The role of police in the anti-corruption efforts of the Vietnamese government and measures to make police officers accountable, efficient, and professional were discussed at a dialogue on police integrity held on Tuesday in Da Nang.

The event was jointly organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), according to a press release issued by the UNDOC the same day.  Zhuldyz Akisheva, UNODC Country Manager, and Senior Lieutenant General Dang Van Hieu, Standing Deputy Minister of the MPS, co-chaired the dialogue.

Ms.Zhuldyz Akisheva, UNODC Country Manager in Vietnam, speaks at a workshop in Da Nang, central Vietnam, on August 26, 2014.

Viet Nam’s criminal police force has investigated 1,378 corruption and economic offence cases since 2011, according to a report from the Public Security Ministry's Anti-Corruption Department.  The investigations, which focused on 3,450 offenders, reclaimed VND4.14 trillion (US$197 million) for the State budget. Corruption cases accounted for 46.5 per cent, according to a report by the People’s Supreme Court.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Dang Yen, head of the department, said the police force had improved their capacity to investigate corruption cases.  “We uncovered serious violations such as those at the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) as well as the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Finance Leasing Company," Yen said. "The successful investigation of corruption cases has a positive impact on public opinion and prevents corruption.”

“The topic of this workshop is of great importance for Viet Nam as well as for other countries since an effective, professional and accountable law enforcement and justice system is a key component of the rule of law, good governance and of effective protection of human rights,” said Z. Akisheva.

Akisheva singled out the current revisions of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, which aim to strengthen the legal basis for fighting corruption.

"In this context, the Ministry of Public Security's work on police integrity is timely and should be considered an important contribution to the ongoing national efforts to address corruption," she said.

She also referred to the recent Universal Periodic Review process of Viet Nam, which made several human rights recommendations for the Government.

Chief Superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Evelyn Lam, Australian Federal Police Senior Liaison Officer to Viet Nam Commander Chris McDevitt, and representatives of the Netherlands Police also participated in the one-day workshop.

(Source: VNS/ tuoitrenews)