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 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