Thach Cuong
Thạch Cương
Current Status: Sentenced to prison
Date of Birth:
Gender: M
Religion: Buddhist
Ethnicity: Khmer Krom
Activist Focus:
- Indigenous rights
- Religious freedom
Details
In a July 2025 opinion, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention raised concerns about the arrests of To Hoang Chuong and Thach Cuong. The two had been detained in July 2023 for disseminating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and organizing events for International Women’s Day.
The Working Group found their detention to be baseless and unlawful: the men were held incommunicado; denied the opportunity to challenge their arrest; and prevented from seeing a lawyer. It said their trial never should have taken place, noting further violations such as the use of forced confessions, lack of presumption of innocence, and a closed hearing.
The Working Group concluded that Chuong and Cuong were targeted as part of a broader pattern of discrimination and intimidation by Vietnamese authorities for their activism in defense of human rights and their Khmer Krom identity.
Sentenced to 3 years 6 months in prison under Art. 331 (2015 Code). Expected Release is January 31, 2027.
July 31, 2023
- Art 331
District
Trà Vinh, Viet Nam
March 20, 2024 - Date of trial
3 years 6 months in prison
January 31, 2027
Details of Imprisonment
A court in Cau Ngang County in Tra Vinh Province on March 20, 2024 sentenced Khmer Krom activists Thach Cuong to four years in prison and To Hoang Chuong to three years and a half for “abusing democratic freedoms.” Prosecutors said that between September 2021 and June 2023, Cuong posted 11 videos about himself, shared 3 posts “from foreign sources and from Thach Cuong.” Chuong, they said, made eight posts that contained “untrue information” about the local police and other individuals, including about some doctors from a local hospital. They were also accused of passing out copies of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Resources
Khởi tố, bắt tạm giam Thạch Cương và Tô Hoàng Chương về hành vi lợi dụng quyền tự do, dân chủ, Cong Thong Tin Dien Tu Tinh Tra Vinh, July 31, 2023
Thach Cuong, USCRIF
2 Khmer Krom activists given prison sentences in Vietnam, RFA, March 20, 2024
On the Convictions of Vietnamese Ethnic Minority and Religious Freedom Advocates, US Dept. of State, April 1, 2024
HRF submits the case of two Khmer Krom detainees in Vietnam to the UNWGAD. Human Rights Foundation; 2024-10-22.
Opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, July 2025
Profile last updated: 2025-08-23 18:31:55