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
- MARCH 18, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The decade-old Law on the Organization of People's...
The decade-old Law on the Organization of People's Courts is in urgent need of an overhaul to bring it up to date with the country's fast-changing circumstances, according to the nation's top judge
- JANUARY 30, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam...
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam after being arrested at Ho Chi Minh City's international airport carrying more than 800g of heroin
- JANUARY 24, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
In its second periodic report to the UN Human Rights...
In its second periodic report to the UN Human Rights Committee, Vietnam detailed how it plans to deal with death-row appeals
- JANUARY 18, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Six of 23 offenders charged with drug trafficking were...
Six of 23 offenders charged with drug trafficking were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Vietnam's Nghe An province, according to a report of Vietnam's official news agency VNA
- JANUARY 16, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
7 unnamed men were shot to death for murder and drug...
7 unnamed men were shot to death for murder and drug related crimes
- JANUARY 14, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vietnamese law provides the death penalty for anyone...
Vietnamese law provides the death penalty for anyone found guilty of embezzling 500 million dong ($33,108) or more of state property
- JANUARY 12, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese court handed down four death sentences...
A Vietnamese court handed down four death sentences for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Anyone found in possession of 100g or more of heroin...
Anyone found in possession of 100g or more of heroin in Vietnam faces the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Courts sentenced 55 people to death in 2001 on drug-related...
Courts sentenced 55 people to death in 2001 on drug-related charges, according to government figures
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is handed down in Vietnam for murder,...
The death penalty is handed down in Vietnam for murder, trafficking in more than 600 grams of heroin and corruption involving theft of 500 million dong ($32,980) or more of state property
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution...
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution guiding the implementation of six Criminal Law regulations
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
In Vietnam counterfeiters or traders of counterfeit...
In Vietnam counterfeiters or traders of counterfeit goods may be imprisoned, and in particularly serious cases, may be subject to the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Serious sex crimes are punished with the death penalty...
Serious sex crimes are punished with the death penalty in Vietnam
- DECEMBER 6, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Vietnamese People's Supreme Court in November dismissed...
The Vietnamese People's Supreme Court in November dismissed five out of seven appeals by defendants in one of the biggest smuggling cases in the country, concerning the ring headed by Do Thi My Phuong
- NOVEMBER 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Courts nationwide handed down the death sentence to...
Courts nationwide handed down the death sentence to 77 drug traffickers and life imprisonment to 88 between the fourth quarter of 2000 and first nine months of 2001, reported the An Ninh Thu Do(Capital Security) newspaper
- NOVEMBER 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Courts nationwide handed down the death sentence to...
Courts nationwide handed down the death sentence to 77 drug traffickers and life imprisonment to 88 between the fourth quarter of 2000 and first nine months of 2001, reported the An Ninh Thu Do(Capital Security) newspaper
- NOVEMBER 23, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Australian woman accused of drug smuggling is facing...
Australian woman accused of drug smuggling is facing the possible death penalty in Vietnam in a case which could strain diplomatic relations between Canberra and Hanoi
- OCTOBER 19, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Ho Chi Minh City Police newspaper said dozens had...
The Ho Chi Minh City Police newspaper said dozens had been sentenced to death in Vietnam so far in 2001 for drug-related offences
- OCTOBER 4, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in which...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it calls on the Vietnamese authorities to abolish the death sentence (and, in the meantime, guarantee the implementation of a moratorium) and to ratify the second optional protocol to the International
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tang Minh Phung and Pham Nhat Hong were sentenced to...
Tang Minh Phung and Pham Nhat Hong were sentenced to death for appropriating VND32 billion from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam-HCMC branch
- AUGUST 18, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
12 drug traffickers were executed by firing squad in Vietnam
12 drug traffickers were executed by firing squad in Vietnam
- AUGUST 17, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court of Thanh Hoa Province in central...
The People's Court of Thanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam handed down 12 death penalty verdicts and seven life sentences to 19 of 24 defendants charged with drug trafficking
- AUGUST 2, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court sentenced to death...
Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court sentenced to death a woman, Do Thi My Phuong, on charges of being the ringleader of a major smuggling ring
- JULY 26, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The supreme appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld...
The supreme appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld death penalties against three inmates convicted of drug trafficking, but commuted the sentence of the fourth
- JULY 3, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution...
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution guiding the implementation of six Criminal Law regulations
- JULY 3, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The punishment imposed on heroin traffickers is to...
The punishment imposed on heroin traffickers is to be reduced, the vice chief justice of the Criminal Court Dinh Van Que said
- JUNE 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The central Ha Tinh Province's Court of Appeal upheld...
The central Ha Tinh Province's Court of Appeal upheld the death sentences passed by a lower court on seven people found guilty of drug trafficking and circulating counterfeit dollars
- JUNE 26, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme People's Court in Vinh City sentenced to...
The Supreme People's Court in Vinh City sentenced to death Le Van Luan, a former senior police officer of Nghe An, after finding him guilty of drug charges
- MAY 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld...
The People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death sentence for Vietnamese American Bui Huu Tai, 33, who was charged with drug trafficking and possession
- MAY 15, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Loc stated that: "Each...
Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Loc stated that: "Each year, we have around 200 death sentences, particularly sentences for drug crimes, yet the number of these crimes still increase