August 30
VIETNAM:
Vietnam Marks Independence with Pardons for Prisoners
Vietnam has released nearly 9,000 prisoners, including 10 inmates whose
cases it says had drawn international attention, as part of traditional
pardons granted ahead of independence celebrations on September 2.
Foreign ministry officials told a news conference the release of the 8,611
prisoners reflected their "good rehabilitation records" and the "humane
tradition" of Vietnam.
51 foreigners were among those released.
"For some cases for which many countries have expressed their concern, on
this occasion 10 will be released or receive commutation," said Deputy
Foreign Minister Le Van Bang.
Diplomats who saw the list of the 10 said they recognized only a few names
-- including those of Nguyen Ha Hai and Ho Van Trong, members of a
dissident Hoa Hao Buddhist sect. The list said Hai died on June 14, 2004,
two weeks after his release.
Bang, a former envoy to Washington, repeated Hanoi's refrain that "in
Vietnam there are no prisoners of conscience, no dissidents, no one
convicted and put into prison related to human rights."
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch as well as western governments
have called for the release of those imprisoned after criticizing Hanoi in
public forums or on the Internet or for practicing non-sanctioned
religions.
Of the foreigners to be released, 28 are from northern neighbor China, 13
from Laos, 6 from Cambodia, 3 from Australia and 1 from Japan. Their
offences included spying and breaching Vietnam's national security laws.
In 2002, the last time the state issued pardons, it released more than
9,000 prisoners.
Those seeking pardons must meet certain criteria including paying any
fines that have been assessed and complete at least 1/3 of their terms.
Those sentenced to life in prison must serve at least 10 years behind
bars, while those sentenced to death and later commuted to life must have
completed a minimum of 12 years of their prison term. There are no
available statistics on how many are imprisoned in Vietnam.
(source: Reuters)
THE NETHERLANDS:
Friends-
I have received the following note.....please respond directly offline to
Saskia and Bart if you can be of help.
*****************
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:31:05 +0200
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: request murder ballad
Dear mr. Halperin,
It was a pleasure talking to you and I am very grateful for your help.
I hereby send our request.
As documentary makers from the Netherlands we have plans to make a
documentary on the discussion on capital punishment in the US.
In the film we would like to incorporate murder ballads. Therefore
we are looking for a murder ballad concerning a case which is
currently at trial or a murder ballad concerning a case where the
convict is on deathrow. Or a murder ballad written by a convict on
deathrow. Anyone who knows about such a murder ballad or any
musician who has written a murder ballad on a recent case please
contact us.
Hope to hear from you,
Saskia Rietmeijer & Bart Drolenga
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 00-31-20-4207276
