Vietnam acknowledged some human rights “wrongdoings” in its appearance before a UN watchdog on Friday, but rejected exiles’ allegations about the mistreatment of dissidents and minorities.
The exiles, backed by a major international human rights group, submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council accusing the Southeast Asian country of quashing press freedom and Internet access to try to silence critics.
Their report demanded the release of political prisoners held under “vague national security provisions” of Vietnam’s law — a call echoed by the US delegation in its speech on Friday.
The report also raised concerns about religious repression, widespread use of the death penalty and coercive birth control.
Vietnam defended its record at the 47-member forum in Geneva, which is assessing the Vietnamese human rights record under a mechanism that will scrutinize all UN members.
Pham Binh Minh, Vietnam’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, said Hanoi had made achievements. Religious activities had increased and ethnic minorities are “participating in an increasingly equal manner in social and political life.”
He acknowledged shortcomings, including “wrongdoings” by some civil servants with a limited understanding of human rights, saying his government is aware that challenges remain.
“We find it unfortunate that there have been unfounded reports and reject allegations of ill will about democracy and human rights in Vietnam,” Minh said. “Vietnam is still victim of hostile activities like terrorism, sabotage, acts to destabilize the country and infringe upon national security and territorial integrity.”
In his remarks to the UN forum, British ambassador Peter Gooderham said there had been improvement in some areas of civil and political rights, such as religious freedom.
“However, areas of concern remain, most notably freedom of expression, media freedoms and the death penalty,” he said.
The activists’ report says Vietnam’s ruling Communist authorities routinely use charges of espionage to detain “cyber-dissidents” for posting their views on the Internet.
“These crimes, which make no distinction between violent acts such as terrorism and the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, are punishable by harsh prison terms including life imprisonment,” it said.
Seven crimes carry the death penalty.
Penelope Faulkner, executive secretary of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, said: “There are several thousand political prisoners all over the country. They are detained in all sorts of ways including house arrest.”
Vietnamese exiles including Buddhist monks demonstrated outside the UN offices in Geneva to draw attention to the rare international scrutiny of their homeland.
Repression on religious grounds was also described in the group’s report as widespread, despite freedom of religion being guaranteed in the Constitution.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS