Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday urged the European Union (EU) to press Vietnam to improve human rights record.

HRW called upon the EU “to insist of clear, concrete, and measurable human rights benchmarks for Vietnam” ahead of a bilateral human rights dialogue between the Union and the countryset to take place in Brussels on Wednesday. The call pointed to an increase in arrests of social and environmental activists following a 2020 trade deal, called the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), that promised improved human rights conditions.

In 2021, Vietnam arrested a journalist and lawyer on, what HRW claims are, false tax evasion charges after they attempted to join the Domestic Advisory Group. The group created in the agreement through the EU-Vietnam agreement to allow citizens to monitor the implementation of the EVFTA. Both the journalist and lawyer were convicted and sentenced to prison sentences.

Just this year, Vietnam arrested environmentalist Nguy This Khanh, who created an EU-supported project called E-Enhance, on tax evasion charges.

To date, Vietnam authorities have custody over 153 political prisoners and last year convicted over 38 people for criticizing the government. The HRW has urged the EU to intervene and ensure all the convicted peoples’ rights to freedom of religion and belief are not repressed by the state authorities.