Khmer Krom monk and activists receive prison sentences

 

CSW | 19 Nov 2025

Authorities in Vietnam sentenced an ethnic Khmer Krom monk and two activists to three and a half years in prison on charges of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’ under Article 331 of the Vietnamese Criminal Code on 18 November.  

Venerable Kim Som Rinh, Thach Nga and Thach Xuan Dong were arrested, charged and taken into custody in Tra Vinh Province in southern Vietnam on 27 March.  

Venerable Kim Som Rinh is a respected leader known for advocating for religious and cultural rights. He was defrocked by the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in March 2024 in a move seen as an attempt to stifle dissent.  

The three men have been held incommunicado without access to family or legal representation. 

Vietnam’s criminal code contains broad and vague provisions and phrases like ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State’ which are routinely weaponised against indigenous and religious minorities.  

These cases are part of a broader pattern of repression against the Khmer Krom, an indigenous community that primarily resides in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta who face systemic discrimination, cultural suppression, and restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly, and religion or belief. 

An August 2025 report from a group UN experts confirmed that at least 17 Khmer Krom monks, activists, and defenders have been arbitrarily detained, subjected to unfair trials, and, in some cases, tortured during pre-trial detention, as part of an escalating crackdown on the community. 

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW condemns the arrest and subsequent prosecution of Venerable Kim Som Rinh and activists Thach Nga and Thach Xuan Dong, all of whom have been targeted because of their peaceful human rights advocacy. We call for their immediate and unconditional release, and once again urge the international community to hold the Vietnamese government to account for its escalating repression of the Khmer Krom and other ethnic and religious communities across the country, none of which is befitting of a current member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.’ 

 

 

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