Why Vietnam continues to impose the death penalty for drug offences: A narrative commentary

Abstract

In several nations in Southeast Asia, illegally importing, exporting, trading, or possessing drugs is a capital offence. Like China, another communist state in Asia, Vietnam imposes its harshest legal punishments for drug-related crimes, though many international opponents have continued to call for the abolishment of these inhumane sentences. Using grey literature, reports by international observers, and informal interviews with colleagues, the present article explores the policies and provisions of Vietnam's Party-State in regulating capital punishment for drug offences, situating Vietnam's sentencing practices in the context of legislative reviews, international obligations, and humanitarian perspectives. Assessing the arguments put forward by abolitionists, retentionists, and supporters of de facto abolition allows for a more comprehensive understanding of Vietnam's stance toward the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is aimed at abolishing the death penalty in the future. The article concludes with a call for further action, outlining some basic recommendations on how the Vietnamese can keep their promises to reduce, and ultimately abolish, impositions of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Keywords: Death penalty; Drug policy; Drug-related crimes; Human rights; Vietnam.