Deputy Foreign Minister Rejects False Reports on Human Rights in Vietnam

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet, reports from United Nations agencies and relevant parties on Vietnam contain a lot of content built on unverified information, giving subjective assessments of the situation in Vietnam.

Thứ trưởng Ngoại giao bác bỏ các báo cáo sai lệch về quyền con người ở Việt Nam

Deputy Foreign Minister disagrees with false reports on human rights in Vietnam. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

The above information was stated by the Deputy Minister at a press conference to announce the national report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle 4 mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the afternoon of April 15. Also at the press conference, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet answered many questions from reporters related to the UPR cycle 4 report.

The UPR is one of the most important mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, with the task of reviewing the human rights situation in all United Nations member countries, thereby promoting countries to fully implement their obligations and commitments on human rights based on the principles of dialogue, cooperation, equality, objectivity and transparency.

Many contents are unverified and lack objectivity.

Regarding the request for comments on reports of United Nations agencies and relevant parties on Vietnam under the UPR mechanism of the fourth cycle, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet said that regarding the reports of United Nations organizations in Vietnam, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam made a statement on April 11.

The Deputy Minister stated that one of the fundamental principles of modern international relations and enshrined in the United Nations Charter is the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries. And one of the fundamental principles of Vietnam's relations with countries around the world is respect for each other's political regimes.

"I resolutely reject any opinions, proposals, or recommendations that violate this rule," the Deputy Minister emphasized.

Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet clearly stated that he did not agree with many other opinions in the report. According to him, the reports contained many contents based on unverified information, giving subjective assessments of the situation in Vietnam.

Accordingly, Vietnam organized many consultation workshops to gather opinions, but the organizations did not participate in that process, and were not even present in Vietnam, but they sent a lot of information with incorrect assessments of the situation in Vietnam.

“For Vietnam's national report, we had a very extensive consultation process with all relevant stakeholders to strengthen and develop Vietnam's report," the Deputy Minister said.

On the contrary, all other reports of UN agencies are not conducted openly, transparently, and are not fully consulted as Vietnam does with its national reports. The Deputy Minister emphasized that Vietnam is absolutely not allowed to participate in any consultation on the content of those reports.

"While we are very transparent, public, and ensure inclusiveness with the participation of all stakeholders, other reports are not conducted in the same way," Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet affirmed.

The leader of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized the principles when conducting the UPR are "dialogue, equality, objectivity and transparency", and at the same time, hoped that international organizations and diplomatic missions of countries would carefully consider when using information in reports and use verified sources of information.

"The ambassadors - those who are directly present in Vietnam, witnessing the changes, developments and progress of Vietnam every day, every hour - will bring the most complete and objective information to the Governments in the process of exchanging and making recommendations for Vietnam at the Human Rights Council in the coming time," said the Deputy Minister.

Many advantages, but not without challenges

According to Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet, the process of implementing the UPR cycle III recommendations that Vietnam has accepted and developing the UPR cycle IV report includes 4 advantages.

Firstly , the consistent policy of the Party and State is to protect and promote human rights. The 13th Party Congress determined to put people at the center of development policies; consider people as the most valuable asset, care for people as the highest goal, creating a more solid foundation to ensure human rights. In addition, the increasingly perfect legal framework has created an important foundation to better ensure the basic rights and freedoms of the people.

Second , our country has achieved many remarkable achievements and socio-economic development, people's lives are constantly prioritized, and the country's position and power are enhanced.

Third, seriously and actively implementing international commitments on human rights, including implementing international treaties on human rights to which Vietnam is a member and the Sustainable Development Goals, is also complementary and supportive of the process of implementing UPR recommendations.

And finally , throughout the UPR process, Vietnam has received cooperation, companionship, support and assistance from countries, international organizations, and the United Nations. On this occasion, we would like to express our thanks to our partners and hope that this positive and constructive cooperation and sharing will continue to be promoted and strengthened in the future.

The Deputy Minister said that, besides the above advantages, there are still certain difficulties in the process of implementing the recommendations of the UPR cycle III.

The biggest difficulty is the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a profound and comprehensive impact on all aspects of socio-economic life globally and regionally, including Vietnam. In that context, Vietnam is facing many difficulties in terms of resources for development, while still having to cope with climate change, extreme weather patterns and many other global issues that seriously affect people's livelihoods.

Besides, at times and in places, the awareness of people and officials at all levels about protecting and promoting human rights may not receive due attention.

Những con số khẳng định nỗ lực rất lớn trong bảo đảm quyền con người của Việt Nam

Press conference to announce the national report under the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council, afternoon of April 15. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Important factor

Regarding the participation of stakeholders in the UPR process in Vietnam, the Deputy Minister said that in the last cycle as well as previous cycles, the full participation and broad consultation of stakeholders was an important factor and was always facilitated.

Along with the openness and transparency of the focal agencies implementing the recommendations, socio-political organizations and people's unions have demonstrated an active and proactive role in this process.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized a number of workshops to share international experiences and consult on the content of the Report in a comprehensive and transparent manner with the participation of ministries, sectors, socio-political organizations, professional organizations, non-governmental organizations, development partners and the people; at the same time, it has opened a channel to receive comments via letters and emails and received many constructive comments. In addition, a number of ministries and sectors have also organized a number of conferences and workshops with content related to the UPR recommendations within their scope of responsibility.

Socio-political organizations and people's organizations proactively organize information sharing activities to promote constructive participation in this process, including contributing to national reports as well as submitting reports from relevant parties.

Higher duties and responsibilities

The UPR and the preparation of national reports and the implementation of UPR recommendations are obligations of all United Nations Member States.

"Vietnam will continue to make efforts to increase its participation and contributions to the Human Rights Council in the coming time," Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet affirmed.

The implementation of the report also coincides with the time of joining and becoming a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, showing that Vietnam feels an even greater sense of obligation and responsibility towards the report.

Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet said that the process of building Vietnam's newspaper is also closely linked to the current process of participating in the Human Rights Council, as well as the motto set out during the campaign, which is to ensure respect, understanding, dialogue and cooperation, and ensure human rights for everyone.

In the process of preparing this report, in line with Vietnam's priorities and commitments at the Human Rights Council on contents such as human rights in promoting climate change, rights of people with disabilities, rights to health, healthcare, anti-discrimination, etc.

Regarding its contributions to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Deputy Minister said that Vietnam has also promoted a number of initiatives at the Human Rights Council. In early 2023, Vietnam successfully promoted the Human Rights Council to adopt resolutions on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action on Human Rights. These resolutions were adopted and agreed upon with the sponsorship of more than 120 member states.

"Vietnam will continue to make efforts to increase its participation and contributions to the Human Rights Council in the coming time," the Deputy Minister affirmed.

Regarding adjustments in Vietnam's policies, the Deputy Minister said that Vietnam is always concerned and making efforts to improve these policies. gaps in human rights protection.

The Deputy Minister cited the 2014 Constitution, which dedicated a chapter to human rights. And with the Constitution, Vietnam has a relatively broad foundation of rules on protecting and promoting human rights. Based on that, Vietnam has amended and supplemented more than 100 laws and other legal documents. This is a continuous process.

As mentioned in the report, from 2019 to 2023, Vietnam has amended and supplemented more than 40 laws and related legal documents.

The Deputy Minister said that Vietnam has been taking advantage of multilateral, bilateral, regional and international mechanisms to improve existing loopholes. Currently, Vietnam has bilateral human rights dialogue mechanisms with the European Union, the United States, Australia, Russia and China, and is also a member of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Committee on Human Rights and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Holding today's press conference is also an opportunity for Vietnam to learn more about global practical experiences to perfect the human rights policy system in Vietnam.

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