to grant such unions with legal recognition.²⁵ In 2022, the Vietnamese Health Ministry reportedly declared that being gay or transgender is not a disease.²⁶

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

According to Amnesty International, in 2022:

“A crackdown on both online and offline dissent raised concerns about a new wave of repression against civil society. Independent journalists, activists, religious practitioners and other government critics were arrested and charged under repressive laws. Human rights defenders were subjected to widespread harassment, digital surveillance, arbitrary arrest and politically motivated prosecution. Torture and other ill-treatment continued to be reported at an alarming rate.”²⁷

Laws protecting national security are the principal means of suppressing dissent, including Articles 331 and 117 of the Criminal Code.²⁸

The authorities maintain strict control of media, publications, and the internet. Independent or privately-owned media outlets are prohibited. The government monitors the internet, blocking access to websites, closing down blogs, and requiring internet service providers to remove content it deems politically unacceptable.²⁹ By law, all materials must be submitted to the authorities prior to publication, this includes films.³⁰

Freedoms of association and assembly

Freedoms of association and assembly are tightly restricted. Organizations must apply for official permission to assemble. Human rights groups report that the police routinely use excessive force to disperse unauthorized demonstrations.³¹

A small but active community of nongovernmental groups promotes environmental conservation, land rights, women’s development, and public health. However, human rights organizations are generally banned, and those who engage in any advocacy that the authorities perceive as hostile risk imprisonment.³²

In August 2022, the authorities introduced Decree 58 to regulate foreign NGOs. Regulations on the organization, operation and management of domestic NGOs were also drafted. According to Amnesty International, “[b]oth sets of regulations would allow for the termination of NGOs on vague grounds, such as the protection of “national interest” and “social order”, providing the authorities with almost indefinite scope to silence their critics and those engaging in non-approved activities.”³³