The Ministry of Public Security (MPS, ) is a central governmental ministry and one of the biggest ministry of the

Government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (; less formally the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam, ) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet and the central Executive (government), executive arm of the Politics of Vietn ...

, performing the function of state management of

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

, order and social safety; counterintelligence; crime prevention investigation; fire prevention and rescue; execution of criminal judgments, judgment enforcement not subject to imprisonment, custody or temporary detention; legal protection and support; State management of public services in sectors and fields under the Ministry's state management. It is headed by the Minister of Public Security. The MPS manages the

Vietnam People's Public Security The People's Public Security of Vietnam (), alternatively the People's Public Security Forces (PPS; - CAND), also recognized as the Vietnamese police, Vietnamese Police or by its Vietnamese short name (), is the national police and the main ...

, the Vietnamese uniformed police forces - while also responsible for domestic civilian administrative management, similar to the role of a standard

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

(not to be confused with the Vietnam Ministry of Home Affairs). Col. Gen Lương Tam Quang is the current Minister of Vietnam's MPS.

History

The foundation of the MPS started on August 19, 1945, when the

Indochinese Communist Party The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) was a political party which was transformed from the old Vietnamese Communist Party () in October 1930. This party dissolved itself on 11 November 1945. It is considered the first stage in the history of th ...

formed three departments, consisting of the Security Service Bureau in Northern Vietnam, the Surveillance Service in central Vietnam, and the National Self-Defense Force Bureau in southern Vietnam. The three departments provided protection for Ho Chi Minh and other CPV leaders in time for September 2, 1945 when independence was declared for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. On February 21, 1945, Ho Chi Minh signed Decree 23, which unified the three bureaus into the Vietnam People's Police Department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Le Gian served as the first head of the MIA. The Sub-Ministry of Public Security was established in February 1953 when it was under North Vietnamese control after Ho Chi Minh signed Decree 141/SL. At the time of establishment, it formally had seven departments and divisions. After the Government Council was presided over from August 27 to 29 of 1953, the Sub-Ministry was updated to the Ministry of Public Security. In 1957, it first made official connections to the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

, the

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. From 1972, Stasi head

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East Germany, East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Sta ...

provided technical assistance to the MPS in improving its intelligence and

surveillance state Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by local and federal governments or governmental organizatio ...

operations throughout Vietnam, particularly after selected MPS personnel were sent to

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

for further training. On 12 June 1981, Decree 250/CP was signed, which defined the mandate of the Ministry of Interior. The Interior Minister then signed Decision 12-QD/BNV to prescribe the powers of the General Department of Police (GDP) with 12 subordinate units. The Ministry of Public Security received many titles such as

Hero of the People's Armed Forces The Hero of the People's Armed Forces () is an honorary designation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Criteria The title (and medal) of Hero of the People's Armed Force is awarded to individuals with "exceptionally outstanding achievements ...

13 times,

Gold Star Order (Vietnam) Gold Star Order () is the highest decoration in Vietnam awards and decorations awarded by the Government of Vietnam for a military or civil "personnel who completed exceptional service or organization established excellent achievement for the revol ...

and 88 Ho Chi Minh Orders.

Controversies

Following the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, the MPS imprisoned at least 200,000 to 300,000 former South Vietnamese military officers, government employees, and supporters of the former government of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

in re-education camps, where both physical torture and

mental abuse Psychological abuse, often known as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression ...

were common. The MPS has also played a role in the surveillance and persecution of

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

poets, writers, and

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

, and in the ongoing efforts to repress the Vietnamese democracy movement, especially since the 2006 foundation of Bloc 8406. For example, lawyer and

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activist Trần Quốc Hiền was sentenced in 2007 to five years imprisonment for "endangering state security", membership in Bloc 8406, and writing online articles titled, "The Tail", which critically described life under MPS surveillance.

Structure

The MPS is structured according to the following as of 2018: * Office of the Ministry of Public Security (V01) * Bureau of Foreign Affairs (V02) * Bureau of Legal Affairs and Judicial Reform (V03) * Bureau of Science, Strategy and History of the Public Security (V04) * Bureau of Construction of the Movement to Protect National Security (V05) * Bureau of Professional Records (V06) * Bureau of Organization and Personnel (X01) * Bureau of Training (X02) * Bureau of Party and Political Affairs (X03) * Bureau of Communication of People's Public Security (X04) * Inspector of the Ministry of Public Security (X05) * Central Public Security Party Committee Inspection Committee Organ (X06) * Bureau of Foreign Security (A01) * Bureau of Homeland Security (A02) * Bureau of Internal Political Security (A03) * Bureau of Economic Security (A04) * Bureau of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control (A05) * Bureau of Technical Services (A06) * Bureau of External Affairs (A07) * Bureau of Immigration (A08) * Bureau of Investigation Security (A09) * Bureau of Information Processing and Intelligence Support (B01) * Bureau of Asia Intelligence (B02) * Bureau of Americas, Europe, and Africa Intelligence (B03) * Bureau of Secret Intelligence (B04) * Bureau of Economic, Scientific, Technical and Environmental Intelligence (B05) * Office of the Police Investigation Agency (C01) * Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (C02) * Police Bureau of Corruption, Economy, and Smuggling Investigation (C03) * Bureau of Counter-Narcotics Police (C04) * Police Bureau of Environmental Crime Prevention (C05) * Police Bureau for Administrative Management of Social Order (C06) * Police Bureau of Fire Prevention and Rescue (C07) * Bureau of Traffic Police (C08) * Police Bureau for Managing Prisons, Compulsory education institutions, and Reform school (C10) * Police Bureau for Managing Custody, Temporary detention and Criminal judgment Execution in the Community (C11) * Bureau of Planning and Finance (H01) * Bureau of Equipment and Logistics (H03) * Bureau of Construction Management and Barracks (H02) * Bureau of Telecommunications and Cipher (H04) * Bureau of Information Technology (H05) * Bureau of Health (H06) * Bureau of Logistics (H07) * Bureau of Security Industry (H08) * VIP Protection Command (K01) (Bureau-level equivalent with the task of protecting high-ranking officials of the Party and Government of Vietnam, heads of state and international guests visiting and working in Vietnam, working areas, activities, and conferences of the Party and the Government of Vietnam) * Mobile Police Command (K02) (Bureau level equivalent with the task of implementing armed measures to protect national security and maintain order and social safety as the Ministry's police tactical unit) * International Academy (B06) * Vietnam People's Security Academy (T01/C500) * Vietnam People's Police Academy (T02/T18/T32) * Vietnam People's Public Security Political Academy (T03/T29) * Vietnam People's Security University (T04/T47) * Vietnam People's Police University (T05/T48) * Vietnam Police Fire Prevention and Fighting University (T06/K56) * Vietnam Technical - Logistics People's Public Security University (T07/T36) * Vietnam People's Security College I (T08) * Vietnam People's Police College I (T09) * Vietnam People's Police College II (T10) * Institute of Criminal Science (C09) * Institute of Science and Technology (H09) * Hospital 19th of August * Hospital 30th of April * Hospital One Nine-Nine - 199 * Traditional Medicine Hospital

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Public Security Of Vietnam

Public Security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

Law enforcement in Vietnam

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Political repression in Vietnam