Vietnam will begin extraditing people found guilty of offenses relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the government said Monday.

The government recently proposed to President Nguyen Minh Triet that these crimes are recognized as extraditable offenses according to the first four paragraphs of Article 5 in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The protocol, which came into force in January 2002, was developed to extend governments’ measures to achieve the purposes of the convention.

In September 2001, the Vietnamese president signed the protocol but made a reservation on the four paragraphs of Article 5 relating to extradition between state parties because the country was not part of any multilateral extradition treaty then.

It has become a party to many extradition accords since then, and the government feels the reservation can be lifted now.

This would be in line with strengthening international cooperation to take advantage of other states’ support in fighting child trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography, the government said.

Vietnam has launched many child protection programs, especially to fight those crimes, it noted.

Reported by Thuy Vi