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
- AUGUST 12, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two women, Hoang Tu Lien, 43, and Tran Thi My Ha, 30,...
Two women, Hoang Tu Lien, 43, and Tran Thi My Ha, 30, were sentenced to death at the end of a four-day trial in Vietnam's central province of Quang Nam
- AUGUST 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ha Thu Thuy, a 35-year-old woman, was sentenced to...
Ha Thu Thuy, a 35-year-old woman, was sentenced to death in Vietnam's southern province of Kien Giang
- JULY 23, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Forty-nine people on death row in Vietnam's southern...
Forty-nine people on death row in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City were expected to be executed soon, after their appeals for presidential clemency had been rejected, state media said
- JULY 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Dinh Huu Huy, 26, was executed by firing squad in Vietnam...
Dinh Huu Huy, 26, was executed by firing squad in Vietnam after being convicted of in 2002 of murdering a motorcycle taxi driver in order to steal his vehicle, state media said
- JULY 15, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ho Van Xuan, 46, a man jailed in 1979 for belonging...
Ho Van Xuan, 46, a man jailed in 1979 for belonging to a former South Vietnamese "reactionary organization", was sentenced to death in Vietnam for scalping his brother-in-law
- JULY 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tang Minh Phung, 47, a businessman, and 60-year-old...
Tang Minh Phung, 47, a businessman, and 60-year-old banker Pham Nhat Hong were shot dead by firing squad in southern Ho Chi Minh City after their appeals for clemency were rejected by President Tran Duc Luong in May 2003
- JULY 9, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Four people on death-row in Vietnam, including Le My...
Four people on death-row in Vietnam, including Le My Linh, an Australian citizen of Vietnamese origin, had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment
- JULY 8, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Three drug traffickers were sentenced to death by the...
Three drug traffickers were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Vietnam's northern province of Ha Tay as part of the government's long-running campaign to wipe out the narcotics trade, court officials said
- JUNE 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Ho Chi Minh City court, Vietnam, imposed a death...
A Ho Chi Minh City court, Vietnam, imposed a death sentence for murder and robbery on Trang Hoang Thai, 20
- JUNE 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese court turned down an appeal against execution...
A Vietnamese court turned down an appeal against execution lodged by two men sentenced to death for murdering a student in October 1999, state media reported
- JUNE 18, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vu Xuan Lich and Tong Van Loi, leaders of a 16 member...
Vu Xuan Lich and Tong Van Loi, leaders of a 16 member ring that smuggled heroin from Laos to Vietnam, were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Lai Chau province in Vietnam
- JUNE 6, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Le Thi Kim Phuong, a 44 year old Vietnamese business...
Le Thi Kim Phuong, a 44 year old Vietnamese business woman, came one step closer to facing the firing squad after the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court rejected her appeal against the death sentence for running a fraudulent investment scheme
- JUNE 5, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nam Cam, 56, known as Vietnam's most powerful mafia...
Nam Cam, 56, known as Vietnam's most powerful mafia boss, was sentenced to death, together with five of his henchmen, following a trial that exposed a web of corruption at the heart of the country's political system
- MAY 31, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Cao Duc Bao, a 42-year-old Vietnamese man, was executed...
Cao Duc Bao, a 42-year-old Vietnamese man, was executed by firing squad in Hanoi after being convicted of murdering his friend during a drunken quarrel
- MAY 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Nguyen Huu Toan, "a Vietnamese...
It was reported that Nguyen Huu Toan, "a Vietnamese drug addict", was sentenced to death for murdering a friend "to steal and sell his jewellery to pay for his next fix", a Ho Chi Minh City court said
- MAY 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Phan Hoai Linh, a 36 year old Vietnamese man convicted...
Phan Hoai Linh, a 36 year old Vietnamese man convicted of child rape, was executed by firing squad in Vietnam's central city of Danang
- MAY 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese court sentenced to death Denchai Nuntipanich,...
A Vietnamese court sentenced to death Denchai Nuntipanich, a 33 year old Thai national, after convicting him of participating in an illegal football gambling ring and killing a punter to avoid paying out a 45,000 dollar bet, a court official said
- MAY 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vu Van Tam, a 22-year-old unemployed Vietnamese man,...
Vu Van Tam, a 22-year-old unemployed Vietnamese man, was sentenced to death by firing squad after being convicted of murdering a schoolboy to steal his bicycle
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran Minh Cong, 31, convicted of trafficking 1
Tran Minh Cong, 31, convicted of trafficking 1
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Chu Van Hoc, 33, was executed by firing squad in Hanoi
Chu Van Hoc, 33, was executed by firing squad in Hanoi
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences...
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong
- MAY 13, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Van Toai, a 64-year-old Vietnamese man from...
Nguyen Van Toai, a 64-year-old Vietnamese man from Nghe An province near the Lao border was sentenced to death by firing squad after being convicted of opium trafficking
- APRIL 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court in the southern business capital...
The People's Court in the southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City was asked by the prosecuting panel to hand down death sentences to Nam Cam and four of his lieutenants for murder
- APRIL 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that a local court in Vietnam's southern...
It was reported that a local court in Vietnam's southern Dong Nai province imposed the death penalty on Hoang Van Nam for trading large sums of counterfeit money
- APRIL 24, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vietnam voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Vietnam voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 24, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death...
An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death sentence for corruption given to Truong Thi Thanh Huong, the director of a state-run company in Vietnam
- APRIL 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An unnamed 46-year-old man convicted of illegal drug...
An unnamed 46-year-old man convicted of illegal drug production was sentenced to death in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City
- APRIL 17, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the local court in the Mekong...
It was reported that the local court in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang had sentenced to death Phan Thanh Hung, 24, for raping and killing a woman and stealing her jewellery
- APRIL 14, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court in Ba Ria Vung Tau sentenced to...
The People's Court in Ba Ria Vung Tau sentenced to death Pham Van Dzung, found guilty of trading and possessing a total of 33
- APRIL 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Pham Van Dung, 42, was sentenced to death for trafficking...
Pham Van Dung, 42, was sentenced to death for trafficking opium and heroin under Vietnam's tough anti-drug laws