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.
HISTORIC: After the arrest of Kim Keon-hee on financial and political funding charges, the country has for the first time a former president and former first lady behind bars South Korean prosecutors yesterday raided the headquarters of the former party of jailed former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to gather evidence in an election meddling case against his wife, a day after she was arrested on corruption and other charges. Former first lady Kim Keon-hee was arrested late on Tuesday on a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said. Her arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant against the 52-year-old. The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, after prosecutors submitted an 848-page opinion laying out
STAGNATION: Once a bastion of leftist politics, the Aymara stronghold of El Alto is showing signs of shifting right ahead of the presidential election A giant cruise ship dominates the skyline in the city of El Alto in landlocked Bolivia, a symbol of the transformation of an indigenous bastion keenly fought over in tomorrow’s presidential election. The “Titanic,” as the tallest building in the city is known, serves as the latest in a collection of uber-flamboyant neo-Andean “cholets” — a mix of chalet and “chola” or Indigenous woman — built by Bolivia’s Aymara bourgeoisie over the past two decades. Victor Choque Flores, a self-made 46-year-old businessman, forked out millions of US dollars for his “ship in a sea of bricks,” as he calls his futuristic 12-story
FORUM: The Solomon Islands’ move to bar Taiwan, the US and others from the Pacific Islands Forum has sparked criticism that Beijing’s influence was behind the decision Tuvaluan Prime Minister Feletei Teo said his country might pull out of the region’s top political meeting next month, after host nation Solomon Islands moved to block all external partners — including China, the US and Taiwan — from attending. The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders’ meeting is to be held in Honiara in September. On Thursday last week, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele told parliament that no dialogue partners would be invited to the annual gathering. Countries outside the Pacific, known as “dialogue partners,” have attended the forum since 1989, to work with Pacific leaders and contribute to discussions around
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
RSS