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Vietnam rejects US human rights report
Hanoi, Feb 28: Communist Vietnam has rejected as inaccurate a human rights report from Washington that accuses the Southeast Asian country of repression, saying the remarks could harm improving ties between the former foes.
Hanoi, Feb 28: Communist Vietnam has rejected as inaccurate a human rights report from Washington that accuses the Southeast Asian country of repression, saying the remarks could harm improving ties between the former foes.
''It is regrettable that the US State Department's report, while acknowledging positive changes in Vietnam, continues to give partial observations that fail to reflect the real situation in Vietnam. We strongly reject these erroneous remarks,'' a statement from foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said.
Dung's statement, released late yesterday and also read on national television, said the US assessment ''is not in conformity with the positively progressing Vietnam-US relations''.
In the 21-page report on Vietnam, issued as part of its annual survey of Global Human Rights, Washington said Vietnam's record on the issue ''remained poor'', adding Hanoi ''continued to commit serious abuses''.
Vietnam has often been accused of suppressing individual freedoms, including the right to practice non-state sanctioned religions and the right to express views that are critical of the one-party state. Hanoi routinely denies those charges.
The report, issued on February 25, said there are ''credible reports'' that some members of ethnic minorities in the central highlands and northwest highlands who were arrested or detained ''did not return to their families''.
Many of the minorities practice a form of Protestant faith that is not authorised by Hanoi. An uprising in February 2001 over religious and land rights was quelled by force.
Bureau Report
Dung's statement, released late yesterday and also read on national television, said the US assessment ''is not in conformity with the positively progressing Vietnam-US relations''.
In the 21-page report on Vietnam, issued as part of its annual survey of Global Human Rights, Washington said Vietnam's record on the issue ''remained poor'', adding Hanoi ''continued to commit serious abuses''.
Vietnam has often been accused of suppressing individual freedoms, including the right to practice non-state sanctioned religions and the right to express views that are critical of the one-party state. Hanoi routinely denies those charges.
The report, issued on February 25, said there are ''credible reports'' that some members of ethnic minorities in the central highlands and northwest highlands who were arrested or detained ''did not return to their families''.
Many of the minorities practice a form of Protestant faith that is not authorised by Hanoi. An uprising in February 2001 over religious and land rights was quelled by force.
Bureau Report