What regulations must be followed by prisoners in detention facilities in Vietnam?

What regulations must be followed by prisoners in detention facilities in Vietnam? - image from internet

In the detention facilities, prisoners must follow the following regulations under Article 1 of the Regulation issued together with Circular 17/2020/TT-BCA:

- The prisoners must strictly obey the verdict and decisions of the Court, the regulations of the law, the management regime, and the education and reformation of prisoners. They must absolutely follow the orders and instructions of the detention facility's officers, acknowledge their crimes, repent, voluntarily rehabilitate themselves, correct their mistakes, and help other prisoners progress to become useful members of society.

- They must respect and voluntarily adhere to a disciplined and orderly lifestyle, activities, studying, and labor. They are responsible for fighting against, preventing, and reporting any violations of the law or the Internal Rules of the detention facility committed by themselves or others.

- They must comply with the regulations on time, orders, and rituals in activities such as daily life, studying, labor, rest, cultural and artistic activities, physical education, sports, and recreational activities. They must strictly follow the management, inspection, control, daily roll call, and attendance. In the event of an assembly order, they must quickly line up according to teams (groups), wear neat clothes, and maintain order. In case of an alarm or unexpected incident, they must maintain their positions and strictly obey the orders and instructions of the officers.

When entering or leaving the gates of the detention facility, they must remove their hats and hold them in their right hand, clearly state their name, team (group) to the responsible officer. If they are moving with a team (group), they must walk in pairs; those on the right side hold their hats in their right hand, and those on the left side hold their hats in their left hand. The team (group) leader must report the team's (group's) name and number of people to the responsible officer.

- They must stay in the designated position in the cell, sleep, rest at the scheduled time, maintain personal hygiene, cleanliness of the cell, and public areas. At the designated time, prisoners receive their meals and must eat in the designated area while maintaining hygiene and food safety.

- In communication, prisoners are only allowed to use Vietnamese, except for foreign prisoners or ethnic minorities who do not know Vietnamese. Prisoners address officers as "I" and "officer," and guests or visitors as "I" and "esteemed guest." In studying, labor, vocational training, conferences, competitions, ceremonies, and collective activities, prisoners address each other as "I," "Mr" or "Miss". Depending on age or family relationship, they may address and communicate with each other appropriately according to Vietnamese customs and traditions.

When encountering officers or visitors, prisoners must stand respectfully at a distance of 5 to 7 meters, remove their hats and hold them in their right hand, and greet with "Hello, officer" or "Hello, esteemed guest." If a team (group) of prisoners encounters officers or visitors, the team (group) leader must command everyone to stand respectfully, remove their hats and hold them in their right hand, and on behalf of the prisoner collective, greet with "Hello, officer" or "Hello, esteemed guest."

- Upon entering the detention facility, prisoners will be provided with clothes, blankets, curtains, towels, face masks, and slippers by the facility. They will also receive 2 sets of regular clothes, 1 personal fabric pillow, a plastic cup, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a plastic comb, plastic hair clips, approved books and newspapers, white paper, pens as regulated, plastic-framed eyeglasses, and prescribed medication from the facility's medical staff. Female prisoners will be provided with feminine hygiene products, and if they have children staying with them in the facility, they will receive necessary items for their children as well. All personal belongings must be neatly folded, arranged, and kept clean and tidy in their designated storage space.

The clothing worn by prisoners (except for undergarments) must be stamped with the word "prisoner" on the front of the pants and the back of the shirt. When encountering officers, participating in group activities, working, attending vocational training, entering or leaving the gates of the detention facility, or when allowed to meet with family members or interact with guests or outsiders, prisoners must wear neat and clean clothes provided by the facility. Male prisoners must have short hair, and female prisoners must have their hair neatly arranged.

- Prisoners can use the money deposited in their account at the detention facility to purchase additional food and necessary items for their personal life and study, as regulated by the facility. If prisoners need material support from each other, they must request and receive approval from the responsible officer.

Valuables such as gold, silver, foreign currency, Vietnamese currency, stocks, bonds, bank cards, watches, rare jewelry, machinery, equipment, ID cards, identity cards, household registration books, passports, diplomas, certificates, and other valuable documents or unused clothes must be deposited at the detention facility. If prisoners wish, the head of the detention facility can hand over these assets to their family members.

- Prisoners must work, learn a trade in the designated area, strictly adhere to discipline, occupational safety, and hygiene regulations, actively participate in work and vocational training under the guidance of officers, and not hinder the work of others. If prisoners are sick or have a medical condition confirmed by the facility's medical staff, they are allowed to rest from work. They must take responsibility for protecting the property of the detention facility, themselves, and others, and report any infringement of property to the facility's officers in a timely manner.

Prisoners must strictly follow the guidance of officers in participating in educational programs, studying, cultural and artistic activities, physical education, sports, and recreational activities. Outside of scheduled educational, study, work, and communal activities, prisoners of religious beliefs are allowed to use printed religious scriptures published and legally distributed once a week. Prisoners of religious beliefs must register with the detention facility for the use of religious scriptures and express their personal religious beliefs at the designated location and time determined by the head of the detention facility, without affecting others. The detention facility is responsible for managing and inspecting the religious scriptures before allowing prisoners to use them.

Best regards!