One More Detainee Dies at Vietnam Police Facility amid Rising Public Concern

Mother (left) of the victim talked with reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper

Mother (left) of the victim talked with reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper

Trinh Xuan Quyen, 16-year-old boy from Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, died on November 17 due to severe injuries he received during two-week detention at the local police facility, state media has reported.

by Vu Quoc Ngu, Nov 24, 2015

Trinh Xuan Quyen, 16-year-old boy from Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, died on November 17 due to severe injuries he received during two-week detention at the local police facility, state media has reported.

On Nov. 1, police in Cu Jut district arrested Quyen on allegation of stealing a motorbike of his uncle. Police said they would hold the boy for two months for investigation, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhi, mother of the dead detainee said.

Mrs. Nhi said on Nov. 16, the district police summoned her to the district central hospital to take care for her son. On the same day, he was transferred to the province’s central hospital and to Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital after his health worsened. He died on Wednesday last week.

The mother said that there were a number of severe injuries on his body. She claimed that on the day of arrest, her son was healthy.

Police kept all dossier of his medical treatment so she could not know the real cause of her son’s death.

The Police Investigation Agency of the Dak Nong province is investigating the case, said police officer Nguyen Huu Tuan in Cu Jut district.

Quyen is among a number of detainees died or received severe injuries during detention this year although Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Last month, Do Dang Du, 17-year-old boy in Chuong My district, Hanoi, died from severe injuries during custody in Hanoi’s Detention Facility No. 3. The Hanoi police said Du was beaten by other detainees, however, the victim’s family and its lawyers said the police’s explanation contains many disputed or unsubstantiated assertions.

Torture is systemic in Vietnam, said the New York-based Human Rights Watch. According to the Ministry of Public Security, 226 detainees and prisoners died in police stations between October 2011 and September 2014. Police said their deaths were mostly caused by suicides and illness, however, families of the victims suspect that police torture and inhumane treatments are real cause of the deaths.

Only a few police perpetrators have been punished with light sentences, human rights activists noted.