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VIETNAM 2 <br />a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life <br />There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or <br />unlawful killings, but there were reports of 19 deaths of persons in custody during <br />the year as well as abuses of lethal force. <br />For example, in March Trinh Xuan Tung died in custody in Hanoi after Lieutenant <br />Colonel Nguyen Van Ninh beat him while in detention for a traffic violation. <br />Authorities suspended Ninh pending investigation, and at year's end the scheduling <br />of a trial was expected in early 2012. <br />In April in Dong Nai Province, local police officers beat Nguyen Cong Nhut to <br />death after detaining him for five days for allegedly stealing tires. The case was <br />reported to the Supreme People's Court and at year's end remained under <br />investigation. <br />In March a court convicted police officer Nguyen The Nghiep of excessive use of <br />force and sentenced him to seven years in prison for the death by beating of <br />Nguyen Van Khuong, who was arrested for a traffic violation in Bac Giang <br />Province in July 2010. Authorities also banned Nghiep for life from the police <br />force and ordered him to pay 155 million Vietnamese dong (VND) (approximately <br />$7,380) to the deceased's family, which his family did. <br />In September authorities charged four former prison guards (Hoang Dinh Nam, <br />Nguyen Van Tho, Le Huu Thiet, and Tran Van Phuc) in the Central Highlands <br />with using plastic batons to beat to death inmate Truong Thanh Tuan in September <br />2010. A court directed the four to pay VND 129 million (approximately $6,140) to <br />the victim's family. <br />b. Disappearance <br />There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. <br />There continued to be no information on the whereabouts of Thich Tri Khai, a <br />monk from the unregistered Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam whom <br />authorities arrested in 2008, and Le Tri Tue, a founder of the Independent <br />Workers' Union whom authorities placed in custody in 2007. <br />c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or <br />Punishment <br />