Australia urged to set rights benchmarks for Vietnam ahead of annual talks

Australia should press Vietnam to meet clear and measurable human rights benchmarks during their annual bilateral dialogue, Human Rights Watch said Monday, warning that two decades of talks have produced no lasting change.

The call comes ahead of the 20th Australia-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, scheduled for Tuesday in Vietnam. HRW said Hanoi continues to jail more than 170 political prisoners under laws curbing free expression and peaceful activism, while cracking down on independent rights groups, labor unions, religious communities and media.

“Australia has now held 19 human rights dialogues with Vietnam over the past two decades and it’s virtually impossible to identify any lasting human rights progress,” said Daniela Gavshon, HRW’s Australia director. “These dialogues will only be worthwhile if Australia’s leadership sets specific and measurable human rights benchmarks for the Vietnamese government to meet.”

In its submission to Canberra, the rights group listed five priorities: release political prisoners and arbitrarily detained activists; halt the persecution of environmental defenders; respect labor rights; ensure due process; and guarantee freedom of religion and belief.

HRW urged Australia to raise the cases of prominent jailed activists including Pham Doan Trang, Bui Tuan Lam, Pham Chi Dung, Dang Dinh Bach, Le Dinh Luong, Dinh Van Hai and Nguyen Thai Hung.

“The Vietnamese government’s increasingly broad and intense crackdown on freedom of speech and assembly is a direct affront to the human rights dialogues,” Gavshon said. “The Australian government should press for systemic reforms that recognize these dialogues are only one part of its human rights relationship with Vietnam.”

This is an edited version of the statement published by Human Rights Watch on Aug. 11, 2025.