VIETNAM COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 20 April 2012 VIETNAM 20 APRIL 2012 Contents Preface Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 1.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 1.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 1.08 2. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................ 2.01 3. HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 3.01 French Rule and Vietnam’s independence ........................................................ 3.01 North and South Partition .................................................................................... 3.02 American Assistance to the South ..................................................................... 3.03 Reunification ......................................................................................................... 3.04 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS - DECEMBER 2011 TO MARCH 2012 ..................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ................................................................................................... 6.01 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY FORCES .................................................................................................... 8.01 Police ..................................................................................................................... 8.03 Armed forces ........................................................................................................ 8.05 Army ................................................................................................................... 8.09 Human rights violations by security forces ....................................................... 8.10 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................................. 8.10 Torture ................................................................................................................ 8.11 Avenues of complaint .......................................................................................... 8.17 9. MILITARY SERVICE .................................................................................................... 9.01 10. JUDICIARY ................................................................................................................ 10.01 Organisation ......................................................................................................... 10.01 Independence ....................................................................................................... 10.04 Fair trial ................................................................................................................. 10.07 11. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .................................................................. 11.01 12. PRISON CONDITIONS ................................................................................................. 12.01 13. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................................... 16.01 14. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ............................................................................................. 14.01 Freedom of political expression .......................................................................... 14.01 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................... 14.07 Opposition groups and political activists .......................................................... 14.12 15. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ............................................................................... 15.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 15.01 Newspapers, Radio, Internet and Television ..................................................... 15.08 Journalists ............................................................................................................ 15.10 Internet users/bloggers ........................................................................................ 15.14 16. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS .................................... 16.01 17. CORRUPTION ............................................................................................................ 17.01 18. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .............................................................................................. 18.01 ii This Country of Origin Information Report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 20 April 2012. 20 APRIL 2012 VIETNAM Religious demography ......................................................................................... 18.17 Religious groups .................................................................................................. 18.20 Buddhists ........................................................................................................... 18.20 Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) ................................................. 18.27 Hoa Hao ............................................................................................................. 18.30 Catholics ............................................................................................................ 18.37 Protestants ......................................................................................................... 18.44 Cao Dai .............................................................................................................. 18.51 Muslims .............................................................................................................. 18.54 19. ETHNIC GROUPS ....................................................................................................... 19.01 Chinese (Hoa) ....................................................................................................... 19.11 H’mong .................................................................................................................. 19.12 Montagnards ......................................................................................................... 19.14 20. LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PERSONS .............................................. 20.01 Legal rights ........................................................................................................... 20.01 Treatment by, and attitudes of, state authorities ............................................... 20.03 Societal treatment and attitudes ......................................................................... 20.05 Lesbians ................................................................................................................ 20.07 Transgender persons ........................................................................................... 20.08 21. DISABILITY ............................................................................................................... 21.01 22. WOMEN ................................................................................................................... 22.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 22.01 Legal rights ........................................................................................................... 22.05 Political rights ....................................................................................................... 22.11 Social and economic rights ................................................................................. 22.15 Reproduction and abortion rights ....................................................................... 22.20 Access to education and employment ................................................................ 22.24 Violence against women ...................................................................................... 22.26 Domestic and sexual violence ............................................................................ 22.26 Trafficking of women .......................................................................................... 22.35 Assistance available to women ........................................................................... 22.38 Health and welfare ................................................................................................ 22.41 23. CHILDREN ................................................................................................................ 23.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 23.01 Basic legal information ....................................................................................... 23.06 Legal rights ........................................................................................................... 23.09 Violence