October 30, 2014

Six Vietnamese Police Officers Indicted for Torture Leading to Suspect Death

by • Ngo Thanh Kieu

Pin
 by Vu Quoc Ngu, Oct 29, 2014
Defend the Defenders
Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy has indicted six police officers in the northern province of Phu Yen for beating a local man, causing his death more than two years ago.
Victim's family at the court

Victim’s family at the court

After a long investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuracy charged senior lieutenant Pham Ngoc Man, junior lieutenant Nguyen Than Thao Thanh, lieutenant Do Nhu Huy and major Nguyen Tan Quang of conducting corporal punishment under Article 298 of the Criminal Code for beating theft suspect Ngo Thanh Kieu to death in May 2012.

All four former officers worked at the province’s Tuy Hoa city Police Department.
Major Nguyen Minh Quyen, deputy head of the reconnaissance team of the provincial police department, was also charged with the same offense.
Meanwhile, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Duc Hoan, deputy chief of the Tuy Hoa city Police Department, was indicted for “negligence of responsibility, causing serious consequences,” according to Article 285 of the Criminal Code. He was in charge of investigation of Mr. Kieu’s case.
According to the investigation conclusion, these former police officers used rubber batons to violently beat Kieu during an interrogation, leading to his death on May 13, 2012.
These officers had handcuffed Kieu at his home and took him to a police station without a warrant, according to the indictment.
After being beaten by the interrogating officers, Kieu died of cerebral hemorrhaging and other injuries. The victim has two small children.
In early April this year, a court convicted the officers, giving some of them suspended sentences and sentencing others up to five years in prison for using corporal punishment. Hoan was not investigated at that time.
After the hearing, the media reported widespread public discontent with the verdict, saying the punishments were too lenient. The family of the victim appealed the court’s judgment, asking for heavier penalties for the defendants.
The outcry eventually reached President Truong Tan Sang, who, after considering the case, directed concerned agencies to punish the officers more strictly.
The Phu Yen Province People’s Court opened an appeal hearing on July 9, and Hoan appeared in court as a witness.
Hoan told the jury that he did not know about his subordinates’ actions in the interrogation.
After the two-day trial, the court decided to cancel the first verdict and demanded a fresh probe into the case.
Police torture is a serious problem in the communist Vietnam. In a number of cases, it led to serious injuries and deaths of detained suspects, according to local media.
Last month, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang admitted that 19 police officers were fired for torturing suspects between 2011 and 2013. During the three-year period, 183 others were disciplined for violating investigative procedures and regulations through dismissal, demotion or reassignment.
Many Vietnamese residents were beaten to death by police in street for minor violations such as traffic faults, according to local newspapers.
In mid-September, the Human Rights Watch issued a report on Vietnam’s police brutality, according to which police’s abuse occurred in 44 provinces and five largest cities in all regions of the country between August 2010 and July 2014.
During the four-year period, 28 Vietnamese died in police custody during their detention period, while 11 others were severely beaten by investigators.
Many prisoners, especially those imprisoned for political reasons, have complained about the inhumane treatment by prisons authorities. Due to such harsh conditions, the health of imprisoned and released political prisoners has worsened, some suffered serious diseases and died shortly after their release, according to foreign media.

Vietnam’s legislative body is considering ratifying the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment that the government signed in November last year.

Pin