By Vu Quoc Ngu | Jun 18, 2015
Majority of members of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA) have agreed a proposal for enhancing human rights, including the right to remain silent of detainees and defendants, state media reported Thursday.
Speaking at discussions in the on-going sitting of the parliament on the draft Law of Criminal Procedure Code, Ms. Le Thi Nga, deputy head of the NA’s Legal Committee, said the right to remain silent will protect detainees and defendants from making statements against themselves.
In many cases, people detained by police fall in mental crisis and they need legal aids from lawyers before and during interrogation, Ms. Nga said, adding the right to remain silent is one of defending methods of people, it will ensure the right not to be compelled to incriminate oneself.
There have been many legal miscarriages in the country and the main reason for the issue is the lack of the right to remain silent in the Criminal Procedure Code, she said.
Other legislators said in democratic nations, the law prioritizes the presumption of innocence while in Vietnam, convictions depend on suspects’ confessions and the presumption of guilty.
Recently, the NA’s Committee for Justice reported 71 cases of legal miscarriage recorded in the period between Oct 1, 2011 and Sept 30, 2014.
Torture and coercive confession are the main causes for these legal miscarriages, legislators said.
Meanwhile, a number of legislators, especially those from the Ministry of Public Security, said the right to remain silent will cause difficult for investigations.
Majority of the legislators have also agreed to the proposals to allow lawyers to attend interrogations and all interrogations will be voice and video recorded in a bid to halt torture. Legislator Truong Trong Nghia said these methods will not prevent all suspects from torture but to halt torture and coercive confession.
The Ministry of Public Security, which builds the draft law, said recording all interrogations will be difficult and costly.
Legislators and observers said the requirement on the attendance of lawyers during interrogation is difficult for implementation given the low number of lawyers. Currently, the ratio of lawyer and population is 1/14,000.
Torture is a systemic problem in the communist-ruled Vietnam, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch while the Ministry of Public Security reported 226 deaths of detainees in police stations between October 2011 and September 2014. The police said most of the deaths were caused by illness and suicides, however, families of many victims said they died from police torture.
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June 18, 2015
Majority of Vietnam Parliament Support Right to Remain Silent
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
In many cases, people detained by police fall in mental crisis and they need legal aids from lawyers before and during interrogation, Ms. Nga said, adding the right to remain silent is one of defending methods of people, it will ensure the right not to be compelled to incriminate oneself.
By Vu Quoc Ngu | Jun 18, 2015
Majority of members of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA) have agreed a proposal for enhancing human rights, including the right to remain silent of detainees and defendants, state media reported Thursday.
Speaking at discussions in the on-going sitting of the parliament on the draft Law of Criminal Procedure Code, Ms. Le Thi Nga, deputy head of the NA’s Legal Committee, said the right to remain silent will protect detainees and defendants from making statements against themselves.
In many cases, people detained by police fall in mental crisis and they need legal aids from lawyers before and during interrogation, Ms. Nga said, adding the right to remain silent is one of defending methods of people, it will ensure the right not to be compelled to incriminate oneself.
There have been many legal miscarriages in the country and the main reason for the issue is the lack of the right to remain silent in the Criminal Procedure Code, she said.
Other legislators said in democratic nations, the law prioritizes the presumption of innocence while in Vietnam, convictions depend on suspects’ confessions and the presumption of guilty.
Recently, the NA’s Committee for Justice reported 71 cases of legal miscarriage recorded in the period between Oct 1, 2011 and Sept 30, 2014.
Torture and coercive confession are the main causes for these legal miscarriages, legislators said.
Meanwhile, a number of legislators, especially those from the Ministry of Public Security, said the right to remain silent will cause difficult for investigations.
Majority of the legislators have also agreed to the proposals to allow lawyers to attend interrogations and all interrogations will be voice and video recorded in a bid to halt torture. Legislator Truong Trong Nghia said these methods will not prevent all suspects from torture but to halt torture and coercive confession.
The Ministry of Public Security, which builds the draft law, said recording all interrogations will be difficult and costly.
Legislators and observers said the requirement on the attendance of lawyers during interrogation is difficult for implementation given the low number of lawyers. Currently, the ratio of lawyer and population is 1/14,000.
Torture is a systemic problem in the communist-ruled Vietnam, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch while the Ministry of Public Security reported 226 deaths of detainees in police stations between October 2011 and September 2014. The police said most of the deaths were caused by illness and suicides, however, families of many victims said they died from police torture.