the regime of management and use of state assets, causing loss and waste; denouncing the collection and expenditure of finance, management and use of budget and funds lacking transparency and not in accordance with regulations; denouncing the rights of home buyers in some unlicensed apartment projects and houses in resorts; denouncing officials and civil servants who recruit, promote, and appoint relatives, people who do not meet the conditions and standards, violate the principle of democratic centralism, prejudice, and suppress people who give opinions, criticize, and report violations in agencies and units... In reality, through denouncing and resolving those denunciations, it has created a basis and contributed to the investigation and trial of many typical and major cases on the crimes of "Violating regulations on land management", "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste", "Accepting bribes", "Taking advantage of positions and powers to influence others for personal gain", "Violating regulations on bidding causing serious consequences"... occurring in a number of fields and localities in recent times.
- In recent times, not only have there been individual denunciations but also many complicated mass denunciations. There have been mass cases involving both complaints, lawsuits, and claims for rights, as well as collective and individual denunciations of violations, with requests for consideration and handling. In general, mass, complicated, and pressing cases are often related to compensation, support, site clearance, and land recovery for socio-economic development projects; conversion of market management models, construction of markets, and commercial centers; environmental protection, construction of waste and waste treatment areas, and discharge of waste by enterprises in some industrial parks, planning and construction of cemeteries, exploitation of natural resources and minerals; denunciations of officials showing signs of corruption and violating state regulations, etc.
- In many cases, the content of complaints about administrative decisions and legally effective judgments has been changed to denouncing the person who resolved them. Even at the Central Citizen Reception Office, there are some large groups of people who, starting from complaints that did not achieve their purpose, have turned to denouncing the person who resolved them with an attitude of
fierce, indignant; many cases, although received many times by the Headquarters and given instructions by the Prime Minister, did not return to their localities to be resolved according to the provisions of law, but continued to file long-term complaints in Hanoi, causing insecurity and disorder [34].
- The work of receiving citizens and handling petitions has made much progress. Many units have promoted the application of information technology, using the National Database of Complaints and Denunciations software or each unit's own software; using online television, especially during the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic and implementing social distancing according to the Prime Minister's directive. Thereby creating favorable conditions for people to exercise their right to complain, denounce, make recommendations and reflect, while limiting duplication and transferring petitions in a circular manner and helping agencies conveniently manage, monitor, compile statistics and synthesize information about the case.
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- The work of handling complaints and denunciations in general and handling denunciations in particular has received attention, and the quality of handling has continued to improve. Many localities have had new and democratic ways of handling complaints and denunciations with the participation of representatives of Party committees and organizations in handling complaints and denunciations, such as establishing an Advisory Council to handle complaints and denunciations, thereby handling them in accordance with the law, with reason and emotion, and settling many cases right from the grassroots level. The rate of handling denunciations under the authority has reached a high rate, such as in 2020, the rate was 87.5%, higher than the set target (85%). The rate of implementing decisions and conclusions on handling complaints and denunciations has been high, in 2020, complaints reached 99.2%, denunciations reached 97.5%, higher than the set target (90%) and much higher than in 2019 (complaints 84.6%, denunciations 89.3%) [38].
- In addition to the achieved results, the work of receiving citizens and resolving complaints and denunciations still has certain shortcomings and limitations, the quality and effectiveness of the work of receiving citizens is not high; the work of handling petitions and letters is still slow, violations of procedures, overlaps, and errors in the work of handling petitions and letters still exist. The settlement of some complaints and denunciations is still slow, with many errors, especially at the grassroots level. According to the analysis of the results of the second complaint settlement, 27.8% of the first settlement decisions had to be revised or canceled; analysis of the results of the denunciation settlement
The results showed that 12.9% of the continued denunciations were correct and 25.7% of the continued denunciations were either correct or incorrect. Some localities have not actively reviewed and resolved complicated and pending complaints and denunciations. In some cases, incorrect or inappropriate settlements were discovered, but they were avoided, pushed back, and not bold enough to correct or re-settle; or they were slow to implement the conclusions and instructions of the Head of the Prime Minister's Working Group. The coordination in resolving some cases is still limited, inadequate and not strict; in some cases, agencies still have different opinions and lack of consensus, leading to slow resolution of cases, affecting the rights and legitimate interests of individuals, citizens and organizations [38].
3.3.1.2. Handling of anonymous complaints
According to current law, individual denunciations must be made in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the 2018 Law on Denunciation. In particular, according to Point a, Clause 2, Article 9 of the 2018 Law on Denunciation, the denouncer is obliged to provide personal information as prescribed in Article 23 of this Law. Specifically: date, month, year of denunciation; full name, address of the denouncer, method of contacting the denouncer; the denounced illegal act; the denounced person and other relevant information. In case many people make denunciations about the same content, they must also provide information about the full name, address, method of contacting each denouncer; full name of the representative of the denouncers.
For information containing denunciations but the name and address of the denouncer are not clear, or after checking and verifying, the denouncer cannot be identified, or the denouncer uses another person's name to denounce, or information containing denunciations is not reflected in the form prescribed in Article 22 of the Law on Denunciations (by petition or direct presentation), it will not be handled according to the provisions of the Law on Denunciations (according to Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Denunciations 2018). Thus, currently, the Law on Denunciations does not recognize anonymous denunciations (anonymous denunciations, without the full name and address of the denouncer), anonymous denunciations are not considered, handled, or resolved according to the order and procedures for resolving denunciations. This is to avoid the situation of taking advantage of denunciations to slander, defame, or insult honor, dignity, or
reputation of individuals, agencies, organizations, causing internal disturbances, negatively affecting the normal operations of agencies, organizations, and units. Ensure that denunciations are made responsibly, in accordance with the provisions of law, for the common good. The practice of handling petitions in recent times has also shown that anonymous denunciations often arise or arise frequently on occasions of promotion and appointment of cadres, civil servants, and public employees in agencies, organizations, and units, when implementing personnel procedures, preparing for Party Congresses at all levels, elections for the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels, etc.
However, in order not to miss the source of information reflecting, detecting violations of the law, corruption, negativity, contributing to promoting the fight, prevention and handling, according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 25 of the 2018 Law on Denunciation, information with denunciation content but the full name and address of the denouncer are not clear or after inspection and verification, the denouncer cannot be identified or the denouncer uses the full name of another person to denounce or information with denunciation content is reflected not in the form prescribed in Article 22 of the Law but has clear content about the person who has violated the law, has specific documents and evidence of the violation of the law and has a basis for examination and verification, the receiving agency, organization or individual shall conduct an inspection and examination according to its authority or transfer it to a competent agency, organization or individual to conduct an inspection and examination to serve the management work.
In fact, in addition to anonymous denunciations that are slanderous, defamatory, and cause internal disturbances, with profit motives that are unhealthy and lacking transparency, there are also many cases where the denouncer, for fear of retaliation, has hidden his name and address but has provided specific, well-founded information, documents, and evidence about illegal, corrupt, and negative acts. From there, through understanding the situation, the authorities have conducted verification, inspection, and audit when there are signs of violations of the law. In the past, there have been a number of major, serious violations that have been inspected, investigated, clarified, and strictly handled, originating from well-founded anonymous denunciations.
Regarding the reception and handling of anonymous denunciations, a survey of the handling of denunciations at the Central Citizen Reception Committee from 2018 to present shows that each month the unit receives about 30 - 45 anonymous denunciations, in 2018: over 440 denunciations, in 2019: over 540 denunciations, in 2020: over 380 denunciations, January - September 2021: over 180 denunciations. For some denunciations that do not state the name and address of the petitioner but have clear and specific content, the Committee has forwarded the petition or reported and proposed that the leader forward the petition to the competent authority for research and consideration according to regulations.
The above situation shows that anonymous denunciation is an objective reality, therefore, it is necessary to have thorough research and assessment to build a suitable mechanism for receiving, processing and resolving to meet the requirements of preventing and combating corruption, law violations and protecting whistleblowers.
3.3.2. The situation of whistleblowers being threatened, retaliated against, and persecuted in recent times
According to the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer Survey on Vietnamese people's views and experiences with corruption, only 38% of respondents were willing to report corruption, 51% of people were afraid that reporting corruption would not change anything, and 28% were afraid of suffering the consequences [120].
According to a survey by the Government Inspectorate and the World Bank, 62% of respondents said that the reason they did not report corruption was "fear of retaliation" [127, p.68]. According to the results of a 2020 investigation and survey by the Institute of Strategy and Science of Inspection - Government Inspectorate on the difficulties and obstacles of people when reflecting, making recommendations, and providing information about acts of corruption, waste, and negativity by officials and civil servants, 48.2% of respondents said they encountered difficulties and obstacles; among those difficulties and obstacles, "fear of having personal information disclosed" accounted for 50.6%, "fear of retaliation, persecution" accounted for 72.2%... [148].
In reality, the phenomenon of whistleblowers being threatened, retaliated against, and persecuted is not just a few isolated incidents, but occurs in many different forms and manifestations, even in serious cases, causing outrage among the people and society. This is a very sophisticated form of revenge against whistleblowers, not only in the short term but also in the long term; not only through violence but also through many
other more sophisticated forms. In addition to being threatened and physically abused, whistleblowers are also discriminated against. Some are accused of causing disunity and internal disorder, are rarely recognized, and are very difficult to commend or honor [10]. There are many cases of being beaten; some are fired or forced to quit their jobs; some are farmers who denounce corruption, their crops are destroyed, their children's lives are threatened, and their relatives are in a state of mental panic; some wives of anti-corruption fighters die because they cannot bear the pressure of the threats; some have their houses bombed or killed. Some people are "terrorized" with wreaths, there are cases where parents who fight against corruption have their children persecuted, not appointed, or fired;...
According to the results of the 2020 investigation and survey by the Institute of Strategy and Inspection Science, which surveyed officials and civil servants about manifestations of threats, retaliation, and suppression of people who reflect, make recommendations, and provide information about acts of corruption, waste, and negativity of officials and civil servants, it was found that: 49.9% of respondents said that there were manifestations of dismissal, removal from office, and transfer of work positions; 34.4% of respondents said that there were manifestations of threats/violations of life and health; 27.5% of respondents said that there were manifestations of threats/violations of property; 39.8% of respondents said that there were manifestations of threats/violations of honor and dignity [148].
Some cases where whistleblowers are threatened, retaliated against, and persecuted:
- Ms. NTH, Yen Phu ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi denounced a number of violations related to land management, use, illegal construction on agricultural land, and construction investment in the area. Ms. H was threatened, mentally terrorized, threatened to kill her whole family, her house was often dumped with feces, dead rats were thrown, homemade mines were thrown at her, she was involved in traffic accidents, and was seriously beaten... [8], [56].
- Mr. LTL accused Mr. Tran Van Khanh, General Director of the Agricultural Materials Corporation of violations such as: waste in buying and renting cars, managing and using the house at 28 Bis Mac Dinh Chi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City; loss in buying and selling agricultural materials... Mr. L was threatened, persecuted, suspended from work, had his current policies and benefits cut, his salary reduced, and his transfer to another company.
change of job position, forced to carry out procedures to force resignation… [8].
- Ms. DTMA, Cai Rang District, Can Tho City discovered and denounced many violations of the leaders of the Team and the City Urban Construction Company, such as: embezzlement of assets, bribery, purchase of value-added tax invoices... The authorities of Can Tho City inspected and concluded, proposed to recover the embezzled assets and discipline the violating individuals. However, Ms. A was repressed and retaliated by being transferred to a job more than 50 km away from her residence, with very difficult living conditions, hard work, low income, and discrimination from everyone [8].
- Mr. NKH, Phu Phong commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province denounced land corruption and illegal fund establishment in Phu Phong commune, Huong Khe district. Mr. H and those who fought with him against corruption were retaliated against such as: draining rice fields; putting pesticides in fish ponds; sprinkling glass shards in rice fields; throwing bricks and stones at houses; censuring his wife for "being a party member who did not know how to educate her husband to file a complaint"; cutting off electricity... The commune and district authorities also forcibly reclaimed land reclaimed before 1993 from his family [8].
- Mr. NVV, Buoi Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, denounced a number of land violations in the district. Mr. V was classified by the ward and district authorities as a "troublemaker" at the grassroots level, and was followed, bribed, pressured and threatened, affecting his family life and the work of his children [8].
- Mr. NVH, Can Tho City, denounced the violations that occurred at the City Labor Federation, such as: embezzlement of Tet support money for workers in the Export Processing Zone; withholding 400 million VND in charity to support victims of the collapse of the Can Tho bridge approach road; illegal collection and disbursement of funds; spending on entertainment exceeding the standard; repressing anti-corruption officials... Mr. H was mentally terrorized, threatened with beatings, repressed, transferred to another job and placed in a redundant position with no job [8].
- Ms. PTHH, Ward 7, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City accused Mr. Le Minh Dien - Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Le Van Dong - General Director of Sugarcane Corporation 2 of committing fraud and creating fake documents to get compensation money.
State compensation; Tuy Hoa Islet project and Xuan Loc Islet project have many irregularities; using public land against State regulations; there are signs of irregularities in the compensation price of 35.5 billion VND at 34-35 Ben Van Don, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City... In the process of fighting corruption, Ms. H was persecuted, removed from the position of Chief Accountant, transferred from accounting to general affairs, assigned tasks with the purpose of insulting, causing mental frustration, leading to resistance and loss of autonomy, creating an excuse for dismissal. Corrupt subjects and related subjects came up with a sophisticated "scenario" to incite Ms. H to leave the agency and strip her of all the regimes and policies of more than 25 years of work [8].
- Mr. PTB, Nghia Do ward, Cau Giay district, Hanoi denounced negativity and land corruption in Nghia Do ward. Hanoi city has handled the case, disciplined many officials who violated the law in Cau Giay district and Nghia Do ward; and recovered the occupied land area. After sending a petition reflecting negativity and corruption in the ward, Mr. B was dismissed from his position and dismissed from his position. He was also insulted, humiliated, had feces poured into his house, threatened to be beaten, slashed, etc. [8].
- Ms. BTTh accused Mr. Pham Quang Huy, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Traditional Medicine and Pharmacy Joint Stock Company of Hoa Binh province of violating tax laws and defrauding tax payments. Ms. Th was persecuted by being dismissed, having her salary reduced, having her work infrastructure reduced, having her legitimate benefits cut off, and was constantly threatened with retaliation [8].
- Ms. NTĐ, Kien Giang province denounced negativity and corruption in the agency. The case was concluded and the offending officials were disciplined. However, Ms. Đ was also brought up for review and proposed to be disciplined for “causing internal disunity”. Because Ms. Đ was accused of “causing internal disturbance”, her son, an employee of a local agency, was forced to quit his job [8].
- Mr. D.XS, Ho Chi Minh City sent a complaint about the illegal acts of Director of Hoang Hai Company, Ngo Quang Truong, to the authorities and many news agencies and newspapers. To cover up the evidence, Director Ngo Quang Truong hired gangsters to kill Mr. S [8].