GVN OFFICIAL SAYS INL-FUNDED OPDAT TRAINING "IMPROVED

UNCLAS HANOI 000484 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INL/AAE - SANI SADAGHIANI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM SNAR PGOV VM SUBJECT: GVN OFFICIAL SAYS INL-FUNDED OPDAT TRAINING "IMPROVED JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE" ¶1. (SBU) On March 7, Poloff discussed the results of INL-funded OPDAT training with Nguyen Hai Phong, Director of the Supreme People's Procuracy's Department for Crimes and Drug Cases. Phong is also a member of the National Assembly. The OPDAT training consisted of two week-long seminars held in June 2005 and 2006. Attendees were prosecutors, judges and investigators from the central and provincial levels. ¶2. (SBU) According to Phong, participants in the workshops subsequently showed marked improvement in their job performance. Thanks to the training, they were cognizant of new techniques and information and were able to apply them to their work. As a result, during investigations, prosecutors "avoided both committing injustices and mistakenly releasing perpetrators." Phong mentioned that workshop attendees have since been singled out to work on particularly important cases, such as the recent drug trafficking convictions of Trinh Nguyen Thuy and his associates (septel). By means of these courses, the attendees "broadened the way they view the world" and have a more international perspective as it relates to their work. ¶3. (SBU) Training materials provided during the courses have been dispersed widely among colleagues who did not attend the courses. The materials have also become a major element in the training systems of Vietnam's legal academies. Phong said he would welcome additional opportunities to share experience with the United States in this area. MARINE