The Rehab Archipelago - Human Rights Watch

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Overview I. Vietnam’s Drug Detention Centers No two drug detention centers in Vietnam are exactly alike. Some are prison-like compounds in major cities, behind high walls topped with barbed wire. Others are sprawling clusters of barracks located in peri-urban industrial zones. Still more resemble expansive agricultural estates in remote border provinces. Regardless of location, all are surrounded by fences or walls and watched over by guards. None provide drug dependency treatment that is humane or effective. Some centers hold just a few dozen detainees, while some lock up over a thousand. Many hold several hundred detainees. A considerable number of drug detention centers also double as detention centers for sex workers. 4 All rely upon forced labor as “therapy.” In official government terminology, the centers are referred to as “Centers for Social Education and Labor” (Trung Tam Giao Duc Lao Dong Xa Hoi), “Centers for Post Rehabilitation Management” (Trung Tam Quan Ly Sau Cai Nghien), or “Centers for Vocational Training and Job Placement” (Co So Day Nghe Va Giai Quyet Viec Lam). 5 Each center is free to adopt a title with a similarly vague and benign meaning, such as “Center for Receiving Social Subjects,” “Center for Labor, Education and Social Sponsorship,” and “School for Vocational Training, Education and Job Placement.” 6 Official discourse around the centers is also marked by a plethora of euphemisms. Police do not round people up and detain them; rather they are “gathered” (thu gom). Center staff are 4 This report does not purport to cover the similar—although administratively distinct—system of detention centers for sex workers that operates in Vietnam. For a recent discussion of these centers, see Nguyen-vo Thuhuong, The Ironies of Freedom: sex, culture, and neo-liberal governance in Vietnam (University of Washington Press, 2008). 5 Centers are also referred to as “06 centers,” after the 1993 legislation that gave impetus to the expansion of Vietnam’s system of drug detention centers. The two decrees currently governing drug detention centers are Decree 135/2004, “Prescribing the Regime on Application of the Measures of Consignment to Medical Treatment Establishments, the Organization and Operation of Medical Treatment Establishments under the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations and the Regime Applicable to Minors and Volunteers in Medical Treatment Establishments,” June 10, 2004, and Decree 94/2009/ND-CP, “Regulating in Detail the Implementation of the Law to Amend and Supplement a Number of Articles of the Law on Drug Prevention Regarding Post-Rehabilitation Management,” October 26, 2009. 6 “Trung Tam Tiep Nhan Doi Tuong Xa Hoi,”“Trung Tam Giao Duc Lao Dong Bao Tro Xa Hoi,” and “Truong Giao Duc Dao Tao Va Giai Quyet Viec Lam” respectively. 11 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2011
eferred to as “trainers” (quan giao), while detainees themselves are “trainees” (hoc vien). If a detainee has already been detained for two years, he or she becomes a “post rehabilitation person” (nguoi sau cai nghien) undergoing “management, vocational training and job placement for post rehabilitation individuals” (quan ly, day nghe va giai quyet viec lam cho nguoi sau cai nghien). Drug detention centers form part of a broad system of detention centers for administrative violations in Vietnam. The Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations (2002) covers a range of administrative detention systems and provides for the detention of people who use drugs in “medical treatment establishments” [co so chua benh]—yet another official term for drug detention centers—“to labor, [and] to receive education, vocational training and rehabilitation treatment.” 7 Vietnam’s drug detention centers began to take their current form shortly after the end of the US-Vietnam war in 1975: key components of the approach to drug dependency treatment at that time are still in place. 8 But it would be wrong to view drug detention centers as simply a remnant of earlier Communist ideology in resolving social issues. Despite a degree of political openness and new social policies associated with doi moi (renovation)—the economic reform program launched in 1986—the drug detention system 7 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, No. 44/2002/PL-UBTHQH10, July 2, 2002, art. 26(1) [translation by Human Rights Watch]. Under Decree 76 (2003), peaceful dissidents, activists and others deemed threats to national security or public order can be detained in “re-education centers” (Co So Giao Duc). Decree No. 76/2003/ND-CP, “Prescribing and Guiding in Detail the Application of the Measure of Consignment to Re-Education Centers,” June 27, 2003, http://laws.dongnai.gov.vn/2001_to_2010/2003/200306/200306270001_en (accessed May 1, 2011). Amendments to Decree 76 of June 27, 2003 made in December 2008 appear to allow people who use drugs to be detained in re-education centers. See Decree No. 125/2008/ND-CP, “Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 76/2003/ND-CP,” December 11, 2008, http://www.chinhphu.vn/portal/page?_pageid=33,638900&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&docid=81315 (accessed May 1, 2011). See also Mai Huong, “Supplementary stipulations on applying the measures of admission in the education establishments,” undated 2011, Chinh Phu, http://tintuc.xalo.vn/001987716582/Quy_dinh_bo_sung_ve_ap_dung_cac_bien_phap_dua_vao_co_so_giao_ duc.html (accessed May 12, 2011) [translation by Human Rights Watch]. 8 Drug users and sex workers were among many people detained in re-education camps established after 1975, along with former officials and military from the Republic of Vietnam. See, for example, P. Limqueco, “Notes on a visit to Vietnam,” Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 6(4) 1976, pp. 405-423; R. Templer, Shadows and Wind: A View of Modern Vietnam (Penguin Books, 1998), p. 242. For a description of “re-education through labor” in the Binh Trieu center in Ho Chi Minh City in the late 1970s, see S. Fraser and T. Knight, “Vietnam: Drug Rehabilitation: Whose Problem? A Case Study from Ho Chi Minh City,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 14(3) 1981, pp. 138-146. THE REHAB ARCHIPELAGO 12
Page 1 and 2: Vietnam The Rehab Archipelago Force
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2011 Human Rights Watc
Page 5 and 6: To Vietnamese and Foreign Companies
Page 7 and 8: wage. The center reduced his meager
Page 9 and 10: These charges often represent a sig
Page 11 and 12: (such as arbitrary detention, tortu
Page 13 and 14: © 2011 Human Rights Watch Map of D
Page 15: spoke to an additional six people w
Page 19 and 20: Government Policies towards Drug Us
Page 21 and 22: DRUG USE IN VIETNAM Recent research
Page 23 and 24: workshop[s] for manufacture and equ
Page 25 and 26: illion (US$ 2 million) will be inve
Page 27 and 28: People’s Committee) or in a drug
Page 29 and 30: CENTER LOCATION OFFICIAL NAME IN VI
Page 31 and 32: paper which was a decision from the
Page 33 and 34: years. He explained to Human Rights
Page 35 and 36: After being returned to the same ce
Page 37 and 38: Beatings and Other Punishments for
Page 39 and 40: Detainee guards also serve as workp
Page 41 and 42: “Guiding Principles on Business a
Page 43 and 44: province), Center No. 5 (Dak Nong p
Page 45 and 46: Vu Ban was in his late 20s when he
Page 47 and 48: For a month they put me in the puni
Page 49 and 50: A number of former detainees told H
Page 51 and 52: In April 2011, Human Rights Watch w
Page 53 and 54: This deception is also present in o
Page 55 and 56: has not offered himself voluntarily
Page 57 and 58: The European Community and Vietnam
Page 59 and 60: 2010: VND730,000 ($35) 180 A wage s
Page 61 and 62: Some detainees—such as Huong Son
Page 63 and 64: HCM City DOLISA Socialist Republic
Page 65 and 66: Centers commonly issue a detailed l
Page 67 and 68:
We had detainee guards. They were c
Page 69 and 70:
No cash was allowed in the center
Page 71 and 72:
According to the regulations that g
Page 73 and 74:
In my room there were about 30 fema
Page 75 and 76:
The CRC guarantees all children the
Page 77 and 78:
The special rapporteur on the right
Page 79 and 80:
While the exact content of their co
Page 81 and 82:
Between 2003 and 2008, the Academy
Page 83 and 84:
The [Nhi Xuan] pilot, while achievi
Page 85 and 86:
total number of drug detention cent
Page 87 and 88:
United Nations Office of Drugs and
Page 89 and 90:
Organizations either did not identi
Page 91 and 92:
its projects in drug detention cent
Page 93 and 94:
Global Compact’s principles are
Page 95 and 96:
One of the stated project goals is
Page 97 and 98:
… is a humanitarian response to t
Page 99 and 100:
Capacity Building of Centers In rec
Page 101 and 102:
Subsidizing Detention Costs The cur
Page 103 and 104:
IV. Full Recommendations To the Vie
Page 105 and 106:
To United Nations Agencies, includi
Page 107 and 108:
• Include the issue of forced lab
Page 109 and 110:
Acknowledgements This report was re
Page 111 and 112:
• Work in such centers is not opt
Page 113 and 114:
• The number of submitted individ
Page 115 and 116:
7. With respect to vocational train
Page 117 and 118:
• People are detained in such cen
Page 119 and 120:
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 121 and 122:
• Whether your organization is aw
Page 123 and 124:
Duc Hanh Medical Treatment Center A
Page 125 and 126:
NAME (removed) DATE OF ADMITTANCE A
Page 127:
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
show all

The Rehab Archipelago - Human Rights Watch

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?