Đặng Đăng Phước

Đặng Đăng Phước (born 20 August 1963) is a Vietnamese human rights activist and music teacher. He became known for his online activism against corruption and for the protection of civil and political rights.

Phước served in the People's Army of Vietnam and was stationed in Laos for four years. After leaving the army, he became a music teacher at the Đắk Lắk College of Pedagogy. He lived in Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk province with his wife, Lê Thị Hà, and has two sons.

In addition to his two Facebook pages, Phước also had a blog, Musical Library, which had 3.5 million views on its articles, which included his thoughts on music, education and politics.

Phước became an activist for the poor, as well as land rights activists and the Montagnard ethnic groups. He also campaigned against government corruption and advocated for freedom of speech, expression, association, assembly, and religion. He opposed the 2018 cybersecurity law and signed several pro-democracy petitions, including Petition 72 in January 2013, which called for constitutional changes to permit multiparty elections. He also signed the Declaration of Free Citizens in February 2013, which sought to abolish article 4 of the Vietnamese constitution, which gave the Communist Party a monopoly on power. Phước disputed the verdict and proclaimed his innocence.

In December 2023, Phước's wife Hà reported that local police had installed cameras pointing towards her home. In May 2024, she reported that Phước had been put into solitary confinement for violating unspecified regulations between 10 and 20 May, and that his visitation had been reduced from monthly to every two months until "his attitude improves".

Human Rights Watch called for the charges against Phước to be dropped and for him to be immediately released, accusing Vietnamese authorities of using repressive laws to silence people calling for reform. Radio Free Asia noted that Phước was the 11th activist convicted in Vietnam in 2023.