Gender: Male

Current Location: Tra Vinh Province

Perpetrator: Vietnam

Ethnic Group: Khmer Krom

Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 3 Years, 6 Months' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: July/31/2023

Date of Sentencing: March/20/2024

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity

Nature of Charges: Subversion

Thach Cuong

Extra Bio Info:

Thach Cuong is imprisoned for his human rights advocacy for religious communities. 

On  or around July 31, 2023, Vietnamese authorities in Tra Vinh province arrested Thach Cuong and charged him with “abusing democratic freedoms” (Art. 331/2015 VCC). Thach Cuong, a Khmer Krom Buddhist activist, was reportedly targeted because he distributed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). He also advocates for the rights of Khmer Krom Buddhists to practice their religion as informed by their ethnic and cultural background and independent from state interference.

On March 20, 2024, a court in Tra Vinh Province sentence Thach Cuong to three years, six months' imprisonment.

USCIRF met with Thach Cuong during its May 2023 country visit to Vietnam.

Related Cases: Danh Minh Quang, To Hoang Chuong

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