ALLIANCE FOR VIETNAM'S DEMOCRACY

An Open Letter to UN Member States and the International Community

Urgent Concerns Regarding the UN Convention on Cybercrime

We write to express our grave concern regarding the UN Convention on Cybercrime—adopted under resolution 79/243 and scheduled to open for signature in October 2025 in Hanoi—and its alarming potential to erode fundamental freedoms in cyberspace, particularly when implemented by authoritarian regimes such as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

As outlined in the Comparative Analysis published by the Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy, the Convention—though conceived as a tool to combat cybercrime—contains dangerous provisions that permit its misuse as an instrument of transnational repression. It risks becoming, in the words of legal scholars, “a blank check for surveillance abuse” and a “global framework for political suppression without recourse.”

Among the most concerning provisions are:

• Article 35, which mandates cross-border cooperation on any “serious crime” involving electronic evidence—even if the offense is not intrinsically cyber-related. This opens the door for regimes like Vietnam to demand extradition or surveillance against peaceful dissenters, journalists, and human rights activists abroad under vague charges like “propaganda against the state.”

• Article 22, which endorses extraterritorial jurisdiction based on the “passive personality” principle. This empowers states to claim global authority over online activity that allegedly harms their nationals—essentially legitimizing transnational censorship.

• The Convention’s lack of independent oversight, enforcement accountability, or redress mechanisms for individuals affected by its expansive powers. Unlike human rights treaties, there is no monitoring body, no obligation to notify targeted persons, and no effective safeguard against politically motivated abuse.

As documented in our report, Vietnam’s Law on Cybersecurity (2018) exemplifies how digital legislation can be weaponized. That law criminalizes online “distortion of history,” “defamation of the state,” and “dissemination of false information,” and compels foreign service providers to store user data locally and surrender it to security forces upon request—without court orders. Its enforcement mechanisms are controlled entirely by the Ministry of Public Security and the military’s Force 47, with no independent judicial review.

It is precisely this repressive framework that Vietnam seeks to export and legitimize under the cover of the UN Cybercrime Convention. As Vietnam prepares to host the signing ceremony in Hanoi, it has already positioned itself to use the treaty to pursue critics abroad. This sets a dangerous precedent. As the Comparative Analysis warns:

“The convergence of Vietnam’s approach with a permissive international treaty will usher in a more illiberal cyber order, where the lines between genuine cybercrime and political dissent are increasingly blurred—both in Vietnam and beyond.”

We respectfully urge your delegation to:

1. Refrain from signing the Convention without binding interpretive declarations ensuring that implementation will strictly protect freedom of expression, privacy, due process, and the principle of non-refoulement.

2. Reject any future protocol or mechanism that expands vague offenses or enables censorship through international cooperation.

3. Support calls for an oversight body or an optional protocol on human rights safeguards, as proposed by civil society coalitions and UN special rapporteurs.

4. Publicly oppose the use of this Convention to facilitate political repression, including cases where states seek data, surveillance, or extradition for non-violent speech-related offenses.

The digital future must not be surrendered to unaccountable state power cloaked in multilateral legitimacy. The United Nations must remain a bulwark for fundamental freedoms—not an accomplice to their erosion.

Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy