Inside Vietnam's harsh drug laws: Why traffickers face execution

Vietnam is one of the countries in the world with the harshest narcotic laws where anyone found guilty of trafficking 100 grams or more of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, or amphetamine faces the death penalty.

One of their latest executions is on a Kenyan, Margret Nduta, who is set to face the penalty for a drug trafficking offence.

The 37-year-old was found guilty of smuggling over 2 kilograms of cocaine.

The harsh penalty has left Kenyans wondering just what the execution of the death penalty looks like and why Vietnam has adopted such a law.

Vietnam's decision to impose such severe penalties for drug trafficking relies on various historical factors, including geographical location, war on drugs initiatives, and deterrence against drug trafficking.

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First is the location of Vietnam in Southeast Asia near the Golden Triangle that intersects Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, known for producing drugs.

The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium-producing destinations in the world since the 1950s.

A large percentage of the world’s heroin came from the Golden Triangle up to the early 21st century when opium production in Afghanistan increased.

This made Vietnam both a transit and destination country for illicit drugs, prompting the government to adopt such stringent measures.

For instance, in 1997 after the Vietnam War, they stipulated the death penalty for persons found in possession or smuggling 100 grams or more of heroin or five kilograms or more of opium.

The harsh penalties were also meant to protect public health and maintain social order.

The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam replaced the use of firing squads for capital punishment to execute prisoners in 2011, transitioning to lethal injection under the laws of criminal judgments.

The lethal injection protocol states that the drugs are supposed to be administered in three steps. First is an anesthetic that renders an inmate unconscious.

Then a second drug is injected to paralyze the offender. Finally, the last one stops the heart, inducing untimely death.

The Vietnamese government maintains that the capital sentence is essential to punish people committing serious crimes such as drug trafficking, rape, murder, armed robbery, and even corruption.

Other methods to execute the death penalty used in other jurisdictions may also include electrocution, firing squad, and execution by lethal gas.

In Vietnam, the execution of capital sentences is conducted in secret, with no public witnesses except for government officials.

 Vietnam's approach to punishing offenders aligns with several other nations, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and India.

For instance, Singapore imposes execution laws on trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin or 30 grams of cocaine.

Singapore enforces capital punishment mainly by hanging, where the process involves the condemned individual being dropped through a trapdoor, with the fall intended to cause a fatal neck fracture, resulting in immediate unconsciousness and death.

 Malaysia, on the other hand, enforces the death penalty on individuals convicted of trafficking certain quantities like 50 grams of heroin or 200 grams of cannabis.

The country also employs hanging as its primary method of execution, carried out by dropping the prisoner through a trapdoor, aiming to break the neck and cause instantaneous death. Meanwhile, Indonesia imposes severe penalties, including death by firing squad, for significant drug-related offences.

In Indonesia, executions are conducted by firing squad. The condemned person is typically bound to a chair or post, with a black hood placed over their head. A group of shooters aims at the heart, and if they miss, the individual may suffer a slow death from bleeding.

 At the same time, Saudi Arabia has also intensely revived the use of death penalties for drug-related crimes. They utilize beheading, shooting, crucifixion, and even paralysis before execution.

International human rights organizations have raised concerns over the use of capital punishment for drug offences, advocating for alternative approaches that focus on rehabilitation and public health.

However, there is a glimmer of hope as the execution of the Kenyan has not yet been carried out. Referring to June 2023, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intervened on behalf of two citizens who were to face execution after being found guilty of terrorism.