imprisonment. The author was also to be expelled from Sweden after having served his sentence. The author was released from prison on 12 October 1998 and is at present awaiting expulsion to Viet Nam. 3.2 The author states that his father was a high ranking military officer in the South Vietnamese Army until he was murdered by the Viet Cong in 1970. The author states that in 1975, when the North Vietnamese came to power in Viet Nam, he was no longer allowed to continue his primary education as he was the son of a South Vietnamese soldier. In his early twenties, the author, together with a small group of like-minded friends, created a resistence movement to work against the Communist regime. Its activities consisted mainly in producing and putting up anti-Government posters at night. 3.3 The author alleges that he was arrested and sent to a work camp, where he and many other children of South Vietnamese military personnel had to clear minefields. According to the author, many were either killed or injured. After one month, the author managed to escape and resumed his activities with the resistance, in hiding. 3.4 In 1985, after one year in hiding, the author was again arrested. According to the author, he was tortured during interrogation. The torture included beatings with rifles on his chest until he lost consciousness. The author further alleges that rifle barrels were put into his mouth and that he was threatened with death. The torture continued for several days, until the author was taken to hospital. Despite the fact that the author was tied up with rope to his hospital bed, he managed to escape. The author's submission includes a medical certificate dated 1 April 1999 from the Unit for War and Torture Injuries in Gothenburg, which states that the author's account appears credible and that the author "with great probability has been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment and torture in his home country". Between September 1985 and August 1988, the author, together with his wife, hid in the mountains. 3.5 In August 1988 the author, his wife, their child and other compatriots managed to leave Viet Nam by boat. While still in Vietnamese territorial waters, they were intercepted by the military who attempted to prevent them from leaving the country, which resulted in shots being fired on both sides. Many of the fugitives were wounded. The author states that he believes that some of the soldiers were also wounded and probably killed. 3.6 The author and his family eventually reached the Philippines on 25 August 1988 where they stayed in a refugee camp. With the assistance of UNHCR, the author and his family were accepted as so-called quota refugees by Sweden and received permanent residence permits in 1991. 3.7 In 1995, the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden sentenced the author to five years' imprisonment, to be followed by permanent expulsion from Sweden. The author was released from prison on 12 October 1998. On 26 January 1999 the Swedish Minister of Justice, at the request of UNHCR, decided to stay the execution of the expulsion order to allow UNHCR to pronounce on the compatibility of an expulsion with article 33.2 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Statut of Refugees. 3.8 In order to support their individual submissions, both authors refer to the general human rights situation in Viet Nam, noting that Amnesty International is not allowed to work in Viet Nam and that it is therefore difficult to establish clear evidence of the extent to which torture is being used in the country. However, the view of Amnesty International is that torture by the police during detention and in prisons is common. 135