June 26 of each year is “International Day in Support of Torture Victims.” It marks the anniversary of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treament or Punishment, also known as CAT.
CAT came into force on 26 June 1987. So far 147 countries have become parties to this UN convention.
In late 2010, on the occasion of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested US assistance to prepare his government to sign and ratify CAT.
In recent years Vietnam has witnessed increased use of violence and torture by the public security police against citizens and prisoners, including political prisoners.
Through interviews with political prisoners who have fled to Thailand, advocates against torture have collected growing evidence of the scope and types of torture used in Vietnam’s police stattions, detention centers, and prisons. Forms of torture include:
– Lining up the victim agaisnt the wall and beating him/her in the head, chest, sides and legs;
– Handcuffing the victim to the upper rim of a window, causing him/her to stand on toes, and beating him/her with electric rods or batons;
– Stripping the victim naked and flogging him/her with a belt;
– Kicking the victim in the chest, thighs, stomach with boots;
– Striking the victim, with bare hands, elbows or a safety helmet, on the head and temples;
– Locking the victim up in solitary confinement in a pitch dark and filthy place;
– Using a small knife to cut into the victim’s flesth;
– Hitting the victim’s ankles with a wooden stick;
– Standing the victim in water and electro-shocking him/her;
– Drawing a large amount of blood to debilitate the victim;
– Applying electric shocks to the victim’s private parts; etc.
Despite threats of reprisal, a growing number of Vietnamese victims have spoken out against torture.
“The police hung me to the ceiling beam of the interrogation room. They stripped me naked and took turn to beat me at my chest and head.They then applied electric shocks to my vagina until I went unconscious.” Ms. Tran Thi The, Sep 2011.
“They took a wooden stick, the size of my arm, and hit me nonstop. They hit me at the waist. They took out a pair of metal handcuffs, made me spread out my ten fingers on the table, and smashed them with the handcuffs. Then they told me, ‘We haven’t applied to you the ways of the [criminal] underworld yet, otherwise in the next 3 days, your fingernails will fall off’. At that moment I was so much in pain that I passed out.” Ms. Phan Thi Nhan, September 2011.
Testimonies of victims on youtube:
http://youtu.be/Tvzke73B15Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=honWyO2pYzQ&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKKTj-U1Vn0&feature=relmfu
Full text of the UN Convention Against Torture: http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
Jan 24, 2012 testimony of Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang before the US Congress: http://www.machsongmedia.com/images/files/statement_of_ndt.pdf
