[Vnbiz] Vietnam hosts conference on prison management

[Shane Wall]

Dear anh Hoanh and CACC,
   I have a close family connection to a prisoner in a low-security 
prison farm here in Binh Duong province. For very real practical reasons 
I have never visited this person, so this information is second-hand or 
"hearsay" evidence.

1)  Visitors are "taxed" by the warders/police running the prison. The 
amount of time you can spend with the inmate is determined by how much 
"tax" you are willing to pay.
2)   Physical contact (non-conjugal) between visitors and prisoners is 
possible - if the prisoner is a "trustee", i.e. a trusted or 'honest' 
prisoner. "Conjugal rights" can be obtained if the required amount of 
'tax' is paid.
3)   Rehabilitation consists of acquiring simple skills through 
practice. Skills at this prison revolve around vegetable cultivation, 
artistic pursuits, cooking and manual laboring. Since most of the 
prisoners are from the countryside, they can do all of these things 
already - but maybe on a smaller scale.
4)   Physical beating of prisoners does happen, although apparently it's 
not a regular occurrence.
5)   Prisoner health, medical and hygiene concerns are treated 
abysmally. My connection no longer has any teeth, from eyewitness 
accounts "looks like a skeleton" and has a number of concerning (but not 
life-threatening - thankfully) ailments and afflictions.
6)   Social Work and Counseling consists of family/friend visits.
7)   The warders/police provide all the 'spiritual guidance'.

I am lead to understand that this is one of the more 'progressive' and 
'model' low-security prisons here in the South. If that is true, I 
hardly think Vietnam has anything other than just more "empty words" 
about lofty ideals which are very, very far from the truth "on the ground".

That's about all I know about this subject.

Shane
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Shane Wall
Managing Director

Trans Lingual Express
188/16 Nguyen Thuong Hien St,
P.1, Q. Go Vap, HCMC,
Vietnam

Mail: shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
Web: www.translingualexpress.com

Ph: +84 (8) 588 1701

Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (English)
Mbl: +84 (090) 7885 375 (Vietnamese)



Tran Dinh Hoanh wrote:
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>   
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear CACC,
>  
> It is good that Vietnam is hosting a conference on prison management.
>  
> One of the questions that has been pricking at my mind off and on is 
> the soft side of the prison  (What soft side, you may ask :-).   
> Prison is supposed to be the place to rehabilitate people.  That is 
> theory.  In practice, many prisons around the world are true hell.  I 
> have often wondered how the prison is managed in Vietnam?  Is there 
> real education?  Are there social workers and counsellors?  Is there 
> spiritual guidance, like priests and monks volunteering to visit 
> prisons often?  Do prisoners have an opportunity to have church service?
>  
> I believe that spiritual life has a lot to do with giving the 
> prisoners strength to go on and to redo their life.
>  
> Does anyone has any glimpse inside a prison in Vietnam to share?
>  
> Have a great day!
>  
> Hoanh 
>
>  
> Thứ sáu, 23/11/2007, 17:50 GMT+7 	
> 	
>
> Việt Nam tổ chức hội nghị trại giam châu Á - Thái Bình Dương
>
> Kinh nghiệm quản lý phạm nhân đặc biệt, xây dựng lại hệ thống trại 
> giam sau thảm họa thiên nhiên... sẽ được hơn 150 cán bộ cấp cao về 
> quản lý trại giam của 23 quốc gia, vùng lãnh thổ chia sẻ, trao đổi với 
> Bộ Công an từ 26 đến 30/11.
>
> Thiếu tÆ°á»›ng Nguyá»
n Đức Chấn, Cục trưởng Quản lý trại giam Bộ Công an, 
> cho biết, hội nghị cán bộ quản lý trại giam khu vực châu Á - Thái Bình 
> Dương (APCCA) lần thứ 27 sẽ tổ chức tại Hà Nội. Theo thông lệ, Việt 
> Nam được bầu là m chủ tịch hội nghị.
>
> Thực trạng công tác quản lý trại giam; việc chữa bệnh, cai nghiện ma 
> tuý cho phạm nhân hay các biện pháp tạo việc là m, tái hoà nhập cho 
> người mãn hạn tù, người được đặc xá... sẽ là nội chung thảo luận chính
>
> APCCA được tổ chức thường niên và o trung tuần tháng 10 hoặc 11. Hội 
> nghị đầu tiên diá»
n ra năm 1980 với 14 nước tham dự. Năm 1991, lần đầu 
> tiên đoà n Việt Nam tham gia, khi APCCA tổ chức tại Trung Quốc. Năm 
> 2005, Việt Nam ký và o bản tuyên bố chung của các nước thà nh viên APCCA.
>
> *H. Khuê*
>
>
> -- 
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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