Vietnam: Information on the treatment of deserters from the army of Vietnam

Specific information on the above-mentioned subject could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

Amnesty International reported in 1990 that "surrender to the enemy (Article 256)" and "unwarranted abandonment of unit in a combat situation (Article 256)" are two offenses in the 1986 criminal code for which the death penalty may be imposed (AI Feb. 1990, 56). This report had no information on whether the death penalty has been carried out against a deserter from the Vietnamese military forces, or whether lesser penalties may also be imposed for desertion (ibid.).

According to Vietnam: A Country Study, in 1985, "deserters were returned to their military units for punishment," but no details are provided (1989, 265). Citing officials of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Manchester Guardian Weekly of 31 December 1989 reported that Vietnamese army deserters who were among those returned to Vietnam following attempted illegal departures, were not harassed by Vietnamese authorities. According to this report, Vietnamese officials only punished those frequently caught trying to leave, or the organizers of illegal departures (ibid.).

In 1989 Reuters reported that several deserters from the Vietnamese army, who had been imprisoned for several years by the Khmer Rouge, requested that they be returned to Vietnam after they had escaped to Thailand, even though they risked penalties for desertion (30 Oct. 1989). However, the article does not provide any other information.

In a telephone interview, a research professor at the Indochina Studies Centre, at the University of California at Berkeley stated that in Vietnamese society desertion from the armed forces does not carry the same negative stigma as it does in the West (16 Mar. 1995). According to the professor, the reasons for a soldier's desertion would have a role in how the desertion would be viewed by others. In addition, individual commanders of units would have discretion over any punishment meted out to a deserter (ibid.). The professor was not aware of any specific penalty for desertion. The professor added that during the war with Cambodia, soldiers who deserted the Vietnamese army did so to return to Vietnam; they did not flee to the side of their Khmer opponents (ibid.).

For information on draft evasion, please consult the attachment.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Amnesty International. February 1990. Vietnam: "Renovation" (Doi Moi), The Law and Human Rights in the 1980s. (AI Index: ASA 41/01/90). London: Amnesty International.

Indochina Studies Centre, University of California at Berkeley. 16 March 1995. Telephone interview with research professor.

Manchester Guardian Weekly. 31 December 1989. Nicholas Cumming-Bruce. "Vietnam's National Psychosis - To Flee the Country." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 30 October 1989. PM Cycle. "Vietnam Soldiers Surrender After Years in Khmer Rouge Custody." (NEXIS)

Vietnam: A Country Study. 1989. Edited by Ronald J. Cima. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army.

Attachment

Vietnam: A Country Study. 1989. Edited by Ronald J. Cima. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, pp. 262-265.