US report on Vietnam's human rights biased, says spokesperson

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Linh Pham 22:58, 2019/03/14

Human rights are respected and demonstrated through Vietnam`s significant achievements which have been recognized and appreciated by the international community, a Vietnamese spokesperson has said.

A spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced against a recent US report on Vietnam's human rights records, arguing that the report is biased and does not reflect accurately the country's situation.

Several assessments of the US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018 lack objectiveness and are based on groundless information, said Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a press meeting on March 14.

Vietnamese Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang at the press conference on March 14. Photo: MOFA

Vietnamese citizens’ fundamental rights are regulated in Vietnam’s Constitution and laws, and in line with the international treaties on human rights that Vietnam has ratified, Hang noted.

Human rights are respected and demonstrated through the country's significant achievements which have been recognized and appreciated by the international community, she said.

Hanoi, through different channels, is willing to discuss with Washington on issues of mutual interest on the frank and respectable basis, contributing to the improvement of the Comprehensive Partnership, Hang emphasized.

The spokeswoman listed a series of economic indicators that the country achieved in the past year. They include poverty rate at 5.35%, (down 1.35 percentage points on year), 87.7% of the population covered with medical insurance (up 2.31 percentage points on year), the Internet penetration rate at nearly 70% and 8,500 religious festivals held annually.

Notably, Vietnam’s human rights record was passed on January 25, 2019 by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group – third cycle, the spokesperson added.

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