Vietnam donors urged to focus on human rights
HANOI - Human Rights Watch on Monday urged
international donors to Vietnam to press for significant progress in
human rights, including the release of political and religious dissidents, when they meet in
Hanoi later this week.
The New York-based group said the World Bank-sponsored meeting should press for the
release of dozens of Buddhist and Catholic religious leaders, political dissidents, and ethnic
minority Christians held in violation of their rights.
"Now that Vietnam's economy is opening up, this is a good time for donors to press for
human rights improvements," a release from the group quoted Sidney Jones, executive
director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, as saying.
"Economic reforms will be more sustainable if they are accompanied by legal reform and
basic human rights protections."
The annual donors' meeting from December 7-8 in Hanoi will be attended by more than 40
countries and financial institutions making up the Consultative Group on Vietnam.
World Bank country manager Andrew Steer told reporters that human rights were not on
the formal agenda of the donors meeting, but delegates were free to raise any issues they
wished.
Human Rights Watch called on donors to provide technical assistance for reform of the
criminal, press, and national security laws, not just those dealing with commercial matters.
It said they should also consider development programmes to address causes of unrest
among minorities in the Central Highlands and urge free access by independent observers
to check reports of rights violations there, including torture, land confiscation and pressure
to join family planning programmes.
It also said they should call on Hanoi to invite the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention to visit to assess any progress since its last trip to the country in 1994 and seek
an easing or elimination of restrictions on the media.
The statement urged donors to closely monitor Hanoi's progress in meeting rights
commitments at a mid-year meeting in 2002.
At a World Bank-sponsored Vietnam Business Forum on Monday, representatives of the
local and foreign private sector said more needed to be done to boost Vietnam's "image"
aboard as an investment destination, but no mention was made of rights.
Asked if this was an issue, the World Bank's managing director for private-sector
development, Peter Woicke, told Reuters: "I don't think the human rights issue is one that is
very much discussed by investors when they look at Vietnam."
In ratifying a landmark trade agreement with the United States last week, Vietnam's
National Assembly reacted angrily to efforts by some U.S. Congressmen to push through a
bill calling for greater respect for human rights, saying it could affect implementation of the
accord.
In November, the European Commission, which is eager to secure equal treatment for its
firms when the trade agreement is implemented, said it had detected some progress on
rights in Vietnam, although the country still had a long way to go.
Last week, Britain announced a $20 million grant to a World Bank poverty reduction
programme and said Vietnam's success in this area gave it some leeway on rights, although
this remained an issue.
Britain's BP Plc is a major investor in Vietnam.
Reuters - December 03, 2001.
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