Questions for the Vietnamese Gov't regarding Torture and Related Issues
On December 10, 2013, CAT-VN sent the following questions to the Vietnamese government regarding torture and Vietnam's compliance with the Convention against Torture. To date we have not received a response.
Regarding
Torture and Ill-treatment of Political and Religious Detainees:
1. How will the Vietnamese government bring an end to practices widely used by law enforcement and security officials in prisons and detention centers that encourage or facilitate torture? What steps will the government take to enforce the absolute prohibition on torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners by police, security officials, prison and detention center staff and other detainees?
2. What training is provided to law enforcement officials, security forces, and interrogators with respect to interrogation methods and the use of coercion and torture?
3. What concrete steps will the government take to ensure the prosecution of public officials and employees who engage or acquiesce in torture and ill treatment of detainees and prisoners?
4. What steps will the Vietnamese government take to abolish incommunicado detention and prolonged solitary confinement and ban the use of statements and “confessions” extracted by torture in trials and legal proceedings?
5. When a prisoner or detainee dies in custody, what steps are taken to insure the death is properly investigated, with any persons found responsible held legally accountable, and the results conveyed to family members?
6. We have received a number of reports that the remains of prisoners who die in prison before the end of their sentence are not released to family members until the prisoner’s term is finished. Is this an official policy of the MPS? If so, please explain the rationale and provide reasons for why such practices should not be terminated.
7. Will the government commit to a timetable by which it will authorize independent monitoring of all prisons, re-education centers, and other places of detention in Vietnam by both international and domestic monitoring bodies to investigate allegations of physical abuse and torture of prisoners and detainees and enforce the absolute prohibition on such abuses by police, security officials, prison and detention center staff, and other detainees?
8. Will the government accept a visit by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to Vietnam and authorize their unfettered visits to prisons, detention centers, psychiatric institutions, re-education camps, drug detention centers, jails, police lock-ups, and other places of detention?
Regarding Forced Labor in Prisons and Detention Centers:
1. Will the government of Vietnam invite officials from the International Labor Organization to make unfettered visits to prisons, detention centers, re-education camps, and other places of detention in Vietnam in order to investigate and monitor labor conditions?
2. Will the government agree to publish a list of all forms of work in which prisoners and detainees are involved, which products are processed using detainee and prison labor, and the companies whose products are processed using detainee and prison labor?
3. What steps will the government take to ensure that the same health and safety standards apply to prison and re-education camp labor as to other types of labor?
4. Will the government of Vietnam agree to promptly ratify and effectively implement ILO Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor), which prohibits forced or compulsory labor of prisoners convicted of political offenses or because of racial, social, national, or religious discrimination?
5. Regarding the use of forced labor by detainees in re-education camps and drug detention centers, who are detained without any judicial process, will Vietnam abide by ILO Convention No. 29, which it ratified in 2007, which prohibits the use of forced labor by detainees who have not been convicted in a court of law?
Regarding Arbitrary Detention under National Security and Administrative Detention Laws:
1. Will the government commit to a timetable by which it will end the practice of arbitrary arrests and detention of peaceful dissidents under national security and administrative detention laws and other legislation not in conformity with international standards?
2. In line with its obligations under the ICCPR, will the government of Vietnam bring into compliance with international standards the Penal Code and other laws that penalize peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion? Specifically:
a. Will the government commit to a timetable in which it will repeal articles in the Penal Code relative to “national security” and “public order” offenses, including articles 79, 80, 87, 88, 89, 91, 245, and 258, which criminalize the exercise of civil and political rights on the grounds that they violate or threaten national security, public order, and/or national unity?
b. Will the government repeal laws such the new administrative detention law passed in 2012 (Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (No. 15/2012/QH13), which authorize the arbitrary detention without trial of political and religious dissidents in re-education camps (Co So Giao Duc, or CSGD), Social Protection Centers (Trung Tam Bao Tro Xa Hoi), and mental hospitals on the grounds that they pose a threat to public security or social order?
3. Will the government provide a complete listing of all prisons, detention centers, and re-education centers (Co So Giao Duc, or CSGD) in Vietnam, including each facility’s location and officer in charge?
Regarding Lack of Due Process, Rule of Law, and Legal Safeguards against Torture:
1. Are statistics available on how long people charged with national security or public order crimes remain in detention before being referred to an investigative judge?
2. Will the government of Vietnam commit to repealing provisions in the Penal Code that authorize prolonged and even indefinite pre-trial detention of persons charged with national security crimes?
3. What measures are in place to ensure that detainees can contact a lawyer, receive medical treatment when requested, or notify their family about their arrest and current whereabouts?
4. When will the government of Vietnam begin to implement and adhere to basic safeguards against torture and other abuses of detainees that are enshrined in the ICCPR, to which Vietnam is a party? The ICCPR prohibits arbitrary detention and torture, and protects the rights of people deprived of their liberty, including the right to prompt access to legal advice and a fair trial.
5. Will the government of Vietnam promptly ban the practice of incommunicado detention, which violates the prohibition of arbitrary arrest or detention provided in the ICCPR (article 9)?
6. Will the government make public any information in its possession about the whereabouts and status of workers’ rights activist Le Tri Tue, who went missing in May 2007 after seeking political asylum in Cambodia? While initial reports stated that he was feared dead, more recent reports indicate that he has been held incommunicado since 2007. For example, the US State Department ’s 2011 and 2012 annual reports on Vietnam state that authorities placed Le Tri Tue in custody in 2007 but that there continues to be no information regarding his whereabouts.
7. Is Vietnam intending to take steps to increase the independence of the judiciary in general and of judges in particular, with the aim of improving legal and judicial safeguards against torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees and providing legal and judicial oversight over the practice of holding detainees incommunicado and in solitary confinement?
Regarding Lack of Accountability and Effective Complaints Mechanisms:
1. What recourse do prisoners and detainees have if they have been subject to torture and ill-treatment in custody?
2. What provisions are in place to protect detainees who raise concerns or complaints about torture, ill-treatment, or labor conditions from being subject to retribution from prison authorities or individuals acting on their behalf?
3. Will the government take prompt steps to establish an independent mechanism allowing prisoners to submit complaints without the knowledge of prison guards directly responsible for them?
4. How many law enforcement officers were investigated in 2013 in connection to torture or abuse of detainees or prisoners? How many officers were indicted, prosecuted, and brought to justice, or subject to disciplinary measures if found guilty of abuse, in regard to these cases? Please provide details regarding each case: location of the prison or detention facility; date the alleged abuse took place; type of abuse; officer[s] allegedly involved; prisoner[s] allegedly involved; results, if any, of an investigation into the case; disciplinary measure carried out against law enforcement officer found guilty of abuse.
5. Will the government take steps to ensure that adequate compensation and medical care is provided to detainees and former detainees for harm to their physical and mental health suffered while in detention or prison?
6. Will the government take steps to ensure that prisoners and detainees are able to seek redress for abuse committed by law enforcement officials and others acting on their behalf?
Regarding Independent Monitoring:
1. Now that Vietnam has signed the Convention against Torture (CAT), will the government commit to ratification of the Convention within the first six months of 2014?
2. Will the government also sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (Op-CAT) in 2014?
3. In line with its obligations under CAT, the ICCPR, and other international standards, when will the government of Vietnam allow unhindered access to places of detention by United Nations monitors, independent human rights organizations, attorneys, medical personnel, family members of detainees, and others whose presence would deter torture?
4. To improve transparency, will the government of Vietnam agree to publish a central registry of the names and locations of all persons held in pretrial detention, as well as a list of all those convicted and sentenced, and the relevant charges or reasons for their detention?
1. How will the Vietnamese government bring an end to practices widely used by law enforcement and security officials in prisons and detention centers that encourage or facilitate torture? What steps will the government take to enforce the absolute prohibition on torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners by police, security officials, prison and detention center staff and other detainees?
2. What training is provided to law enforcement officials, security forces, and interrogators with respect to interrogation methods and the use of coercion and torture?
3. What concrete steps will the government take to ensure the prosecution of public officials and employees who engage or acquiesce in torture and ill treatment of detainees and prisoners?
4. What steps will the Vietnamese government take to abolish incommunicado detention and prolonged solitary confinement and ban the use of statements and “confessions” extracted by torture in trials and legal proceedings?
5. When a prisoner or detainee dies in custody, what steps are taken to insure the death is properly investigated, with any persons found responsible held legally accountable, and the results conveyed to family members?
6. We have received a number of reports that the remains of prisoners who die in prison before the end of their sentence are not released to family members until the prisoner’s term is finished. Is this an official policy of the MPS? If so, please explain the rationale and provide reasons for why such practices should not be terminated.
7. Will the government commit to a timetable by which it will authorize independent monitoring of all prisons, re-education centers, and other places of detention in Vietnam by both international and domestic monitoring bodies to investigate allegations of physical abuse and torture of prisoners and detainees and enforce the absolute prohibition on such abuses by police, security officials, prison and detention center staff, and other detainees?
8. Will the government accept a visit by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to Vietnam and authorize their unfettered visits to prisons, detention centers, psychiatric institutions, re-education camps, drug detention centers, jails, police lock-ups, and other places of detention?
Regarding Forced Labor in Prisons and Detention Centers:
1. Will the government of Vietnam invite officials from the International Labor Organization to make unfettered visits to prisons, detention centers, re-education camps, and other places of detention in Vietnam in order to investigate and monitor labor conditions?
2. Will the government agree to publish a list of all forms of work in which prisoners and detainees are involved, which products are processed using detainee and prison labor, and the companies whose products are processed using detainee and prison labor?
3. What steps will the government take to ensure that the same health and safety standards apply to prison and re-education camp labor as to other types of labor?
4. Will the government of Vietnam agree to promptly ratify and effectively implement ILO Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor), which prohibits forced or compulsory labor of prisoners convicted of political offenses or because of racial, social, national, or religious discrimination?
5. Regarding the use of forced labor by detainees in re-education camps and drug detention centers, who are detained without any judicial process, will Vietnam abide by ILO Convention No. 29, which it ratified in 2007, which prohibits the use of forced labor by detainees who have not been convicted in a court of law?
Regarding Arbitrary Detention under National Security and Administrative Detention Laws:
1. Will the government commit to a timetable by which it will end the practice of arbitrary arrests and detention of peaceful dissidents under national security and administrative detention laws and other legislation not in conformity with international standards?
2. In line with its obligations under the ICCPR, will the government of Vietnam bring into compliance with international standards the Penal Code and other laws that penalize peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion? Specifically:
a. Will the government commit to a timetable in which it will repeal articles in the Penal Code relative to “national security” and “public order” offenses, including articles 79, 80, 87, 88, 89, 91, 245, and 258, which criminalize the exercise of civil and political rights on the grounds that they violate or threaten national security, public order, and/or national unity?
b. Will the government repeal laws such the new administrative detention law passed in 2012 (Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (No. 15/2012/QH13), which authorize the arbitrary detention without trial of political and religious dissidents in re-education camps (Co So Giao Duc, or CSGD), Social Protection Centers (Trung Tam Bao Tro Xa Hoi), and mental hospitals on the grounds that they pose a threat to public security or social order?
3. Will the government provide a complete listing of all prisons, detention centers, and re-education centers (Co So Giao Duc, or CSGD) in Vietnam, including each facility’s location and officer in charge?
Regarding Lack of Due Process, Rule of Law, and Legal Safeguards against Torture:
1. Are statistics available on how long people charged with national security or public order crimes remain in detention before being referred to an investigative judge?
2. Will the government of Vietnam commit to repealing provisions in the Penal Code that authorize prolonged and even indefinite pre-trial detention of persons charged with national security crimes?
3. What measures are in place to ensure that detainees can contact a lawyer, receive medical treatment when requested, or notify their family about their arrest and current whereabouts?
4. When will the government of Vietnam begin to implement and adhere to basic safeguards against torture and other abuses of detainees that are enshrined in the ICCPR, to which Vietnam is a party? The ICCPR prohibits arbitrary detention and torture, and protects the rights of people deprived of their liberty, including the right to prompt access to legal advice and a fair trial.
5. Will the government of Vietnam promptly ban the practice of incommunicado detention, which violates the prohibition of arbitrary arrest or detention provided in the ICCPR (article 9)?
6. Will the government make public any information in its possession about the whereabouts and status of workers’ rights activist Le Tri Tue, who went missing in May 2007 after seeking political asylum in Cambodia? While initial reports stated that he was feared dead, more recent reports indicate that he has been held incommunicado since 2007. For example, the US State Department ’s 2011 and 2012 annual reports on Vietnam state that authorities placed Le Tri Tue in custody in 2007 but that there continues to be no information regarding his whereabouts.
7. Is Vietnam intending to take steps to increase the independence of the judiciary in general and of judges in particular, with the aim of improving legal and judicial safeguards against torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees and providing legal and judicial oversight over the practice of holding detainees incommunicado and in solitary confinement?
Regarding Lack of Accountability and Effective Complaints Mechanisms:
1. What recourse do prisoners and detainees have if they have been subject to torture and ill-treatment in custody?
2. What provisions are in place to protect detainees who raise concerns or complaints about torture, ill-treatment, or labor conditions from being subject to retribution from prison authorities or individuals acting on their behalf?
3. Will the government take prompt steps to establish an independent mechanism allowing prisoners to submit complaints without the knowledge of prison guards directly responsible for them?
4. How many law enforcement officers were investigated in 2013 in connection to torture or abuse of detainees or prisoners? How many officers were indicted, prosecuted, and brought to justice, or subject to disciplinary measures if found guilty of abuse, in regard to these cases? Please provide details regarding each case: location of the prison or detention facility; date the alleged abuse took place; type of abuse; officer[s] allegedly involved; prisoner[s] allegedly involved; results, if any, of an investigation into the case; disciplinary measure carried out against law enforcement officer found guilty of abuse.
5. Will the government take steps to ensure that adequate compensation and medical care is provided to detainees and former detainees for harm to their physical and mental health suffered while in detention or prison?
6. Will the government take steps to ensure that prisoners and detainees are able to seek redress for abuse committed by law enforcement officials and others acting on their behalf?
Regarding Independent Monitoring:
1. Now that Vietnam has signed the Convention against Torture (CAT), will the government commit to ratification of the Convention within the first six months of 2014?
2. Will the government also sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (Op-CAT) in 2014?
3. In line with its obligations under CAT, the ICCPR, and other international standards, when will the government of Vietnam allow unhindered access to places of detention by United Nations monitors, independent human rights organizations, attorneys, medical personnel, family members of detainees, and others whose presence would deter torture?
4. To improve transparency, will the government of Vietnam agree to publish a central registry of the names and locations of all persons held in pretrial detention, as well as a list of all those convicted and sentenced, and the relevant charges or reasons for their detention?