Vietnam
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Since 1997, possession or smuggling at least 100g or...
- News items in the archive
- 784
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Vietnam is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 784 news items on Vietnam, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FIVE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG RUNNING
the Ha Tay province people’s court, north Vietnam, handed down death sentences to five members of a drug trafficking ring convicted of smuggling almost 30 kg of heroin and some methamphetamine. Three others received jail sentences of 15 to 20 years.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. THREE MEN EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
three drug traffickers were executed by firing squad in Ho Chi Minh City for smuggling over 800kg of heroin, the biggest-ever drug haul in Vietnam.
- AUGUST 31, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. COMPANY DIRECTOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SWINDLING
a Vietnamese court in Hanoi announced a death sentence on director of the Hai Phu Son joint stock company, Pham Duy Luat, on charges of swindling to appropriate land buyers' money.
- AUGUST 29, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY, MURDER
a court in Vietnam’s highland province of Lam Dong sentenced to death two men after they mugged and murdered a taxi driver in June 2006.
- JULY 21, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. THREE DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
a court in the northern province of Dien Bien handed down death sentences to three people and life imprisonment sentences to five others after they were convicted of cross-border drug trafficking.
- JULY 4, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. COURT UPHOLDS EIGHT DEATH SENTENCES FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
a Vietnamese court upheld the death sentences of eight people, including two women, for trafficking heroin from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, a court official said.
- JUNE 30, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR NAM CAM'S RIGHT HAND MAN
the People’s Supreme Court of Appeal in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, confirmed the death sentence for Nguyen Van Tho, a close associate of crime boss Nam Cam who was executed in 2004 for murder and bribery.
- JUNE 22, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. SENTENCES TWO MEN TO DEATH FOR HEROIN DEALING
Bui Xuan Thai and Nguyen Van Chinh were sentenced to death after being convicted in a one-day trial in Vietnam’s Thai Binh province, about 100 kilometers southeast of Hanoi, said presiding judge Tran Van Loan.
- JUNE 7, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FIVE PEOPLE EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
five members of Vietnam's biggest drug trafficking ring were executed.
- MAY 19, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FIVE PEOPLE EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD FOR HEROIN DEALING
five people convicted of heroin dealing were executed in southern Ho Chi Minh City. The five, including two women, were put to death by firing squad before dawn.
- MAY 11, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. THREE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN DRUGS CASE
the People's Court of Hanoi handed down the death penalty to three men convicted of trafficking heroin.
- APRIL 19, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL
an appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, upheld a death sentence for Trinh Huu, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin convicted of heroin trafficking.
- APRIL 17, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH OVER DRUGS
the People's Court in the central Nghe An Province, Vietnam, sentenced to death Tran Van Hoi for trading and trafficking heroin from Laos to Vietnam.
- APRIL 12, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the Nghe An People’s Court, central Vietnam, sentenced Tran Van Hoi, 34, to death for drug trafficking.
- APRIL 8, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. PM CALLS FOR AMENDING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT LAWS
Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai called for a review of capital punishment while authorities sought to replace the firing squad with remotely-fired weapons to shield the troops from any trauma.
- MARCH 21, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FORMER CUSTOMS OFFICER EXECUTED FOR CORRUPTION
Phung Long That, or Bay That, a former senior customs officer who had taken bribes and abetted one of the country’s largest smuggling scandals back in late 1997, was executed by firing squad in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.
- FEBRUARY 27, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. LAOS MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the Quang Ninh provincial first instance court, Vietnam, sentenced to death Xom Phon, a 30-year-old Laotian, for trafficking over 70 cakes of heroin and 4,000 tablets of Methamphetamine from Lao to northern Quang Ninh province late in 2005.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. PRESIDENT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF TWO AUSTRALIANS
Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the death sentences imposed on two convicted Australian heroin traffickers to life imprisonment, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM CONSIDERS DROPPING DEATH PENALTY FOR NINE CRIMES
Vietnam is considering abolishing the death penalty for nine different crimes, including smuggling, fraud, counterfeiting and bribery, state-controlled media reported.
- JANUARY 20, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS INTO VIETNAM
a court in Hanoi sentenced five people to death and four others to life imprisonment for trafficking 24 kg of heroin into Vietnam from Laos.
- JANUARY 18, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
according to official Vietnamese Government sources...
according to official Vietnamese Government sources...
- JANUARY 17, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FOUR DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Bac Giang People's Court, Vietnam, handed out death sentences to Than Nhan Lam, 37, Than Nhan Sang, 28, Do Van Hoa, 37, and Nguyen Quang Thang, 37, on charges of drug trafficking.
- JANUARY 16, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Vietnamese court sentenced five people including a woman to death for trafficking drugs, a court official said.
- JANUARY 3, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA, USA. DEATH PENALTY BARRED DUE TO VIOLATION OF VIENNA CONVENTION
Dinh Pham, a Vietnamese man accused of strangling a Fairfax County woman and her 22-month-old daughter would not face the death penalty in Virginia, a judge ruled, because police violated the man's Vienna Convention rights by not informing him that he cou
- JANUARY 1, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vietnam applies the death penalty for 29 different crimes.
Vietnam applies the death penalty for 29 different crimes.
- DECEMBER 30, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. 8 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the People's Court of southern Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, handed down death penalties to eight local people involved in a transnational drug trafficking ring.
- DECEMBER 20, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Trinh Huu, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin, was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin in southern Vietnam, a court official said. Huu, 53, was found guilty of trafficking about two kilograms of heroin following a trial in Tay Ninh province bord
- DECEMBER 15, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN VIETNAM FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
three members of a drug smuggling ring were sentenced to death in Vietnam for smuggling heroin and opium into Vietnam from Laos, said Nguyen Van Huy, an officer from the Nghe An provincial people's court.
- DECEMBER 13, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DEATH SENTENCE GIVEN TO DRUG TRAFFICKER
a court in Vietnam’s northern mountainous province of Son La sentenced Dinh Van Loc to death for trafficking heroin.
- DECEMBER 8, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. COURT SENTENCES WOMAN TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
a court in northern Vietnam sentenced Tran Thi Thu Thanh, a 39 year old female, to death for smuggling heroin to neighboring China.