Vietnam dissident arrests double under leader To Lam, report says

Vietnam is increasingly using broadly written laws to arrest activists, dissidents and others that authorities consider a threat to the Communist Party’s rule, according to a new analysis released on Monday by a human rights group.The 88 Project, which focuses on rights issues in Vietnam, documented 56 such arrests last year, the third consecutive year of increases and double the number in 2022. The report included only arrests where the defendant could be identified by name and the case tracked, and the actual numbers were believed to be much higher, said Ben Swanton, co-director of the group.The report says the country under leader To Lam “routinely weaponises criminal law” to quash dissent. To Lam, the country’s former top security official who has served as general secretary of the party since 2024, was also elected president earlier this year.