Almost every Dega prisoner of the last twenty-five years was convicted under a handful of articles of Vietnam’s Penal Code. Most are national-security offenses written so broadly that praying in an unregistered church, talking to a foreign diplomat or crossing the border can be made to fit them. This page sets out those articles, their penalties and how they have been used against us.
The two codes
Vietnam’s current Criminal Code was adopted in 2015 and took effect, after amendment, in January 2018, as Human Rights Watch records; it replaced the Penal Code of 1999. The national-security crimes moved from articles 78–92 to articles 108–122, so the same offense can appear under two numbers depending on the date of the case. English translations differ — “people’s administration,” “people’s government,” “people’s authority” all render the same Vietnamese phrase.
The articles
| 2015 code | 1999 code | Offense | Main penalties (2015) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 116 | Art. 87 | Undermining the national unity policy: “sowing division” between peoples, between believers and non-believers, or between believers and the government | 7–15 years; 2–7 for less serious cases (1999: 5–15) |
| Art. 109 | Art. 79 | Activities, or joining an organization, aimed at overthrowing the people’s government | 12–20 years, life or death for organizers; 5–12 for others |
| Art. 113 | Art. 84 | Terrorism to oppose the people’s government | up to death; 1–5 years for preparation |
| Art. 117 | Art. 88 | Making, storing or spreading material against the state | 5–12 years; 10–20 in serious cases |
| Art. 118 | Art. 89 | Disrupting security | 5–15 years; accomplices 2–7 |
| Art. 120 and 121 | Art. 91 | Organizing others to flee abroad, or fleeing abroad, “to oppose the people’s government” | 1999: 3–12 years; up to 20 or life in the gravest cases |
| Art. 331 | Art. 258 | “Abusing democratic freedoms” to infringe the interests of the state | up to 3 years; 2–7 where there is a “negative impact” |
We have not been able to confirm from an independent source the exact penalties for articles 120 and 121 of the 2015 code; the 1999 figures are given.
How they have been used
- “Undermining national unity” is the main charge. It is the charge most often used against Montagnard religious and political activists, according to Human Rights Watch. More than 350 highlanders were sentenced on national-security charges between 2001 and 2011. Amnesty International’s 2019 list of prisoners of conscience included more than twenty Central Highlanders, most of them held under this article, with sentences of seven to twelve years.
- Fleeing is a crime. At least 65 highlanders were imprisoned for trying to seek asylum in Cambodia after 2001. In 2023 members of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination questioned how Vietnam proves an “intent to oppose” the state; Vietnam said people who leave without such intent are not punished.
- Protest. After the 2001 and 2004 protests, “disrupting security” was charged alongside “undermining unity.”
- Terrorism. In January 2024, after the attacks of June 2023, a single court convicted 100 people, 53 of them of terrorism “against the people’s government” and 45 of ordinary terrorism; ten were sentenced to life. UN experts condemned “the discriminatory misuse of counter-terrorism law” against Montagnard Indigenous Peoples and Christian religious minorities. See Cư Kuin, 2023.
- Church and diplomats. In January 2024 Nay Y Blang, a Rhade church member and activist, got four and a half years for “abusing democratic freedoms” over his church and meetings with foreign diplomats.
Named cases are in Our defenders and prisoners and Prisoner records.
What the United Nations has said
In 2019 the UN Human Rights Committee, reviewing Vietnam under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, criticized “the vague and broadly formulated offences in articles 109, 116, 117 and 331 of the Penal Code and their use to curtail freedom of opinion and expression,” and urged Vietnam “as a matter of urgency” to take all necessary steps, “including revising legislation,” to end violations of freedom of expression. It also expressed concern that Vietnam does not recognize its indigenous peoples. See What the United Nations has said.
What is coming
In August 2026 Human Rights Watch reported proposed amendments that would widen article 117 to cover acts aimed against the Communist Party, raise the minimum sentence under article 331’s aggravated clause from two years to three, and create a new offense against the Party flag. Adoption was expected after October 20, 2026.
See also: The Law on Belief and Religion.
Sources
- 2015 Criminal Code, English translation (policinglaw.info); 1999 Penal Code, English translation (ICJ)
- Human Rights Watch, “Vietnam’s proposed revisions to national security laws” (2015); “We’ll All Be Arrested Soon” (2025); “Vietnam: Reject Repressive Penal Code Revisions” (2026)
- Human Rights Watch, Montagnard Christians in Vietnam (2011) and No Sanctuary (2006)
- Amnesty International, prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam (2019)
- UN Human Rights Committee, concluding observations on Viet Nam, CCPR/C/VNM/CO/3 (2019), paras 45–46 and 55–56
- OHCHR, CERD dialogue with Viet Nam (2023), and UN experts on counter-terrorism law (2024)
- Radio Free Asia, on the January 2024 sentences
Compiled September 2026. This is not legal advice. If someone in your family has been arrested, see If a family member is detained.