Doubtful legal case of 47,800 VND

Doubtful legal case of 47,800 VND is the term used by Vietnamese media to call a child abuse case in Dong Thap Province where a 10 year-old female pupil (named Huynh Thi Ngoc Tram) was questioned by the local police and her teachers just because she was suspected to make use of the class fund of 47,800 Vietnamese đồng (US$3). Although the fact shows that the young girl is innocent, no apology has been made so far. This young girl has been made mad and nervous breakdown, despite the fact that before this case, she had been an active and intelligent pupil.

The event occurred on March 14, 2007 at An Hiep 2 Elementary School in Chau Thanh County, Dong Thap Province, Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. The event has raised concerns from public opinions, educationists in the Vietnamese media and even to the Commission of Protection for Women and Children of the National Assembly on the local executive bodies as well as the protection of children's rights in Vietnam as this nation is one of the early signatories to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

ource of the funds

In order to raise fund for the class, the pupils in twos classes of grades 5/1 and 5/2 of the An Hiep 2 Elementary School, Chau Thanh County, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam had saved up to 47,800 VND [this amount is equivalent to US$3, whereas GDP per capita in Vietnam in 2006 is $650, but much lower in rural areas] (US$3) in a ceramic piggy bank. This fund would be spent for the small party when the school year ends as well as buying gifts for the gifted students.

Development of the event

In early morning of March 14, 2007, Lê Văn Xem, a teacher at this school, who is also the head of the school's Ho Chi Minh Teenager Pioneer Team [This Team is a branch organization of the teenagers in direction of the Maxism and Leninism] called Huynh Thi Ngoc Tram and Hong Anh Thu, the vice monitors of 5/1 Grade and 5/2 Grade respectively, to the school office to question about the class fund before 2007 Tet but both two female pupils denied the theft.

By order of the school principal Lưu Văn Ca, at about 7:45 a.m. on March 14, 2007, when the whole class was taught by teacher Phan Thanh Danh, teacher Lê Văn Xem came in and asked to take Tram to the school office without giving any explanation. Teacher Lê Văn Xem then took both female pupils to the An Hiep Commune Police [Commune Police is the lowest level of public security in Vietnam] for investigation.

At the Commune Police, the sheriff, Mr. Lê Văn Thanh, who is the younger brother brother of Mr. Lê Văn Xem, together with his deputy Võ Thanh Phương , questioned both pupils in absence of the lawful guardians (in accordance with Vietnamese law on Protection, Care and Education of the Child of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam [Vietnamese: "Luật bảo vệ, chăm sóc và giáo dục trẻ em", law no.: 25/2004/QH11, approved at the XI session meeting of the National Assembly of Vietnam on June 15, 2004] and the Civil Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam [Vietnamese: "Bộ luật Dân sự", Law no.:45/2005/QH, approved by the XIV session meeting of the National Assembly of Vietnam on June 14, 2005] ) as these two girls were 10 years old at that time.

At this police office, Trâm was led to a separate room to write a report and was interrogated by the policemen. Tram was threatened to bear punishment if she denied their accusation and thus she had to sign the report confessing her theft under force. At 11 am of the same day, Tram was released home in a state of mentally trauma.

Some other sources of information showed that [ [http://diendan.edu.net.vn/forums/thread/329276.aspx Questioning a child for VND 47,800, Vietnamese only] ] , attendants to the interrogation also included Trần Văn Lang, vice chairperson of the Commune Peasant Society and Lê Thị Kim Em, chairperson of the Commune Women Organization.

Half a month after this interrogation, Trâm was still shocked and behaved herself mentally strange and refused to go to school, kept on crying and proved her constant anxiety of the police. "Tien Phong News", one of the most widely circulated newspapers in Vietnam, was the first newspaper to break the news in its article "A 10-year-old student in panic due to the doubt from her school principal of stealing VND 47.800" on Wednesday, April 4, 2007. The article made the event known in the whole country and drew attention from the public opinion and several other newspapers posted this news [Thieu nien tien phong (Teenager Pioneer) [http://www.tntp.org.vn/index.asp?progid=20002&newsid=9019&hsid=0&hcid=3] ] [Vietbao online [http://vietbao.vn/Giao-duc/Mot-em-gai-hoc-lop-5-hoang-loan-vi-bi-ep-cung/20680932/202/] ] . Public opinion in the country has shown concern for the protection of the rights of children and lack of capacities and law comprehension among local governmental executive officers.

Huỳnh Thị Ngọc Trâm

Tram is from a very poor family, to Huỳnh Văn Mười, her father and Nguyễn Thị Nga, her mother. They are living at 198, ward 4, An Hoà Village, An Hoà Commune, Chau Thanh County, Đồng Tháp Province, Vietnam. Their small house is made of a mixture of cheap materials like rotten wood, coconut leaves and corrugated iron, no more than a typical house in shantytowns.

Mr. Mười and Mrs. Nga earned their living by employment on a daily basis. They have to support their 70-year-old mother. Generally speaking, they belong to the poor class of the society. Tram's brother is learning at second grade as of 2007.

Huỳnh Thị Ngọc Trâm had been the laureate of well-behaved constest of the county in 2002. She had been the excellent student in her 5 consecutive years at school and therefore she was elected vice monitor of her class, in charge of the class learning achievements. She had been also the listed in the school gifted team for a talented student contest to be held in this district.

Opinions from the public and mass media

The child abuse case has drawn mass media investigations. The interrogators have been accused, by the public opinion, of the legal violation of the interrogators as they carried out the questioning in absence of the lawful guardians. This action showed their breach of rights of the child as specified in Vietnamese laws and Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Vietnam is one of the earliest signatories. Many has asked the relevant judiciary authorities to take legal actions against these interrogators, who has turned a normal young girl into a mentally traumatized patient.

*Madame Dang Huynh Mai, Assistant Minster of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam said: "…questioning a 10-year-old student in absence of her lawful guardian is a totally wrong and anti-educational", and she also added "our education is to turn the badness into the goodness, not to make a gifted student into a state of mentally panic", she apologized Tram and her family on behalf of the Ministry of the Education and Training of Vietnam.

*According to Mr. Nguyễn Quan A, the violation of Education Law of Vietnam, Law on Protection of Mother and the Child (Vietnam), Convention on the Rights of the Child, all passed or ratified by National Assembly of Vietnam has shown bad behavior of the involved persons as per Madame Dang Huynh Mai’s remarks. On the other hand, the case also shows that the traditional way Vietnamese teachers punish their students by applying several methods such as: beating, insulting, discriminating…is now no more legal and socially appropriate in the context that Vietnamese children are protected by laws and related international conventions to which Vietnam is a signatory. This illegal interrogations happened but no legal actions have been made to the involved persons in accordance with the laws. [Punishment to the students, Lao Dong Cuoi Tuan News, no. 16 dated 29 April 2007 retrieved: 5:59 AM, 29 April 2007]

*According to Madame Ninh Thị Hồng, Chief Inspector of Commission for Population, Family and Children, "We should take action, rather than keep waiting" "because this Commission is not only the advisory body to the National Assembly, but also a supervision organization, therefore, it is responsible to supervise, discover and to protect legitimate rights and benefits of the children, especially children being abused by the adults. Thus this commission would involve in this case, without waiting for lawsuit from her family, just simply a message, a phone call, a short request from a rumpled paper is enough for this Commission to assist the victim in finding their justice in accordance with the laws". [bad situations of rural students in Vietnam, retrieved on 01.05.2007 [http://vietnamville.ca/index.php?view=News&file=save&sid=439] ]

ome other typical mistreatments to students at schools and at work

According to Vietnamese tradition and practices, when the children make fault, it’s normal for their parents or teachers to apply physical punishment (where the proverb "spare the rod and spare the child" is applied), in the narrowest sense, like: beating them black and blue, torturing, cutting their food allowances...or mental punishment like insulting, threatening. In a typical case, a female teacher at Minh Quang Elementary School in Vu Thu County, Thai Binh Province ordered all students in her class to beat 10-year-old Tran Thi Ngoc just because she had forgotten to bring the class register. Tran Thi Ngoc had to be hospitalized following this torture. ["Which measure to be applied in replace of punishment in our education system ?" vi, released on Lao Động Newspaper, a trade union’s agency, no. 115 dated 22 May 2007. Retrieved at 10:28 PM, Vietnam Time on Monday, 21 May 2007 [http://www.laodong.com.vn/Utilities/PrintView.aspx?ID=37262] ]

20 students at Kpă KLơng Elementary School (Chư Ngọc, Krôngpa, Gia Lai Province) were beaten by their teacher Vũ Đình Phụng in the class during an exam, 2 of whom beaten had to be hospitalized. A student in an elementary school in Quang Binh Province was rushed by his teacher and had a severe brain trauma. Teacher Lê Thành Lưu - Tân Nhuận Đông Elementary (Châu Thành, Đồng Tháp Province) beat his students when they made minor faults. Teacher Nguyễn Thế Toàn (Lâm Hà, Lam Dong Province) slapped his student to and caused a severe ear injury. A student at Tran Phu High School (Hanoi) was beaten by her teacher in front of the class. A student committed suicide after being searched by the teacher. ["Which measure to be applied in replace of punishment in our education system ?" vi, released on Lao Động Newspaper, a trade union’s agency, no. 115 dated 22 May 2007. Retrieved at 10:28 PM, Vietnam Time on Monday, 21 May 2007 [http://www.laodong.com.vn/Utilities/PrintView.aspx?ID=37262] ]

Other typical child abuse cases in the schools also include: forcing students to go around in the school field, labelling a fault confessing stick in the fault-makers' breasts, sticking a ribbon in a student's mouth just because they made personal talk in the class, forcing all students to lick the her chair when the teacher's chair had been painted with chalk by someone in the class just for fun. ["Which measure to be applied in replace of punishment in our education system ?" vi, released on Lao Động Newspaper, a trade union’s agency, no. 115 dated 22 May 2007. Retrieved at 10:28 PM, Vietnam Time on Monday, 21 May 2007 [http://www.laodong.com.vn/Utilities/PrintView.aspx?ID=37262] ]

On 8 November 2007, a couple (owners of a Phở restaurant in in Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) was arrested for having tortured their 21-year-old female mate for 13 years since 1994 (when the girl was 8 years old) . Following a two-hour search, policemen seized an electric wire, a pincer and two sticks, which the accused had allegedly used to torture 21-year-old Nguyen Thi Binh since 1994. According to Thanh Nien News, the couple admitted they had regularly beaten Binh and, especially at here genitals, splashed hot water on her body, and forced her to kneel down to kick her in the mouth. The newspapers have shown an image of the tortured girl, whose severe scares on her body shock the public. Not until when the girl was rescued by a neighbors and reported to the police, did the couple be arrested by the local police. The case shocked the public and the members of the National Assembly [”Couple arrested for 13-year torture of young woman” on Thanh Nien News Online [http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=33221] ]

References and footnotes

External links

* [http://www.thanhniennews.com/education/?catid=4&newsid=31755Traumatized girl still in depression, refuses to attend school on Thanhniennews.com]
* [http://english.vietnamnet.vn/education/2007/05/696631/Alarming cases of teachers mistreating students on www.english.vietnamnet.vn]
* [http://vietnamlist.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html"Police threaten to torture 10-year-old girl" on "Vietnam Human Rights Journal]
* [http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFE/gfe/congress2003/asia.htm GPE 2003:Asia]