Vietnam has turned down accusations of the country’s situation while running for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in the 2023-2025 tenure.

Information related to the Vietnam campaign put forward by some foreign organizations is "false" and "not objective," according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang.  

“We absolutely deny the inaccurate, biased information regarding the situation in Vietnam that has been presented by several foreign organizations,” Hang said at the press conference on September 22. "Vietnam has consistently upheld and promoted fundamental human rights which are provided in the 2013 Constitution and many other relevant legal documents," she said.

Vietnamese young people in a public campaign. Photo: Le Thanh

The spokeswoman added that the international community has recognized and praised Vietnam’s efforts and accomplishments in the area of ensuring human rights in recent years. In March 2022, Vietnam submitted the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)’s mid-term reports on a voluntary basis on the implementation of the recommendations received during the third UPR cycle.

This demonstrates the accountability of a member state and guarantees Vietnam’s seriousness regarding the UPR mechanism in particular and human rights commitments in general, stated the spokeswoman.

Vietnam has consistently displayed a spirit of cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council’s special processes, while also maintaining regular bilateral human rights agreements.

The Council consists of 47 Member States, which are elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly.

The membership is based on equitable geographical distribution, and seats are distributed as follows among regional groups: Group of African States (13), Group of Asia-Pacific States (13), Group of Eastern European States (6), Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (8), Group of Western European and other States (7).