In detention centers all over Vietnam, some 40,000 men, women, and children are being held against their will and forced to labor for the Vietnamese government. The victims are held without a hearing or a trial in a court of law in drug detention centers on suspicion of using illegal drugs. Most detainees are picked up in “street sweeps” or on the basis of a single positive urine test. Even those who enter the centers voluntarily in the hopes of getting help for addictions are not allowed to leave. Many are held for up to five years of forced labor, often to produce goods for private companies. Before rewarding Vietnam with the benefits of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership [Free Trade] Agreement, we call on the USTR to join with Human Rights Watch, the World Medical Association and various United Nations bodies to denounce compulsory drug detention, and to demand that Vietnam permanently close the forced labor centers.
Sign the petition to the US Trade Representative:
http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2769
