Mr. Ngo Thanh Kieu, age 31, a resident of Hoa Dong Village, Tan Hoa District, Phu Yen Province, was the latest victim of rampant abuse of power and unchecked violence in Vietnam’s law enforcement apparatus.
At 3 am on May 14, public security officers came to Kieu’s house, put manacles on him and took him away without saying that the victim was under arrest. Twelve hours later, public security notified his family that his body could be picked up from Phu Yen Hospital. On the previous night, the local public security office had informed Mr. and Mrs. Kieu that they would invite him to spend some time with them beginning at 7 am on May 14, and that he was not the subject of an investigation and that there was no order for his arrest.
Photographs taken by his relatives show clearly severe wounds all over the victim’s body, including his skull. Later, public security officers confiscated the photographs, but not before Mr. Kieu’s friends and neighbors had looked at them. This murder was but one of several committed by law enforcement officers. Many other murders have been committed without justice being served.
Source: Mac Lam, RFA, May 15, 2012
