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VI. Violations of National and International Standards

It is the responsibility of the State, society, the family and the citizen to ensure care and protection for women and children.
—Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1992, article 40

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are the two key international agreements to which Vietnam is party, establishing the standards by which street children, and in particular street children in detention, should be treated.²⁰⁵ These treaties are supplemented by other international instruments developing these standards. They include the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (The UN Rules) and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules) which, while not legally binding, provide authoritative guidance on the scope and application of states’ international legal obligations regarding the treatment of children in detention or in conflict with the law.²⁰⁶ Standards applicable to all in detention, including the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, are also relevant to Vietnam’s treatment of detained street children.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out that the core guiding principle in all state action concerning children that the best interest of the child be the primary consideration. ²⁰⁷ It also specifically provides that children separated from their families or deprived of their family environment are “entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State.”²⁰⁸

Vietnam’s Constitution contains several provisions that abide by the basic principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 64 states that the state and society shall recognize no discrimination among children. Article 65 states that children shall enjoy protection, care, and education by the family, the state and the society. Article 71 asserts that all citizens shall enjoy the protection of the law with regard to their life, health, honor, and dignity and strictly forbids the use of all forms of harassment, coercion, torture, and violation of a citizen’s honor and dignity. ²⁰⁹

Vietnam’s 2004 Law on Child Protection, Care and Education provides for many fundamental rights and protections for all children. Specifically, it prohibits torture and mistreatment of children, and corporal punishment of juvenile offenders.²¹⁰ It also provides for the rights to be cared for and brought up to develop physically, intellectually, mentally and ethically; the right to live with parents; the right to health care and to study; and the right to be respected and have ones life, body, dignity, and honor protected.²¹¹ The Law on Child Protection states that the government is responsible for “adopt[ing] policies and creat[ing] conditions for disadvantaged children to enjoy children’s rights” including providing support and encouragement to families, individuals, and organizations to ensure that all disadvantaged children are cared for.²¹²