Viet Nam: Halt imminent execution of Lê Van Mạnh and order investigation into
allegations of torture
Amnesty
International
25 October 2015
Amnesty
International has written to Truơng Tấn Sang, President of Viet Nam, calling on
him to order a halt to tomorrow’s scheduled execution of 32-year-old Le Van
Mạnh and for an investigation into allegations that Le Van Mạnh was tortured
in police custody to be opened.
In October
2005, Le Van Manh was convicted of the March 2005 rape and murder of 12-year-old
Hoang Thị Loan in Thanh Hoa province. This was the first of a long series of
criminal proceedings which saw Lê Văn Mạnh convicted and sentenced to death on
two occasions for the above offences, only for those convictions to be
overturned.
In 2008,
Le Van Mạnh was convicted and sentenced to death for a third time for the same
offences; on this occasion his conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal. On
16 October 2015, Le Van Mạnh’s family received notification that he is to be
executed on 26 October 2015.
Le Van
Mạnh has maintained his innocence throughout the criminal proceedings against
him and alleges that the confession on which his conviction is based on was
obtained under torture. Amnesty International has received information that the
proceedings against Le Van Mạnh were characterized by procedural errors and
that he did not receive adequate legal representation on appeal.
In
ratifying the Convention against Torture earlier this year, Viet Nam has
undertaken to take all measures to ensure that no one is subjected to torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and that “any
statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall
not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused
of torture as evidence that the statement was made”.
The death
penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. It violates the
right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and
the right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. When a death
sentence is imposed following a trial which does not met international law and
standards on fair trial, including the standards contained in Article 14 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Viet Nam
is a party, it violates international law.
In view of
the allegations of torture in the case of Le Van Mạnh and Viet Nam’s
obligations under the Convention against Torture and the ICCPR, Amnesty
International calls on Viet Nam to immediately order a stop to the planned
execution of Le Van Mạnh and order an investigation into allegations that he
confessed under torture and was wrongly convicted.
ENDS/