Amnesty International, the European Union and other international organizations have urged Vietnam’s president to halt the execution of a prisoner convicted in the 2007 murder of a police major, saying there are serious concerns he was tortured and didn’t receive a fair trial.
Nguyen Van Chuong, 40, is believed to be at “imminent risk of execution,” according to an Amnesty International statement.
His family was asked on Aug. 4 to report to the People’s Court of Haiphong city within three days to make arrangements to receive his remains – but they weren’t given information on an execution date, the statement said.
“The case against him has been beset by disturbing allegations from day one, including that he was beaten and hung upside down during interrogation to force a ‘confession,’” Amnesty’s Montse Ferrer said in the statement.
Chuong was convicted in the robbery and murder of Major Nguyen Van Sinh in Haiphong city in northeastern Vietnam. Two others were convicted in the case.
He and his family have made many petitions, asking all levels of the administration to reconsider his death sentence.
Chuong alleges he was beaten and coerced by the investigator while the testimonies of the other suspects contradicted each other. The make of weapon described and the marks on the victim’s body were inconsistent in their statements.
Additionally, state media reports have shown that several people from Chuong’s village – 40 kilometers (24 miles) away from the crime scene – were willing to testify that they saw him at the time of the murder.
The court relied primarily on the police’s reports to convict Chuong, according to Amnesty International.
Authorities have denied that Chuong was tortured during the investigation.
The London-based Amnesty lists Vietnam, China and North Korea as countries “that are known to use the death penalty extensively,” but also where “use of the death penalty remained shrouded in secrecy and statistics were incomplete or unavailable.
Friday’s statements and petitions from the U.N. Human Rights Office, diplomatic missions and other international organizations would “certainly create an impact on Vietnamese leaders,” lawyer Le Van Hoa told Radio Free Asia.
“This is now a very hot case in Vietnam and many people inside the country have already made petitions and recommendations to the government and Party leaders,” he said.
Hoa was the Head of Inspection of Unfair Sentences of the Central Committee of Internal Affairs from 2013 to 2014 and was tasked with reviewing many questionable cases, including Chuong’s.
After studying the case file, his team realized that the death sentence against Chuong was full of holes. They proposed that the Central Committee of Internal Affairs consult with the National Assembly Standing Committee to direct and re-examine this case.
But for unknown reasons, the Central Committee for Internal Affairs stopped looking into the case and the death penalty remained in place, Hoa told RFA last year.
Hoa later retired and began providing legal counsel to Chuong’s family.
Now that the Chief Justice of the Hai Phong Supreme People’s Court has signed a decision to proceed with the execution, only an intervention by Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong can stop it, Hoa told RFA on Friday.
Executions in secret
A letter to Thuong sent on Wednesday from 13 international human rights organizations said it was unclear if “the execution is imminent or has already been carried out.” They urged the president to immediately notify Chuong’s family about his current status.
Vietnam continues to use the death penalty, mostly in secret, regardless of the global trend toward abolishing the death penalty, U.N. Human Rights Office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said in a statement.
“We call on the authorities to immediately halt the execution, and to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture,” he said.
“The use of confessions extracted under torture that results in a death sentence violates both the absolute prohibition of torture as well as fair trial guarantees, rendering the sentence arbitrary and a violation of the right to life, as set out in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Viet Nam is a state party.”
The E.U. and the diplomatic missions of Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom in Vietnam also appealed to Vietnamese authorities to stop the execution.
“We strongly oppose the use of capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances, which is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can never be justified, and advocate for Vietnam to adopt a moratorium on all executions,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday. (RFA)
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August 21, 2023
Rights organizations urge Vietnam to stop execution in flawed murder case
by Defend the Defenders • [Human Rights]
Amnesty International, the European Union and other international organizations have urged Vietnam’s president to halt the execution of a prisoner convicted in the 2007 murder of a police major, saying there are serious concerns he was tortured and didn’t receive a fair trial.
Nguyen Van Chuong, 40, is believed to be at “imminent risk of execution,” according to an Amnesty International statement.
His family was asked on Aug. 4 to report to the People’s Court of Haiphong city within three days to make arrangements to receive his remains – but they weren’t given information on an execution date, the statement said.
“The case against him has been beset by disturbing allegations from day one, including that he was beaten and hung upside down during interrogation to force a ‘confession,’” Amnesty’s Montse Ferrer said in the statement.
Chuong was convicted in the robbery and murder of Major Nguyen Van Sinh in Haiphong city in northeastern Vietnam. Two others were convicted in the case.
He and his family have made many petitions, asking all levels of the administration to reconsider his death sentence.
Chuong alleges he was beaten and coerced by the investigator while the testimonies of the other suspects contradicted each other. The make of weapon described and the marks on the victim’s body were inconsistent in their statements.
Additionally, state media reports have shown that several people from Chuong’s village – 40 kilometers (24 miles) away from the crime scene – were willing to testify that they saw him at the time of the murder.
The court relied primarily on the police’s reports to convict Chuong, according to Amnesty International.
Authorities have denied that Chuong was tortured during the investigation.
The London-based Amnesty lists Vietnam, China and North Korea as countries “that are known to use the death penalty extensively,” but also where “use of the death penalty remained shrouded in secrecy and statistics were incomplete or unavailable.
The Death Penalty Information Center says Vietnam handed down 102 death sentences in 2022.
‘A very hot case’
Friday’s statements and petitions from the U.N. Human Rights Office, diplomatic missions and other international organizations would “certainly create an impact on Vietnamese leaders,” lawyer Le Van Hoa told Radio Free Asia.
“This is now a very hot case in Vietnam and many people inside the country have already made petitions and recommendations to the government and Party leaders,” he said.
Hoa was the Head of Inspection of Unfair Sentences of the Central Committee of Internal Affairs from 2013 to 2014 and was tasked with reviewing many questionable cases, including Chuong’s.
After studying the case file, his team realized that the death sentence against Chuong was full of holes. They proposed that the Central Committee of Internal Affairs consult with the National Assembly Standing Committee to direct and re-examine this case.
But for unknown reasons, the Central Committee for Internal Affairs stopped looking into the case and the death penalty remained in place, Hoa told RFA last year.
Hoa later retired and began providing legal counsel to Chuong’s family.
Now that the Chief Justice of the Hai Phong Supreme People’s Court has signed a decision to proceed with the execution, only an intervention by Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong can stop it, Hoa told RFA on Friday.
Executions in secret
A letter to Thuong sent on Wednesday from 13 international human rights organizations said it was unclear if “the execution is imminent or has already been carried out.” They urged the president to immediately notify Chuong’s family about his current status.
Vietnam continues to use the death penalty, mostly in secret, regardless of the global trend toward abolishing the death penalty, U.N. Human Rights Office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said in a statement.
“We call on the authorities to immediately halt the execution, and to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture,” he said.
“The use of confessions extracted under torture that results in a death sentence violates both the absolute prohibition of torture as well as fair trial guarantees, rendering the sentence arbitrary and a violation of the right to life, as set out in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Viet Nam is a state party.”
The E.U. and the diplomatic missions of Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom in Vietnam also appealed to Vietnamese authorities to stop the execution.
“We strongly oppose the use of capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances, which is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can never be justified, and advocate for Vietnam to adopt a moratorium on all executions,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday. (RFA)