"The Vietnamese government has long arrested and prosecuted domestic human rights activists, using rights-violating laws and Communist Party-controlled courts and police. But the recent explosion of internet-driven activism in the country has coincided with the appearance of another frightening instrument of political repression: physical assaults on rights activists carried out by violent plainclothes thugs who appear to be acting with the knowledge or permission of the authorities. Beatings take place in streets, cafés, and even inside police stations. Assailants sometimes attack victims in front of uniformed police who do nothing to intervene. In many cases, assailants wear surgical masks to hide their identities. Some activists have been abducted, taken away in cars or vans, beaten, and then abandoned in deserted areas. In almost no cases covered in this report have perpetrators been held accountable for their actions. No Country for Human Rights Activists documents the proliferation of this brutal instrument of state repression in recent years. Through a close examination of 36 cases, the report demonstrates the commonplace nature of these attacks and provides evidence linking some of the perpetrators to state security services." (Back cover)