Vietnam's human rights report attracts attention

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency following the approval, Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh, the Head of the Vietnamese mission to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and other international organisations in Geneva, said that a majority of countries welcomed Vietnam's efforts over the past years in carrying out its commitments since the first cycle review.

"It could be said that we have done well in presenting our national report and conducting dialogues on human rights before the UN Human Rights Council," the ambassador said.

He noted that the international community's interest in Vietnam has increased remarkably since the country was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2014-16 tenure with the highest vote (184 yes out of 192 votes).

For the previous review, 66 countries joined the dialogue with Vietnam, putting forward 123 recommendations but this time around, as many as 107 countries attended the dialogue and proposed 227 recommendations, Ambassador Thanh said.

He added that a majority of the recommendations can be accepted, while a number of others need to be considered carefully.

According to procedures, Vietnam will present its viewpoint on all the recommendations in June this year.

The ambassador affirmed that as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Vietnam wants to make positive contributions to the process of dialogue and co-operation on the basis of equality, thus facilitating the development of all countries.

"We will unceasingly observe our responsibility as a member of the United Nations while upholding the spirit of sharing and learning as well as conducting dialogue and co-operating in the UN community," he said.

The ambassador attributed the success of the country's report to serious and careful preparations under the close guidance of the Prime Minister and to the co-ordination of ministries, agencies and organisations.

He praised the UPR as a progressive, effective and fair mechanism, under which, all countries, big or small, developed or underdeveloped, have the right to assess other countries and voice their opinions.

"Vietnam and all other countries should do their best to contribute to this mechanism to preserve and bring into full play the effectiveness and constructiveness of this mechanism," Ambassador Thanh said.

(Source: Nhandan Newspaper Online)