Amnesty: Vietnam's humane clemency policy towards wrongdoers

Amnesty is one of the important legal institutions, stipulated in the Constitution and at the same time institutionalized in the Amnesty Law and many other legal documents.

In early October, prisons and detention camps in Vietnam organized community reintegration for those who were granted amnesty underthe President 's Decision. This is a special clemency policy of the State as the President decided to release prisoners early from prison for those sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of National Day (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2024) and the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital (October 10, 1954 - October 10, 2024). The 2024 amnesty once again affirms the clemency policy of the Party, the State and the humanitarian tradition of the Vietnamese people towards criminals, encouraging them to repent and become useful people for society.

Amnesty – The clemency and humanity of the State. Photo: Internet.

The highest principle in granting amnesty is the rule of law. On this occasion, more than 3,700 prisoners serving prison sentences were granted amnesty. Among them, 561 were ethnic minorities and 20 were foreign nationals. After the President signed the Decision on amnesty in 2024, the Office of the President coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Supreme People's Court to hold a press conference to publicly announce this decision. To ensure that the amnesty work is carried out democratically, fairly and objectively, the competent authorities have issued many guiding documents and organized the implementation. Among them, there are Instruction No. 88, dated August 2 and Official Dispatch No. 76, dated August 7 on the implementation of amnesty work in 2024. These are important bases for the amnesty work to be carried out effectively. At the same time, the competent authorities actively reported fully on the contents related to amnesty work to criminals as well as on the mass media. Lieutenant Colonel Ha Giang , Warden of the Quang Ninh Provincial Police Detention Center, said: “This amnesty is expanded to include subjects of amnesty. The Quang Ninh Provincial Police Detention Center has regularly disseminated new points about amnesty work and publicly posted them to prisoners. Prisoners clearly understand the policies and activities of the Party and the State and the law, so they have been active and reformed well to be eligible for amnesty this time.” Meanwhile, the consideration of amnesty proposals for prisoners is conducted according to a strict, public, democratic, objective, fair, transparent, and appropriate process for the right subjects and conditions according to regulations. All prisoners are considered equally, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or social status before being sentenced. Amnesty proposals are examined and assessed at many levels with the participation of many functional agencies and departments, and especially the supervision of social organizations and the people.

The amnesty policy contributes to maintaining social security and order, helping prisoners return to society with a positive spirit of reform, contributing to the overall development of the country. Photo: Internet.

Over the past 15 years, with 9 amnesty periods, the President has decided to release more than 92,000 prisoners with good study, reform and labor results early. Many cases, after being amnestied, have returned to their families and actively participated in labor and production activities, enriching themselves, their families and society; becoming active participants in movements to protect security and order at the grassroots level. The recidivism rate is very low, only about 0.08%. Deputy Head of the President's Office Pham Thanh Ha said: With the amnesty decisions of the President, tens of thousands of people have enjoyed the joy of clemency, soon returned to reunite with their families, and are ready to rebuild their lives. Most of the amnestied people have returned to their places of residence, stabilized their lives, and worked honestly. The rate of recidivism is very low. That is the greatest humane mark of the amnesty policy, clearly reflecting the priority of ensuring and promoting human rights in all policies of the Party and State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. To help people who have been pardoned to quickly reintegrate into the community, localities are currently maintaining 355 typical models in various forms, such as: support fund models, helping with loans, creating jobs for people with past mistakes; models of participating in management and education of people with past mistakes; club models; models promoting the role of prestigious people participating in management, education, and helping people with past mistakes... In addition, in 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 22 dated August 17 on credit for people who have completed their prison sentences. This is the first credit mechanism specifically for 2 groups of people eligible for loans: people who have completed their prison sentences and people who have been pardoned; Production and business establishments that employ people who have completed their prison sentences. Up to now, more than 6,000 people who have completed their prison sentences and those who have been granted amnesty have received loans from the Social Policy Bank with an amount of over VND500 billion (over USD21 million) to invest in production development, family economic development, and stabilize their lives./.

Cong Dao