UN Concerned About Vietnam Arrest Of Energy Expert

The U.N. Human Rights Office has expressed concern about the arrest of a Vietnamese green energy expert, who had worked with U.N. and U.S. agencies, just days after President Joe Biden signed business and human rights deals with Hanoi on a visit.

Hanoi police on September 15 detained Ngo Thi To Nhien, Executive Director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition (VIET), an independent think tank focused on green energy policy.

“We are aware of the arrest and are following the developments with concern,” Ravina Shamdasani, a Spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement.

Nhien had worked for the World Bank, with the United Nations Development Programme and the United States Aid Agency (USAID), according to her profile on LinkedIn.

She “has participated in international and national events, including consultations organized by UNDP on the topic of energy transition,” the UNDP in Vietnam confirmed in an email message to Reuters.

A State Department Official said Washington regularly calls on Vietnam to respect and protect human rights, but had no specific comment on Nhien’s detention and its timing close to Biden’s visit.

Over the last two years Vietnam has arrested five environmental human rights defenders accusing them of tax evasion, a OHCHR Spokesperson said in June, noting the arrests happened while the Country was negotiating international funding for energy transition away from coal, of which it is a major user.

REUTERS