On Thursday, activist groups urged Apple to intervene regarding Vietnam’s incarceration of climate specialists. They cited the country’s role as a major hub for iPhone manufacturing as justification.
More than sixty human rights and environmental rights groups brought attention to Ngo Thi To Nhien’s imprisonment on September 15th. The executive director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition (VIET), an independent research tank that focuses on green energy policies, wrote a letter addressed to Apple.
Bangkok-based Project88, one of the rights groups that signed the petition, claims that Nhien collaborated with foreign organizations and the Vietnamese government on the nation’s energy transition to renewable energy before her arrest. Consequently, her actions were seen as significant contributions to the advancement of renewable energy initiatives.
Nhien has been charged by Vietnamese authorities with unauthorized document access. On suspicion of tax evasion, at least five more climate specialists have been placed under arrest.
Protesters claim the accusations are untrue. The detentions of climate campaigners have drawn criticism from both the US and the UN.
The rights organizations issued a letter to Apple’s management and board of directors saying, “We believe you have a responsibility to weigh in, since Vietnam is now Apple’s most important production hub outside of China and has committed to human rights and ‘equity and justice in climate solutions.'”
“Indeed, by not making a public statement on this matter, you risk violating your own environmental and human rights policies and delegitimizing Apple’s positive work in these areas.”
In Vietnam, Apple produces iPads, AirPods, and Apple Watches. Vendors of MacBook computers are also making investments in the nation.
Apple has already urged the Vietnamese government to facilitate companies’ direct purchases of electricity from renewable power projects. Additionally, the company has backed a strategy for the country’s power development that would give priority to clean energy.
Through its collaboration with the Fund for Global Human Rights, the corporation has occasionally given financial support to advocates for human rights.
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