There are signs of abuse of power.

Báo Tài nguyên Môi trường•06/06/2023

The investigative agency needs to get involved.

Regarding Decision No. 1768/QD-UBND dated September 26, 2009, on land acquisition and Decision No. 477/QD-UBND dated December 23, 2009, on approving the compensation plan, Bac Ninh province assigned the Bac Ninh Flood Control and Dyke Management Sub-Department (now the Irrigation Sub-Department) to implement the project to renovate, upgrade, and complete the left bank dyke of the Duong River section from Km 22+360 to Km 33+555 in Tien Du district. Lawyer Nguyen Hong Bach - Hong Bach & Associates Law Firm, argues that: Based on the information provided, if the content is true, then the officials who paid compensation to the households whose land was acquired under Decision No. 1768 show signs of committing the crime of " Abusing official position and power while performing official duties ," as stipulated in Article 281 of the amended and supplemented 1999 Penal Code. 2009. Because the Decision approving the compensation plan here specifies the exact amount of support and compensation that people are entitled to receive, the officials responsible for disbursing the money must do so correctly and completely, without making any mistakes or omissions according to the decision and the tasks assigned by the State agency. However, in reality, the officials responsible for disbursing money to the households have acted improperly, paying less money to those whose land was expropriated than they were actually entitled to, and the amount received by the people was not in full as stipulated in the legally effective Decision approving the compensation plan.

*Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huong, Secretary and Head of Ren village, pointed to the banana fields that the villagers were cultivating.*

Therefore, if during the verification process, the authorities find evidence of the crime of " Abusing official position and power while performing official duties" or another related crime, they will initiate a criminal case, prosecute the suspect, and conduct an investigation, trial, and execution of the criminal sentence in accordance with the law .

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Three decisions caused more than 200 households to "lose their right" to use agricultural land: Decision No. 518/QD-UBND dated April 16, 2007; Decision No. 1768/QD-UBND dated September 26, 2009; and Decision No. 2005/QD-UBND dated December 31, 2010, of Bac Ninh province to reclaim land for the Bac Ninh Flood Control and Dyke Management Sub-Department (now the Irrigation Sub-Department, under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Bac Ninh province) to implement the project of renovating, upgrading, and completing the left bank dyke of the Duong River in Tien Du district.

Similarly, according to Decision No. 518, people are entitled to 150,000 VND per person, but they must return it to the officials of Ren village and only receive 20,000 VND back. The remaining amount is kept by Ren village for public works projects. Lawyer Nguyen Hong Bach stated: Currently, according to the law, there is no specific definition of what constitutes a public works project. However, in practice, public works projects can be understood as projects that serve the common interests of the community or a specific group of people, including electricity projects such as power lines, transmission and distribution networks; Regarding the water supply and drainage project… To determine whether the village officials in Ren village are right or wrong in retaining people's money for public works, and whether it complies with legal regulations, in my opinion, the competent authorities need to verify and collect relevant information, records, and documents to clarify whether the village officials' retention of money was compulsory or voluntary. After collecting money from the households, was this money used for the intended purpose? Was any remaining money (if any) reported to the households?...

Therefore, through the verification and information gathering process, it has been determined that if village officials have engaged in coercion, threats, or used any means to force people to return money against their will for public works projects in the locality, or if the collected money is used for improper purposes, then this constitutes an act contrary to the law, showing signs of extortion or related crimes. Depending on the nature, extent of consequences, causes, and conditions of the act of extortion (if any), the village officials in Rền will be held legally responsible for their violations.

Three decisions need to be revoked to ensure the rights of the people.

Lawyer Nguyen Hong Bach stated: In principle, the land expropriation decisions have been and are currently in effect, and the households and relevant agencies and organizations must strictly comply with the regulations on land expropriation and land use. The right to use the land no longer belongs to the households. If, after the land expropriation decision takes effect, the competent authority fails to expropriate the land to hand it over to the investor for management and use, relevant responsibilities will be considered and handled in accordance with the law. If the households do not voluntarily hand over the land, the State will implement a coercive decision to force them to hand over the land to the State. Currently, the households are using the land for agricultural cultivation, which is wrong and not in accordance with the planning.

Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Thuy – Hanoi Bar Association – stated: "The households have always complied with the Party and State's guidelines and policies, and are ready to create the best conditions for the State to implement social welfare policies for the public interest. However, the law is also inherently fair and equal to all entities with equal legal status. If this is indeed true as reflected, could there be some hidden or ambiguous reason behind this land reclamation? Or is there a confusion between land reclamation and land being exploited for dike construction? In reality, there was no land reclamation; the households have been using the land stably and for a long time without dispute."

anh-2.2.jpg — *Bac Ninh province needs to consider revoking the three land expropriation decisions and reallocating the land back to the people so they can cultivate it with peace of mind in the long term.*

Therefore, based on Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree 64/CP, it is stipulated that: Land allocated to households and individuals under this Regulation is officially allocated and granted with a certificate of long-term stable land use rights. Due to errors or non-existent land reclamation, while in reality the households are still using the land stably and for a long time, the state agencies, specifically the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province and other levels that issued land reclamation decisions (if any), need to issue decisions revoking the aforementioned land reclamation decisions so that state agencies can continue to issue land use right certificates to the households in accordance with the law.

To grant land use rights to over 200 households in Ren village who are currently cultivating their fields, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province needs to issue a decision to revoke three previous land revocation decisions: Decision No. 518/QD-UBND dated April 16, 2007, Decision No. 1768/QD-UBND dated November 26, 2009, and Decision No. 2005/QD-UBND dated December 31, 2010, due to violations of land regulations, in order to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

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In Document No. 1318 dated May 8, 2023, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province assigned the Provincial Inspectorate to take the lead in reviewing and proposing measures to definitively resolve the long-standing complaints of citizens in Ren village, Canh Hung commune, Tien Du district, based on the principle of ensuring the full legitimate rights and interests of citizens in accordance with the law.

The Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper will continue to provide updates.

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