Legislator Truong Trong Nghia from Danang city
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Nov 10, 2015
Police torture and other degrading treatment in Vietnamese prisons and detention facilities have become out of control, said Truong Trong Nghia, member of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA).
Speaking at a parliament’s discussion on the draft Law on Custody and Temporary Detention on November 9, the Danang city-based legislator said cruel treatment in police detention facilities has become more and more serious, causing numerous deaths of detainees and miscarriages of justice in the past few years.
Most of the victims of police torture and inhumane treatments have not made denunciation against the perpetrators due to fear or because they were forced to commit not to accuse their torturer after being released, Mr. Nghia said.
The lawmaker said police must respect human rights of detainees who are innocent until being proven guilty by courts.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, police torture is a systemic problem in Vietnam. Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) reported that 226 detainees and prisoners died between October 2011 and September 2014. The police said most of their deaths were caused by illness and suicides while their families believed that torture and inhumane treatments were the real causes of the deaths.
Mr. Nghia suggested that all prisons and detention facilities should be under management of the Ministry of Justice. These facilities are now under the control of the MoPS, particularly its Investigation Police Agency and the Investigation Security Agency, which hold detainees while the Ministry’s General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance oversees all prisons where prisoners are kept.
The detention facilities should be independent from agencies conducting criminal investigation, he noted. Criminal suspects must be able to exercise the right to meet with lawyers for unlimited times during pre-trial detention, he added.
The draft Law on Criminal Procedure Code, which is under discussion of the communist-controlled parliament, should prioritize assumption of innocence and request investigation agencies to immediately release detainees if they fail to collect solid evidences against them, Mr. Nghia said.
Concerned about rising torture and other cruel treatment in police detention facilities, legislator Nguyen Thi Kha from Tra Vinh province said the MoPS’s General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance should manage all prisons and detention facilities in the country.
Agreeing with the proposal of Ms. Kha, Soc Trang province-based lawmaker Nguyen Tuyet Lien said that the separation of the remand prisons from the investigation agencies would secure the independence of their operations and help to prevent police torture.
Legislator Pham Truong Dan from the central province of Quang Nam said the detention facilities should be transferred to the General Department of Police and the General Department of Security, the upper levels of the two investigation agencies, in order to better serve the investigative operations.
Khanh Hoa province-based legislator Le Minh Hien proposed that the Law on Custody and Temporary Detention should require that detainees and suspects not be held in the same cell with sentenced persons, especially those sentenced to life imprisonment and death penalty.
Other legislators asked separate rooms for detained homosexual individuals and minors.
Many legislators have also expressed their concerns how the state can provide remedies for those who die during pre-trial detention. In practice, the case automatically closes without conclusion if a suspect dies before trial.
Last year, Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. However, the situation has remained unimproved as around ten people have been founded dead or severely injured in police stations nationwide so far this year.
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November 10, 2015
Torture, Inhumane Treatment in Vietnam Detention Facilities at Alarming Level: Legislator
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Legislator Truong Trong Nghia from Danang city
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Nov 10, 2015
Police torture and other degrading treatment in Vietnamese prisons and detention facilities have become out of control, said Truong Trong Nghia, member of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA).
Speaking at a parliament’s discussion on the draft Law on Custody and Temporary Detention on November 9, the Danang city-based legislator said cruel treatment in police detention facilities has become more and more serious, causing numerous deaths of detainees and miscarriages of justice in the past few years.
Most of the victims of police torture and inhumane treatments have not made denunciation against the perpetrators due to fear or because they were forced to commit not to accuse their torturer after being released, Mr. Nghia said.
The lawmaker said police must respect human rights of detainees who are innocent until being proven guilty by courts.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, police torture is a systemic problem in Vietnam. Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) reported that 226 detainees and prisoners died between October 2011 and September 2014. The police said most of their deaths were caused by illness and suicides while their families believed that torture and inhumane treatments were the real causes of the deaths.
Mr. Nghia suggested that all prisons and detention facilities should be under management of the Ministry of Justice. These facilities are now under the control of the MoPS, particularly its Investigation Police Agency and the Investigation Security Agency, which hold detainees while the Ministry’s General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance oversees all prisons where prisoners are kept.
The detention facilities should be independent from agencies conducting criminal investigation, he noted. Criminal suspects must be able to exercise the right to meet with lawyers for unlimited times during pre-trial detention, he added.
The draft Law on Criminal Procedure Code, which is under discussion of the communist-controlled parliament, should prioritize assumption of innocence and request investigation agencies to immediately release detainees if they fail to collect solid evidences against them, Mr. Nghia said.
Concerned about rising torture and other cruel treatment in police detention facilities, legislator Nguyen Thi Kha from Tra Vinh province said the MoPS’s General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance should manage all prisons and detention facilities in the country.
Agreeing with the proposal of Ms. Kha, Soc Trang province-based lawmaker Nguyen Tuyet Lien said that the separation of the remand prisons from the investigation agencies would secure the independence of their operations and help to prevent police torture.
Legislator Pham Truong Dan from the central province of Quang Nam said the detention facilities should be transferred to the General Department of Police and the General Department of Security, the upper levels of the two investigation agencies, in order to better serve the investigative operations.
Khanh Hoa province-based legislator Le Minh Hien proposed that the Law on Custody and Temporary Detention should require that detainees and suspects not be held in the same cell with sentenced persons, especially those sentenced to life imprisonment and death penalty.
Other legislators asked separate rooms for detained homosexual individuals and minors.
Many legislators have also expressed their concerns how the state can provide remedies for those who die during pre-trial detention. In practice, the case automatically closes without conclusion if a suspect dies before trial.
Last year, Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. However, the situation has remained unimproved as around ten people have been founded dead or severely injured in police stations nationwide so far this year.