(September 27, 2010) Vietnamese Catholics are seeking a total abolition of the death
penalty amid reforms made by the government proposing a more “humane” execution method.
The Criminal Sentence Enforcement Bill is to replace firing squads with lethal injections,
with lawmakers saying they consider this a more humane method of execution. The bill
approved by the National Assembly is to take effect on July 1, 2011. Lawmakers said
lethal injections are less painful for people being executed and keep their bodies
intact. It also costs less and reduces psychological pressure on the executioners.
Although the local Church has not officially expressed its views on the matter, some
Catholics told Ucanews agency that the death penalty is atrocious and should be abolished
altogether. “The lethal injection method also kills,” said Father Pierre Phan Khac
Tu, pastor of the Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Ho Chi Minh City. Changing one form
of execution with another doesn’t change the “inhumanity of the punishment,” he noted.
Father Tu added that a caring society should give prisoners opportunities to return
to live a good life. A Catholic doctor said life has to be protected and respected
since it is God’s gift, reflecting the Catholic Church’s view on death penalty. Death
penalty statistics are not released by the government. However, the country’s courts
handed down 59 death sentences in 2008 but only 19 were carried out, according to
Amnesty International.