© 2022 Nhac Nguyen/Getty Images(Bangkok) – Vietnamese authorities should reject proposed revisions to the penal code that violate basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should instead amend the law to comply with international human rights standards. However, in the draft revised code, the lightest form of punishment is a monetary fine no matter how minor the infraction. The draft revised penal code reduces the total number of crimes punishable with the death sentence from 10 to 4: treason, murder, drug manufacturing, and terrorism. Vietnam should use this opportunity to abolish capital punishment altogether, Human Rights Watch said.