23rd January, 2014
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has backed calls for the elimination of the practice of torture and other abuses in Vietnamese prisons, jails, police stations, re-education centres, and other detention places in the wake of the release of a report by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam in the US last week.
The campaign’s report found that the torture of prisoners – in particular religious and political prisoners – is still widespread in detention places in Vietnam. CSW – which has research echoing the finding – says that in 2013, several people detained in connection with their religious or belief were tortured and eventually died in police custody. They say in many other cases, torture victims had been forced to flee to other parts of the country or neighbouring nations.
The campaign is calling for a number of specific milestones to met to mark the Vietnamese Government’s progress in abolishing torture including "prompt ratification" of the Convention against Torture,and the signing and ratification of its Optional Protocol and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor).
CSW chief executive Mervyn Thomas said that following on from the election of Vietnam to the UN Human Rights Council last year – and its signing of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – "this year is therefore an opportunity for the government to take steps to challenge practices and reform regulations which allow or perpetuate torture".
"CSW calls on the government to implement the steps outlined by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam, to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a party," he said.
– DAVID ADAMS
