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
- JANUARY 7, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International criticised the Vietnamese government...
Amnesty International criticised the Vietnamese government for making the reporting and dissemination of statistics on the use of the death penalty a state secret
- JANUARY 7, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM MAKES NUMBER OF DEATH SENTENCES A TOP STATE SECRET
January 7, 2004: following international criticism about Vietnam´s growing number of capital sentences, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has listed the number of people condemned to death as a top state secret, an official said Wednesday.
- JANUARY 5, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Following international criticism about Vietnam's growing...
Following international criticism about Vietnam's growing number of capital sentences, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has listed the number of people condemned to death as a top state secret, an official said
- JANUARY 5, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Radical members of the European Parliament presented...
The Radical members of the European Parliament presented a parliamentary question with regard to the summary execution of a farmer named Nih
- JANUARY 5, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Radical members of the European Parliament presented...
The Radical members of the European Parliament presented a parliamentary question with regard to the summary execution of a farmer named Nih
- JANUARY 5, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Three men were sentenced to death by a Vietnamese court...
Three men were sentenced to death by a Vietnamese court for trafficking heroin from Laos
- JANUARY 4, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Six men were executed by a firing squad in Ho Chi Minh...
Six men were executed by a firing squad in Ho Chi Minh City after being convicted of either murder or drug trafficking, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported
- DECEMBER 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An ex-deputy police chief in southern Vietnam who shot...
An ex-deputy police chief in southern Vietnam who shot a Communist Party cadre with a machine gun during a meeting to punish him for being disorganised had been executed, officials said
- DECEMBER 25, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Van Thu, a 28 year old unemployed man, was sentenced...
Nguyen Van Thu, a 28 year old unemployed man, was sentenced to death for murdering and robbing a motorbike taxi driver in Vietnam's northern province of Ha Tay
- DECEMBER 20, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran Hoai Nam, 27, and Nguyen Van Phi, 28, were shot...
Tran Hoai Nam, 27, and Nguyen Van Phi, 28, were shot in Ho Chi Minh City for producing over 50,000 dollars of fake banknotes
- DECEMBER 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court in Vietnam's southern province of...
The People's Court in Vietnam's southern province of Long An sentenced to death Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, female, for trafficking heroin from Cambodia, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said
- DECEMBER 18, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Seven opium traffickers were sentenced to death by...
Seven opium traffickers were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Vietnam's northern province of Tuyen Quang and 40 others from the drug network were jailed as part of a government crackdown, court officials said
- DECEMBER 13, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two Vietnamese men were executed at dawn by firing...
Two Vietnamese men were executed at dawn by firing squad at an execution site in Thot Not town in southern Can Tho province
- DECEMBER 12, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ngo Minh, 33, committed suicide after being sentenced...
Ngo Minh, 33, committed suicide after being sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Vietnam's central province of Khanh Hoa, police said
- DECEMBER 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran The Trung, 49, a Cambodian citizen of Vietnamese...
Tran The Trung, 49, a Cambodian citizen of Vietnamese origin, and Quach Kim Thuan, 41, were executed by firing squad at dawn at the Thu Duc execution ground in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City for drug trafficking
- DECEMBER 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Pham Van Khoe, 54, and Nguyen Thanh Quy, 22, were executed...
Pham Van Khoe, 54, and Nguyen Thanh Quy, 22, were executed by firing squad at dawn at the Thu Duc execution ground in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City for murder
- DECEMBER 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vu Quang Hiep, 28, was sentenced to death by a court...
Vu Quang Hiep, 28, was sentenced to death by a court in Hanoi for shooting dead a rival gangster on behalf of a friend trying to reclaim a debt
- DECEMBER 10, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ignoring appeals from human rights groups, Vietnam...
Ignoring appeals from human rights groups, Vietnam sentenced at least 100 people to death up to December 8 and the country's get-tough-on-crime policy showed no signs of letting up
- DECEMBER 9, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ngo Minh, 33, and Cao Ton, 45, were sentenced to death...
Ngo Minh, 33, and Cao Ton, 45, were sentenced to death in Vietnam after being found guilty by a court in the central province of Khanh Hoa of trafficking more than 32
- DECEMBER 2, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A court in Vietnam has sentenced a woman to death for...
A court in Vietnam has sentenced a woman to death for embezzlement and said two former vice ministers of agriculture would both be jailed for three years after a trial that exposed state corruption
- NOVEMBER 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Than Nhan Bo, 44, Duong Ngo Luyen, 46, and Trang A...
Than Nhan Bo, 44, Duong Ngo Luyen, 46, and Trang A Co, 26, were sentenced to death by a court in Vietnam's northern province of Bac Giang at the conclusion of a two-day trial
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Tat Tung, a 31 year old farmer, was executed...
Nguyen Tat Tung, a 31 year old farmer, was executed in northern Vietnam for stabbing to death his father and younger brother following a dispute over family inheritance, state media said
- NOVEMBER 26, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The European Union called on Vietnam to improve its...
The European Union called on Vietnam to improve its human rights record as the communist nation's parliament lashed out at criticism from the European Parliament and the US Congress
- NOVEMBER 26, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The European Union called on Vietnam to improve its...
The European Union called on Vietnam to improve its human rights record as the communist nation's parliament lashed out at criticism from the European Parliament and the US Congress
- NOVEMBER 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ngo Van Da, a 27 year old unemployed man, was sentenced...
Ngo Van Da, a 27 year old unemployed man, was sentenced to death in Vietnam for killing his brother-in-law and the man's two children after he thought they were encouraging his wife to file for divorce
- NOVEMBER 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the...
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment for two Cambodian nationals, according to official sources
- NOVEMBER 17, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen The Thang, 27, was executed in Vietnam's northern...
Nguyen The Thang, 27, was executed in Vietnam's northern province of Ha Tay for killing a taxi driver in May 2002
- NOVEMBER 15, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
At the execution ground at Tam Hop Hamlet, Vietnam,...
At the execution ground at Tam Hop Hamlet, Vietnam, nearly a thousand people gathered to witness the executions of Ms Cao Thi Lien, also known as Gai and Tran Vinh Sanh, also known as Son
- NOVEMBER 6, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Five people, including a woman, were shot dead in front...
Five people, including a woman, were shot dead in front of thousands of people in a suburb of southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city
- NOVEMBER 4, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Truong Quoc Viet, 35, was put to death by firing squad...
Truong Quoc Viet, 35, was put to death by firing squad in Vietnam's central province of Lam Dong, a clerk at the Lam Dong People's Court said