Police in Vietnam announced on Tuesday that they have detained a popular blogger in the country for posts criticizing the government. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known as “Mother Mushroom” in English, was charged [Reuters report] with spreading anti-state propaganda by the Khanh Hoa Police [official website]. One major post at issue concerned criticism of citizens dying in police custody, and another was regarding one of the worst environmental disasters [NYT report] in the country that killed massive amounts of fish. While the country has become more open to social change, the ruling Communist Party still constrains the media. Since the arrest, the US and EU have called for her release [AP report], citing issues with the country’s domestic and international human rights obligations.

The Vietnamese government has faced criticism from the international community over its human rights policies. In July groups of activists in Vietnam were detained while protesting China’s rejection [JURIST report] of the international ruling regarding the South China Sea. In May US President Barack Obama [official profile] delivered a speech [JURIST report] in Vietnam pressing the government on human rights concerns in the nation. In August 2014 the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief reported serious violations [JURIST report] of religious freedom persist in Vietnam. In March of that year the Hanoi Supreme People’s Court sentenced [JURIST report] blogger Oham Viet Dao to 15 months in prison for posting articles criticizing the government. A month earlier the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam upheld [JURIST report] the conviction of US-trained lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a known anti-government activist. In the fall of 2013, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] accused Vietnamese authorities [JURIST report] of using repressive laws against anti-government activists, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] the National Assembly of Vietnam to bring the country’s constitution in line with international human rights standards.