BC-Vietnam-Executions

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) _ The government is considering whether to abolish executions of prisoners by firing squad, state-controlled media reported Thursday.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai told several state agencies to find other means of execution and submit a proposal to him by the fourth quarter of this year, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.

The newspaper did not say what the alternatives might be.

Every year, Vietnam conducts more than 100 people executions. Human rights group have criticized it for issuing large numbers of death sentences and for using firing squads.

In 1997, Vietnam's lawmaking National Assembly reduced the number of offenses punishable by death from 44 to 29.

Khai's instructions were part of a wider plan to reform the justice system, the newspaper said.

He also told the Public Security Ministry to limit the detention of people who commit certain crimes and to shorten the investigation of less serious crimes in which there is clear evidence, it said.

The ministry was also instructed to upgrade prisons and detention facilities and prepare plans for the establishment of a special judicial police force to ensure security at trials, the newspaper said.

Last year, relatives of a defendant in a southern province chased the judge out of the courtroom because of displeasure over the judge's ruling.