H.E. Mr.
Nguyen Tat Thanh
The
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
83/1 Wireless Road, Lumpini,
Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330
Your Excellency,
For ten years the Union for Civil Liberty has been
campaigning for abolition of the death penalty in Thailand. The Thai Government
appears to favour a gradual approach to abolition, and a spokesperson from the
Ministry of Justice has spoken of Thailand achieving a state of de
facto abolition in 2019, the tenth anniversary of the latest executions in our
country. Meanwhile the Ministry of Justice is organizing consultation meetings
on the issue in five areas of the country, with the purpose of preparing
material for a debate in parliament. The Union
for Civil Liberty, an accredited Civil Society Organization is a partner in
this programme.
As the years pass I become convinced that the approaches to
abolition in Asian countries, especially within ASEAN, must become a joint
process. The conditions and problems in our countries are very similar,
especially in the matter of public opinion regarding the death penalty. In this
context may I ask your sympathetic attention to the case of the young Thai
women currently under sentence of death in Vietnam,
in particular the recent case of Suracha Chaimongkol, who was sentenced to
death by a Court in Ho Chi Minh City
on 4th April 2014.
To begin with the most human aspects of the case may I plead
that when a woman is involved in drug trafficking there are always men involved
as principle actors; in most cases in the region these men are of African
origin who are very skilled in luring girls with no criminal background to be
drug mules. They display a false interest and charm in persuading young women
of no experience, and usually from rural areas, offering them attention and opportunities
of travel they have never dreamed of. At this stage the women are deceived with
promises of attractive employment abroad and showered with gifts and
hospitality. The nature of the employment is not clearly specified, as the
woman becomes more entangled in a debt of obligation. Do these young women
realise that the two weighty photo albums they are asked to take back to their
country, contain a deadly content? Some do and some do not. My guess is that
the majority are in a state of confusion, and are certainly not informed of the
consequences of their action. They are young, without experience of criminal
behaviour, of low education, and having the time of their lives, experiencing
attention and cajolement beyond their expectations.
Mitigation is an essential part of the justice system, but
it does not appear to have played a part in the sentencing. I am certain that
Chaimongkol is an excellent candidate for reform. She must be punished, and
severely punished, but not to the level of execution. One may ask what
punishment is left for those who lead and deceive young women to the execution
chamber.
The young woman was deceived by men, no doubt arrested and
sentenced by men, and will be executed by men. What does this say of the state
of women in our cultures?
It is notable that most countries which abolish the death
penalty, approach the final act by suspending the death sentence for women. It
is easier to see the horror of the death penalty when it is applied to the
weak, instilling in us a pity for women who gave every one of us life, and whom
we depended on when we were helpless, or during those stages in life, illness
or old age, when we again become dependent. The execution of women is a sorry
affair, frequently mismanaged, and involving abhorrent detail
The issue of the death penalty for drug trials is most
questionable. Vietnam
has ratified the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and
your Excellency is certainly familiar with Article 6.2, “In countries which
have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for
the most serious crimes”. Members of the UN Committee for Human Rights have
interpreted these words to exclude drug crimes from the category of most
serious crimes
. Women rarely commit the crimes
of premeditated homicide which constitute “most serious crimes” in
international law. Are they then to suffer extra condemnation for drug crimes
that are unlawfully included in the category of “serious crimes”?
Certainly drug trafficking is a serious criminal act but not
a most serious crime. Like all crimes incurring the death penalty, execution is
not an effective deterrent. Drugs are a social evil, as are prostitution and
modern slavery. The solutions are in education, social rejection of aberrant behaviour,
and such penalties as an enlightened justice system may impose. We may affirm
with certainty that the execution of young Thai women is not part of
elimination of the problem. One may return again to ICCPR for an indication of
the way to follow, Article 10.3 “The penitentiary system shall comprise
treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation
and social rehabilitation”.
Finally, may I return to the importance of a regional
sensitivity to judicial practice and use of the death penalty. This letter is
not a criticism of Vietnam.
A year ago I had the opportunity to observe the lives of farmers in the Mekong
Delta and saw that Vietnam
is an example to all countries in this region for its promotion of rice
farmers. Thailand also condemns women to death
for drug smuggling. But women condemned to death regularly benefit from
commutation of sentence. In the whole history of the death sentence since 1935
only three women have been executed, none in recent years. I believe that
extending commutation of death sentences for women, especially for drug crimes
where women are especially vulnerable, would now be a step forward in the
administration of justice. May I plead that your Excellency recommend
compassion and mercy for Thai women condemned to death on drug charges because
of their particular vulnerability to deception, their doubtful participation in
acting as drug mules, and as a gesture of a recognition of the condition of
women in society. I am informed by members of the Thai office for narcotics
control, as their colleagues in the UN Office for Drug Control, that they are
convinced of the irrelevance of the death penalty in combating drugs. They
would certainly be pleased by a Vietnamese initiative to abandon a policy of executing
women convicted on drug charges and be the more willing to offer their
cooperation in pursuing a more enlightened policy of drug control.
Yours
faithfully,
Danthong
Breen, Head of Death Penalty Section
Union for Civil Liberty
