Death penalty in Viet Nam – proposed reforms a welcome step towards abolition

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:18:24 +0000

A former treasurer of a local post office in the Bac Lieu province of Viet Nam is facing a death sentence on charges of embezzlement. Tang Thi Ba was sentenced to death on 29 May on for embezzling 15 billion Vietnamese dong (just over US$900,000). She had been arrested in December 2006 and admitted the charges in court.

The prosecutors sought a life sentence, but the court sentenced her to death because of the amount of money involved. On 29 August, the court of appeals upheld Tang Thi Ba’s death sentence. Her final recourse is now appealing to the President for commutation of the sentence.

The death penalty may be imposed for 29 offences in Viet Nam’s Penal Code. These offences include economic crimes, such as fraud, embezzlement, smuggling, counterfeiting and offering bribes; manufacturing, concealing and trafficking in narcotic substances.

According to media reports Viet Nam has executed at least three people this year, and at least 28 people have been sentenced to death. However, executions are rarely reported and the actual number is believed to be much higher. In 2007, more than 25 people were executed.

International standards for fair trial are not followed in practice in Viet Nam. Legal counsel is often assigned to defendants at the last minute, allowing little pre-trial preparation. The defence is not always allowed to call or question witnesses, and private consultation with counsel may be limited. In many cases, all the defence counsel can do is plead for clemency.

On 3 November, the government presented amendments on some clauses of the Penal Code. In the amended law, the government proposed to remove the death sentence on offences of embezzlement, bribery and production of fake goods (including fake food, medicine), amongst others, which would reduce the number of capital offences to 12.

According to the government, to fight against corruption effectively, it is important to combine and act on several measures simultaneously instead of meting out a death sentence.

Amnesty International is calling on the Vietnamese authorities to carry out the proposed reforms and introduce a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty

"Viet Nam abstained in December 2007 when the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty," said Martin Macpherson from Amnesty International. "Amnesty International welcomed the fact that Viet Nam didn't vote against the resolution.

"The resolution expresses deep concern about the application of the death penalty. It calls on states that still maintain it to respect international safeguards guaranteeing the rights of those facing the death penalty, to reduce the number of offences for which the death penalty may be imposed and to establish a moratorium on executions with the view to abolishing the death penalty.

"A second resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty will be introduced at this 63rd session. The resolution will be put to a vote at the Third Committee around 18 November. Amnesty International calls on Viet Nam to join with the majority of countries in the world in voting in favour of a moratorium."

Make human rights in Tunisia a reality

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:25:31 +0000

A harsh and disturbing reality lies behind the image of Tunisia as a holiday paradise and human rights beacon that the government has sought to paint. In truth, it is a country where violations by security forces are rampant and go unpunished.

Saber Ragoubi was tried unfairly and sentenced to death in December 2007, largely on the basis of information obtained from him and other co-defendants under torture. At his trial, he said: “I was assaulted in Mornaguia prison and lost three of my front teeth; I request an investigation into the assault. I was also stripped naked to force me to shave my beard.” Read more about his case

Houssine Tarkhani was forcibly returned from France to Tunisia and was detained on arrival in June 2007. He has been charged with terrorist offences and is awaiting trial. When he was able to speak to his lawyer in 2007, he said: “I was beaten with a stick all over my body, given electric shocks and threatened with death. When I asked to read the police report, which I had been forced to sign without reading, I was subjected to further beatings. Read more about his case

The Tunisian government’s security and counter-terrorism policies and practices are leading to serious human rights violations, despite legal reforms that theoretically offer better protection.

Call on the Tunisian government to live up to the promises it has made on paper to respect human rights.

You can do something to improve the human rights situation in Tunisia by taking action on behalf of Saber Ragoubi and Houssine Tarkhani. Send a letter or a fax to the Tunisian authorities using the model letters attached and demand justice for them.

End rendition and secret detention: Europe’s duty

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:38:49 +0000

European states have been implicated in the US-led rendition and secret detention programme, in which people have been unlawfully detained and transferred from one country to another outside of any judicial process.

Some have been transferred from US custody to countries where torture and other ill-treatment is known to accompany interrogation; others have been transferred into US custody and subsequently held in detention centres in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

A number of individuals have been subjected to enforced disappearance, including in secret CIA detention, and the whereabouts of some three dozen people remain unknown. Every one of the victims of rendition interviewed by Amnesty International has said they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in custody.

Investigations by the Council of Europe and the European Parliament have recommended that Member States take measures to prevent such human rights violations occurring in the future and to ensure redress, including reparation, to the victims.

These recommendations have not been implemented to date.

Time to release Aung San Suu Kyi

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:59:06 +0000

There are more than 1,850 known political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the best-known.

The co-founder of Myanmar's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi is also one of the country's best-known political figures and campaigners for human rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement since 1989, all aimed at preventing her from becoming the national leader of Myanmar. She has been under house arrest since July 2003.

© Chris Robinson

Aung San Suu Kyi is also a member of the global Elders but, because she is under strict house arrest, she cannot join them in their international work celebrating and promoting the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her continued absence is a powerful reminder of the unrelenting repression in Myanmar and what must be done to make human rights a reality.

For more information about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and three other prisoners of conscience from different generations, please see:
Myanmar: Eighteen years of persecution

Safe Schools: every girl's right!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:26:53 +0000

The key to a bright future is for girls and women is choice. Women must be free to choose the path that is right for them, a path that is out of harm’s way and allows them to move forward and realize their potential.

Education is a crucial step in this journey. It is crucial to breaking cycles of poverty, violence and disease. Education is a human right, and therefore every girl’s right.

Girls across the world find a range of barriers to education:

Girls are assaulted on the way to school, attacked in schools grounds and teased by their classmates. Some are threatened with sexual assault by other students, coerced into sex by teachers, even raped in the staff room.
In countries wracked by war, girls are at risk from armed groups and from attacks on their schools. Sexual abuse and exploitation are problems for girls living in refugee camps or displaced people’s camps.
Certain girls face an increased risk of violence at school. Certain aspects of girls’ identities, including their sexuality, status as migrants, orphans or refugees, caste, ethnicity and race, can increase their risk of abuse.
Although free primary education should be available to all children, schools around the world commonly charge user fees. Girls are more likely to be excluded than boys when there isn’t enough money to go round.

Violence leads to countless girls being kept out of school, dropping out, or not fully participating in school life. Effects range from pain and fear, to lowered self-esteem, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and depression. In many cases, abuses go unreported.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that girls often choose not to report what continues to be a taboo issue in some societies, or for fear of retaliation. That leaves such acts under-reported and allows their perpetrators to go unpunished.

There is no justification for the lack of action. The issue is not about resources but political will. Governments, teachers and school authorities must work to prevent violence against girls in schools, must promptly investigate reports of abuse, impose appropriate punishments on offenders, support those who have suffered from violence to recover and ensure that such abuses do not recur.

Join Amnesty International’s campaign to protect girls’ rights to safety, equality and education. Make schools safe for girls.

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Death penalty in Viet Nam – proposed reforms a welcome step towards abolition

Make human rights in Tunisia a reality

End rendition and secret detention: Europe’s duty

Time to release Aung San Suu Kyi

Safe Schools: every girl's right!