As abolitionists around the world mark the 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty today under this year’s theme, “The Inhumanity of the Death Penalty,” Paris-based Quê Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights called for an end to capital punishment in Vietnam.
“Capital punishment is a violation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Quê Me’s President Vo Van Ai. “Moreover, it is particularly dangerous in a one-Party State such as Vietnam, where the judiciary is subservient to the Communist Party and where citizens may be condemned to death on national security charges simply for the peaceful advocacy of democracy or human rights.”
Vietnam hands down about 100 death sentences each year, mostly for drug-related crimes. This is the estimate of the state-controlled media, which reported on the recent death sentence of three people for heroin trafficking in the province of Lao Cai last week. The real figures on executions, however, can never be known. In 2004, following international condemnation of its frequent use of the death penalty, Vietnam adopted a decree classifying statistics on death sentences and executions as “state secrets.”
Despite strong international pressure, Vietnam’s communist leaders refuse to abolish the death penalty. Twenty two offenses in Vietnam’s Criminal Code are punishable by death, including vaguely defined “national security” crimes that have been roundly condemned by the United Nations. This year, however, Vietnam changed the law. “Vietnam continues to execute its citizens but it now declares that executions are ‘more humane,’” said Mr. Ai.
Twenty-two offences in Vietnam’s Criminal Code are punishable by death, including seven “national security” crimes such as treason, carrying out activities to overthrow the government, espionage, banditry, terrorism, and undermining peace. The definition of national security crimes is extremely vague, and the United Nations has frequently expressed concern that critics in Vietnam may be sentenced to death under these provisions simply for the peaceful exercise of the right to free expression.
For example, the crime of “espionage” (under Article 80 of the Criminal Code) includes non-political acts such as “gathering or supplying information and other materials for use by foreign countries against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” Cyber-dissidents, activists and bloggers could be condemned to death under these provisions simply for circulating opposition views overseas.
Until July 2011, the death penalty in Vietnam was carried out by firing squad. Photo courtesy Amnesty International.
In June 2010, the National Assembly passed a new law that just went into effect in July 2011, which follows the Chinese model to carry out executions by lethal injections rather than the firing squad. The new law also allows relatives of the executed to retrieve their bodies for burial. Retired prison governor Nguyen Duc Minh supported the new measure: “Lethal injection will cause less pain and the bodies of executed prisoners will stay intact so it will reduce the psychological pressure on executors.”’ According to the state-controlled media, many policemen suffered trauma after completing their duty as “executioners.”
Mr. Ai urged Vietnam to sign the Second Optional Protocol to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the Abolition of the Death Penalty as soon as possible, and implement an immediate moratorium as a first step towards abolishing capital punishment in Vietnam.
Democracy activists (L-R) Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang Long, and Le Cong Dinh stand during their trial on January 20, 2010. Photo credit: AFP
In an internationally-publicized story last year, a Vietnamese court in Ho Chi Minh City convicted four pro-democracy campaigners of trying to overthrow the state. Article 79 of the Criminal Code carries the death penalty for people who “establish or join organizations with intent to overthrow the people’s administration… or cause serious consequences.” Dissidents may thus be put to death for the mere “intent” to change the government or form opposition movements. In January 2010, pro-democracy activists including human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, Le Thang Long, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Nguyen Tien Trung were charged under Article 79 for peacefully advocating democracy. They received sentences from 5 to 16 years in prison.
The sentenced dissidents were the most high-profile targets of a widespread crackdown that included numerous arrests and prompted an international outcry. The best-known defendant, U.S.-trained human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, 41, received five years in prison. All could have faced the death penalty for subversion. They were convicted for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” All will be required to spend several years under house arrest after their release.
The sentenced dissidents were the most high-profile targets of a widespread crackdown that included numerous arrests and prompted an international outcry. The best-known defendant, U.S.-trained human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, 41, received five years in prison. All could have faced the death penalty for subversion. They were convicted for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” All will be required to spend several years under house arrest after their release. Dinh admitted breaking the law by meeting with foreign groups and advocating multiparty democracy. “From the bottom of my heart, I myself and these three other defendants had no intention to overthrow the government,” he said. International broadcasts of news about the trial were blocked in Vietnam.
The 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty is organized by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, composed of 121 member organizations around the world. This year’s goal is raise awareness on the inhumanity of the death penalty throughout the entire process, from sentence to execution.
In 2008, the theme of World Day against the Death Penalty focused on Asia, the continent which has the greatest number of executions in the world. A study that year by Franklin Zimring and David Johnson estimated that 85 to 95% of the world’s executions take place in Asia.
However, the organization says that “A growing number of countries in the region, however, have committed to the abolition of the death penalty. This is an opportunity to publicly oppose the use of this inhuman, cruel and degrading punishment and to support those in the Asian region who are fighting for its abolition.”
In the last decade, more than 30 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Fifty-eight countries worldwide now retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes, and less than half of these carried out executions in 2010. This report analyzes some of the key developments in the worldwide application of the death penalty in 2010, citing figures gathered by Amnesty International on the number of death sentences handed down and executions carried out during the year.In its 2010 report entitled Death Sentences and Executions in 2010, international rights group Amnesty International was not able to confirm comprehensive figures on the use of the death penalty for China, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore or Vietnam although executions were known to have been carried out in all these countries. With regard to Vietnam, information on the use of the death penalty remained classified as a state secret in that country. However, the report states that at least 34 death sentences were reported in Vietnam in 2010.
