~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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U.S. Human Rights report hurts ties, vietnamese government says

U.S. complaints about Vietnam's human rights record damage an improving relationship between the two countries, Vietnam's government said after the U.S. released a critical report.

Vietnam's government has a poor human rights record and committed serious abuses, the U.S. State Department said last week in an annual report. Freedom of speech, religion, the press and assembly are restricted, political prisoners are held and Vietnamese people can't change their government, the State Department said. Vietnamese exports to the U.S. rose 87 percent in 2003, the fastest rate in East Asia. Vietnam has moved for the first time onto the list of the top 40 American trading partners, and last year saw both the first post-Vietnam War visit by a Vietnamese defense minister to the U.S. and the first postwar visit by a U.S. Navy ship to Vietnam.

``This is out of step with the ongoing positive developments accorded in the relations between Vietnam and the U.S.,'' Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said in a statement. ``It causes harm to joint efforts made by the Vietnamese and U.S. governments.'' The U.S. government's perception of Vietnam's human rights record should be taken into account during the country's accession process to the World Trade Organization, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas said last month. Vietnam wants to join the world trading body next year.

Persecution Reports

Brownback, chairman of the Senate's East Asian and Pacific Affairs subcommittee, visited Vietnam this year after receiving reports of religious persecution in the country, according to a statement released during his visit by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Vietnam's ``constitution and government decrees provide for freedom of worship,'' the State Department report said. ``However, the government continued to restrict significantly those organized activities of religious groups that it declared to be at variance with state laws and policies.'' Vietnamese police arbitrarily detained people in the country based upon their religious beliefs and practices, the State Department report said, citing ``credible reports.''

``The government continued its longstanding policy of not tolerating most types of public dissent and stepped up efforts to control dissent on the Internet,'' the State Department said. ``Security forces continued to enforce restrictions on public gatherings and travel in some parts of the country.'' Vietnam denied restricting freedom of the press or speech, and responded that it ``has obtained great achievements in fields such as its economy.'' Last year, Vietnam's gross domestic product expanded 7.2 percent, according to the government, the fastest pace in six years.

`Fundamental Rights'

The most ``fundamental rights'' include the right to independence, Vietnam's government argued. ``There's a remarkable continuity in terms of the stance of the Vietnamese government towards opposition,'' said Martin Gainsborough, a specialist on Vietnam at the U.K.'s University of Warwick. ``They really believe that opposition is a bad thing. That mindset has to change before you see a different position on human rights.''

Vietnam's government reduced its interference in the daily lives of most citizens, allowed greater freedom of expression in approved forums, and recognized that child labor is a serious problem and attempted to address it, the U.S. report said. While acknowledging positive developments in Vietnam, the American observations are ``wrongful'' and the U.S. doesn't have the right to pass judgment on the human rights record of other countries, Vietnam responded.

``That the U.S. State Department annually releases a Country Report on Human Rights Practices in various countries including Vietnam is an interference in the internal affairs of those countries,'' Vietnam's Dung said.

By Jason Folkmanis - Bloomberg - March 01, 2004