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(New York) - The Vietnamese government should promptly open thorough and transparent investigations into a series of deaths caused by the use of lethal force by policemen and hold the responsible officers accountable, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Human Rights Watch has documented 19 incidents of reported police brutality, resulting in the deaths of 15 people, all reported in the state-controlled press in Vietnam during the last 12 months. The Vietnamese government should publicly recognize this problem, issue orders outlawing abusive treatment by police at all levels, và make clear that any police officers found responsible for such practices will face disciplinary action and, where appropriate, criminal prosecution, Human Rights Watch said.

"Police brutality is being reported at an alarming rate in every region of Vietnam, raising serious concerns that these abuses are both systemic and widespread," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

In some cases, detainees died after beatings inflicted while they were in the custody of the police or civil defense forces (dan phong). In other instances, victims were killed in public areas when police used what appears to lớn have been excessive force. Many of these incidents provoked public protests throughout Vietnam during the past year.

Deaths of people in police custody or at the hands of police have been reported in provinces in the far north such as Bac Giang và Thai Nguyen, in major cities such as Hanoi và Da Nang, in Quang phái nam along the central coast, in the remote highland province of Gia Lai, & in the southern provinces of Hau Giang và Binh Phuoc.

In many cases, those killed in detention were being held for minor infractions. For example, on June 30, 2010, Vu Van Hien of thai Nguyen died in police custody after being detained following a dispute with his mother. An autopsy revealed that he died due to lớn severe bleeding in the brain và that he had suffered multiple injuries, including a broken jawbone and broken ribs.

Three weeks later, on July 23, public protests erupted in Bac Giang in response lớn the death of 21-year-old Nguyen Van Khuong. He died just hours after being taken into police custody for riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

Local media coverage of these events has been uneven, raising continuing concerns about government control of the press in Vietnam. In some instances, media reports have led khổng lồ investigations of police brutality cases that had previously been covered up. For example, a series of articles published by the newspaper Family and Society in February prompted the Justice Department in hai Duong province lớn request further investigation into the suspicious death in custody of Dang Trung Trinh on November 28, 2009, which police had dismissed previously as a "death due to illness."

On the other hand, there has been almost no local coverage of other key cases, such as the death of Nguyen Thanh nam at nhỏ Dau Parish in domain authority Nang. After participating in a funeral procession in bé Dau on May 4 khổng lồ a cemetery located on disputed land slated for development by the government, phái mạnh was summoned, interrogated, & beaten by domain authority Nang police several times. On July 2, nam giới was severely beaten while in custody of the local civil defense force và left bound in a remote field. He died at home from his injuries on July 3.

Local residents who responded to telephone queries from Radio miễn phí Asia said they were afraid khổng lồ talk about the con Dau case, especially the cause of Nam"s death. Government authorities have denied police culpability, stating that phái mạnh died from a stroke. The official explanation has been rejected by members of Nam"s family, including his older brother in testimony before the US Congress on August 18.

"Rather than silencing the truyền thông or allowing journalists khổng lồ publish only when given a green light, the Vietnamese government should step back và permit investigative reporting into these matters," Robertson said. "Independent journalism can help bring khổng lồ light abuses that local police & authorities hope khổng lồ sweep under the carpet."

In the 19 incidents of police brutality documented since September 2009, there are no reports that police officers were convicted by a court for their actions. In the majority of cases, higher officials have imposed minor punishments such as requiring offending officers lớn apologize to the victim"s family, accept transfer khổng lồ another unit, or write a report about the incident for đánh giá by superiors.

In the few cases in which offending police officers have been suspended and/or detained pending investigations, such as the case in Bac Giang, the result appears khổng lồ have been a response to lớn pressure from public demonstrations against police brutality & exposés on independent internet sites that feature incriminating accounts by witnesses, photographs, videos, & blog reports.

"Many of these disturbing cases are no secret, and it is up to lớn government ministries và Vietnam"s National Assembly to lớn investigate," Robertson said. "Until police get the message from all levels of government that they will be punished, there is little lớn stop them from this abusive behavior, including beating people khổng lồ death."

Annex: Reported Incidents of Police Brutality Compiled from Vietnamese State MediaHuman Rights Watch"s findings are based primarily on incidents of police abuse reported in the government-controlled press in Vietnam. This includes official organs of the Vietnamese Communist Party, army, police, Supreme Court, và general inspectorate office (Thanh Tra), as well as other officially registered newspapers và online publications in Vietnam that operate under governmental regulations such as Nha Bao và Cong Luan (Journalists và Public Opinion), Gia Dinh và Xa Hoi (Family và Society), Viet phái nam Net, Phap Luat Viet Nam (Law of Vietnam), Phap Luat TP HCM (Law of Ho bỏ ra Minh City), Doi tuy vậy & Phap Luat (Life & Law), Dan Tri (Popular Knowledge), Lao Dong (Labor), Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer), Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity), Tuoi Tre (Youth), Tien Phong (Vanguard), Nong Nghiep (Agriculture), Dan Viet (Vietnamese People), Dat Viet (The Land of Viet), and VN Express. To a lesser degree, truyền thông sources based outside of Vietnam, including the Vietnamese-language services of the BBC, Radio không lấy phí Asia, & Voice of America, và Vietnamese-language website pages & blogs inside Vietnam & abroad, were also consulted.

* September 9, 2010: Tran Ngoc Duong, 52, died in police custody at the People"s Committee headquarters in Thanh Binh commune, Trang Bom district, Dong Nai province a few hours after he was detained for a minor dispute with his neighbor. The police told his family that he had committed suicide by hanging himself. His wife expressed doubts that suicide was the cause of death. She said that Duong was found dead sitting down, with a leather belt around his neck and no marks on his neck. The case is reportedly under investigation.

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* August 8, 2010: Tran Duy Hai, 32, died in police custody in Hau Giang province after his arrest a day earlier on suspicion of snatching a woman"s gold necklace. On August 12, Hau Giang"s provincial police chief announced that an autopsy had determined that hai had committed suicide by hanging. Within hours of the death the body had been cremated, preventing further investigation. No information has appeared in the truyền thông regarding whether officials have responded to complaints filed by the family with the provincial police and justice departments.

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* August 6, 2010: Hoang Thi Tra, 20, was shot và injured by undercover traffic police in thai Nguyen province while riding on the back of her boyfriend"s motorcycle. Two undercover police on a motorcycle chased the couple, who were riding without helmets, & shot Tra in the thigh after the motorcycle capsized và fell over. Tra underwent a five-hour operation to lớn remove the bullet. After widespread public outcry, on August 11 police officials announced the three-month suspension of a police lieutenant, one of the officers involved in the shooting, pending further investigation. The deputy provincial police chief, Colonel Nguyen Nhu Tuan, told Nong Nghiep: "Many people know about and witnessed this incident; therefore it cannot be hidden or covered up."

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* July 30, 2010: After Nguyen Van Trung, 46, engaged in a minor verbal conflict in a restaurant with a commune-level police officer in Binh Thuan province, the officer called the civil defense force (dan phong), a voluntary security force under the authority of village People"s Committees that often collaborates with local police. Four civil defense force members arrived và beat Trung repeatedly on his head và back with clubs until he was unconscious. Members of the defense force then took him on a motorbike lớn police headquarters, where he was handcuffed. Police officers "cursed, kicked, và hit him," causing him lớn "spit blood," Phap Luat reported. After Trung"s family arrived at the police station và loudly protested, police allowed them khổng lồ take Trung to the local hospital"s emergency room. He had multiple bruises & contusions all over his back và stomach, a black eye, và cuts on his head that required stitches. Phap Luat reported that on August 1, the chief & deputy commune police chief visited Trung in the hospital. They pressured his wife not to tệp tin a complaint about the case, promised to lớn pay his medical bills, & offered khổng lồ secure an apology from the offending police officers.

Xem thêm: Chính Sách Tiền Tệ Của Ngân Hàng Trung Ương, Chính Sách Của Ngân Hàng Trung Ương

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* July 23, 2010: Nguyen Van Khuong, 21, was beaten to lớn death in police custody after being detained for a traffic violation by police in tung Yen district, Bac Giang province. After massive protests in Bac Giang, a police officer was arrested for "causing death while carrying out official duties" under penal code article 97. Three other officers were suspended from duty for further investigation, but no further information has appeared in the truyền thông about the status of the investigation.

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* July 21, 2010: Police from La Phu commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi - including the deputy chief of the commune police - stopped Nguyen Phu Son"s truck, dragged him out of the vehicle, và beat him repeatedly with electric shock batons on his head and body. Phap Luat & Xa Hoi reported that Son"s father went lớn the police station và saw his son "handcuffed with bruises all over his face. The deputy chief of police told him, ‘I am on duty therefore I have the right to lớn beat your son. I dare you to tệp tin a claim. Go ahead & file a claim wherever you want..."" He was admitted to a hospital the next day, Nha Bao và Cong Luan reported, & Son"s medical file reported that his entire body toàn thân was "covered with bruises, especially on the lower rib area; several head and chest injuries from a severe beating the day before." Afterward, the deputy chief of the commune police who participated in the beating was asked lớn report on the case lớn his superiors. There is no information as khổng lồ whether any other investigatory steps have been taken.

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* July 3, 2010: Nguyen Thanh Nam, 43, died after being beaten in domain authority Nang by police and members of the local civil defense force (dan phong). In articles published by Vietnam News Agency & other official state media, the domain authority Nang Religious Affairs Committee & other provincial authorities rejected as "completely false" reports that phái mạnh was beaten to death by security forces, stating that he had died at home from a stroke. Nam had been one of the members of the funeral assistance team during a controversial funeral procession on May 4 to lớn the bé Dau Parish cemetery, located on a piece of land that the government has slated for use as an economic development zone. During the funeral, police used truncheons and electric shock batons to lớn beat people in the procession & arrested more than 60 persons, according to lớn participants interviewed by Radio miễn phí Asia afterward. Most of those arrested were subsequently released. In mid-May, six of those who had been detained were charged with opposing law enforcement officers & disturbing public order. Nam, who was beaten badly by police on two occasions after being summoned lớn the police station for questioning, went into hiding on July 2 lớn avoid being summoned again. He was apprehended that night by the civil defense force, who tied him up và took him khổng lồ a nearby rice field. When his wife arrived, she found him bound & covered in mud and blood. He died at his house as a result of his injuries. Khổng lồ date, there has been no report of any investigation being carried out into the killing.

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* June 30, 2010: Vu Van Hien, 40, died two days after being arrested & detained at the police headquarters in dẻo Tu District, thai Nguyen Province. Phap Luat reported that when the police took Hien khổng lồ the district hospital on June 29, he was in a coma và suffering from multiple injuries. The victim"s brother-in-law told Phap Luat that "at the dẻo Tu hospital, I found Hien unconscious, his mouth full of blood, his limbs bruised và scratched." An autopsy revealed that he had a broken jaw, fractured skull, blood clots in his lungs, four broken ribs, & a broken shinbone. By the time he was transferred lớn the provincial hospital, Hien had stopped breathing and was pronounced dead. While the police stated that Hien had a ‘neurological disorder" và had hit his head twice on the wall of the detention facility, Phap Luat stated in its July 26 edition that the newspaper"s "own investigation suggested that it was most likely he had been beaten to death." Lao Dong newspaper, which reconfirmed the findings of the autopsy and checked Hien"s hospital files, concluded in an article on August 13 that "Given these injuries, it is certain that Vu Van Hien was beaten to death." As of late September, there was no information about any police officers being held legally accountable for the death.

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* June 7, 2010: Responding to lớn a report of a burglary, two police officers beat khổng lồ death Nguyen Phu Trung, 41, in Thuy Xuan Tien village, Chuong My district, Hanoi. According lớn articles in VN Express and VTC News, the police officers, along with two civilians, beat Trung with an electric baton, a padlock, & a wooden club & then dumped him by the side of the road, where villagers found him the next day. One month later, four people, including the two police officers involved in the beating, were arrested và placed under investigation.

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* May 25, 2010: A police officer shot & killed Le Xuan Dung, 12, and shot & wounded Le Huu Nam, 43, who died five days later, & wounded Le Thi Thanh, 37, during a protest over land rights at Nghi Son Petrochemical Refinery in Thanh Hoa province, government media and the bbc and Radio không tính phí Asia reported. An article about the incident that was posted online the day after the shooting on the official government trang web Thanh Tra was later removed. On May 28, provincial authorities announced that one police officer would be arrested & prosecuted for "causing death while carrying out his duty," và that investigations would also be carried out regarding criminal acts committed by the protesters.

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Van Thanh "Thanh Hoa: Gunfire, 3 Dead và Injured Persons" , Thanh Tra, May 25, 2010.Van Thanh, "More information on the incident in which gunfire shot 3 dead & injured persons: The person who fired the gun causing the unjust death of Dung is a police officer" , Thanh Tra, May 26, 2010, (Both articles from Thanh Tra, accessed by Human Rights Watch on May 31, 2010, were removed from the website site in June.)

* May 7, 2010: Vo Van Khanh, 29, died while held at police headquarters in Dien Ban district, Quang nam giới province, government truyền thông and the đài truyền hình bbc reported. During a routine traffic kiểm tra a few days earlier, police confiscated Khanh"s motorcycle because he was not carrying the proper paperwork. On May 7, Khanh went to lớn the police station to retrieve his motorcycle. Later that day, police called his family to inform them that Khanh was dead, claiming he had hanged himself with his shoelaces after being taken into police custody for suspected theft. His family attributes Khanh"s death to an assault by police, noting that when his body was returned khổng lồ them, they found that his ribs were broken, his face was scratched, and there were bruises on his chest and rib cage, & shoeprints on his body. Autopsies performed by quang Nam and Da Nang authorities claimed the cause of death was suicide, and said that bruises came from rescue efforts và that the broken ribs occurred during the autopsy. According to a May 9 article in Nguoi Lao Dong, the police said Khanh"s injuries were caused by emergency medical procedures khổng lồ save his life. Khanh"s family rejected the official explanation và refused to accept the autopsies. More than four months later, there have been no reports of any police officers being held accountable or even placed under investigation in regard khổng lồ Khanh"s death.

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* April 24, 2010: Police in bố Ria-Vung Tau province summoned Pham Tuan Hung, 37, for questioning on suspicion of stealing a cell phone. At the station, "police used handcuffs lớn handcuff him lớn the window and used batons to lớn beat him many times, until he fainted," Phap Luat reported. At 2 a.m. Police released Hung. "Upon returning home with a bruised body and in a panic, Hung was bedridden & did not eat anything," Phap Luat reported. When Hung - who is an epileptic - did not get better, but continued to lớn bleed from his nose & mouth và suffer from many nightmares và seizures, he sought treatment at a hospital in Dong Nai. Lao Dong reported that he was admitted to lớn the hospital "with signs of head injuries và many other flesh wounds; he was in a panic & almost had a mental breakdown." Commune officials apologized khổng lồ the family và paid for some of his medical bills. District authorities said that the police officers who carried out the beating would be "dealt with according lớn regulations," according to Nguoi Lao Dong. There have been no further reports in the truyền thông on this case.

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* April 24, 2010: A traffic policeman and a commune policeman in Khanh Hoa chased & severely beat Huynh tung Nam, 21, for not wearing a helmet and left him by side of the road in a "severely critical condition" with multiple injuries, VN Express & other government truyền thông media sources reported. He had a severe neck injury, a bruised right temple bone, a broken sphenoid bone, a broken right cheekbone, and torn ligaments. Dien Khanh district police later gave the victim"s family some money to defray medical fees. The traffic police officer remained on the police force but was transferred from traffic control to lớn other duties. There has been no information in the media as to whether the commune policeman involved in the beating was ever disciplined in any way.

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* January 21, 2010: Nguyen Quoc Bao, 33, died in detention at the police headquarters in Hai tía Trung District, Hanoi. Government media sources, including VN Express and Lao Dong, reported that the Army Forensic Agency performed an examination and found that Nguyen Quoc Bao had severe head injuries & multiple wounds on his wrists and ankles at the time of his death. On March 27, Lao Dong published an article entitled, "While in Police Detention: The Victim Died from Being Beaten on the Head." Seven police officers were suspended, pending further investigation, though eight months later there had been no reports as to lớn whether any of the officers had been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.

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* December 22, 2009: Nguyen Van Long, 41, died while in police custody in Bom Bo commune, Bu Dang district, Binh Phuoc province. Government media sources reported that when Long"s wife visited him at the police station on the evening he was arrested, he told her he was in pain after being severely beaten & needed medicine. At the police station the next morning, she was informed that he had "committed suicide," the Viet phái nam Net reported. Police officials said they interrogated Long on December 22 but stopped when he did not confess, according khổng lồ VN Express. The next morning, police found Long dead, Phap Luat tp hcm reported. On December 23, hundreds of people gathered at the commune People"s Committee office in protest. Nine months later, the case reportedly remains under investigation.

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* November 28, 2009: Dang Trung Trinh, 32, died shortly after being arrested và held by police after a conflict with his cousin in Tien Dong commune, Tu Ky district, hai Duong province. The police announced that Trinh died from liver disease, but a forensic examination conducted by the district forensic team in the presence of district police and a thành viên of the victim"s family showed that his ribs were broken và there were bruises all over his body, Dan Tri reported. On January 22, 2010, the district police decided not khổng lồ prosecute the case. However, after a series of articles in Gia Dinh & Xa Hoi, the Tu Ky District Justice Department overruled the decision. On June 30, the district police investigation bureau issued Decision 27/QĐ to lớn prosecute the case for "illegal arrest và detention," not for manslaughter, though state media accounts vày not specify who was to be prosecuted.

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* November 21, 2009: Nguyen Manh Hung, 33, died in police detention in Ha Dong District, Hanoi. He had been held incommunicado for 11 days, from November 10. The police said that on the day of his death Hung had chest pains and difficulty breathing, so they took him to the hospital, VN Express reported. The police said Hung died in the hospital, although the hospital director said he was dead on arrival, VN Express reported. Hung"s father said his son"s body was "completely dry, all ten fingers and toes were bruised... Và swelling and bruises covered one third of his leg," VN Express reported. The police investigation bureau in Hanoi rejected a complaint filed by the victim"s father stating that police had unlawfully arrested Hung, failed to lớn report his detention, và caused his death by torturing him. Citing the forensic report and Hung"s cellmates, who reported there were no signs of him being tortured, the police investigation bureau concluded that Hung died from heart failure.

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* September 14-17, 2009 (two deaths): Tran Minh Sy, 23, died on September 17 while in police detention in Gia Lai province. He was among the more than 75 people arrested the previous day, when thousands gathered to protest the death of Pham Ngoc Den, 29, on September 14 while being chased by traffic police in Gia Lai for not wearing a helmet. The police claimed that Tran Minh Sy died from heart và lung diseases, Tuoi Tre reported. Eight police officers later received reprimands or warnings for their behavior during the protests in Gia Lai, but no one on the police force was punished for the death in custody of Tran Minh Sy or the death of Pham Ngoc Den, which sparked the protests. Instead, 15 protesters were sentenced khổng lồ prison in May 2010.