HRW, Al Jazeera must have objective view on human rights in Vietnam (Illustrative image. Source: VNA) A report released by the HRW on June 19 and areport aired on the Al Jazeera TV channel on June 24 said that “Vietnamese bloggersand democracy activists are threatened and beaten”. The HRW also listed “36different assaults from January 2015 to April 2017”.
In fact, the reports were based on fabricatedand groundless information because the international community has recognisedVietnam’s achievements in ensuring and promoting human rights, includingfreedom of speech and freedom of press.
Ensuring and promoting human rights is aconsistent policy of the Vietnamese State, which has been implemented in linewith Vietnam’s Constitution and law as well as international conventions onhuman rights to which Vietnam is a party.
From 2014 to 2016, dozens of legal documentsrelating to human rights and citizen rights were adopted to concretiseregulations stipulated in the Constitution 2013, in accordance with internationalconventions to which Vietnam is a party.
Vietnam has joined the Convention againstTorture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)and has been an official party to seven out of nine major UN conventions onhuman rights.
The country has also actively implementedinternational missions and commitments on human rights by well assuming therole as a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) inthe 2016-2018 tenure and the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the 2015-2019 tenure, while proactivelyand responsibly participating in the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission onHuman Rights (AICHR).
Vietnam’s important achievements in improvinghuman rights are vivid evidence of the efforts. The country’s per capita incomeincreased to 2,215 USD in 2016 from 1,900 USD in 2013. The number of peoplereceiving monthly social allowances and health insurance cards has been on therise while more than 25 percent of communes nationwide have met standards fornew-style rural area building.
The country has paid due attention to the socialsecurity and welfare work. Social welfare policies have been carried out toremove difficulties for local residents in areas affected by natural disasters,droughts, and saltwater intrusion, as well as those in four central provinces influencedby the marine environmental incident last year. Social organisations and peoplehave been increasingly involved in the inspection and monitoring of State lawand policy enforcement. More favourable conditions have been created tofacilitate activities of religious organisations.
The strong development of the Vietnamese press inthe recent past also demonstrated that the freedom of speech and freedom ofpress in Vietnam have been guaranteed not only in law but also in reality. ThePress Law 2016 officially took effect on January 1, 2017, serving as afoundation to ensure these rights.
Specially, the internet is booming in Vietnam andVietnam is listed among 20 nations with the largest number of Internet users,ranking 8th in Asia and 2nd in ASEAN. Citizens use the Internet to show theirrights to freedom of speech. Currently, about 50 million Vietnamese people usethe Internet, making up 52 percent of the country’s total population. Thenumber of Facebook users amounts to 35 million, equivalent to one-third of thepopulation, including 21 million users access everyday via mobile devices.
VicePresident and Managing Director of Google in Southeast Asia and India RajanAnandan affirmed that Vietnam has the most dynamic Internet market in the worldand is the only market with the number of Internet users higher than the numberof non-users.
These figures indicate freedom of speech andfreedom of press in Vietnam. There is noreason why the HRW and the Al Jazeera TV channel did not understand thesefacts. The HRW and Al Jazeera even sought to distort reality withoutdistinguishing the difference between genuine bloggers and those using socialwebsites to propagandise against the Vietnamese Party and State and harm theinterests of the Vietnamese people.
Vietnam is resolved to deal with law violators.In Vietnam, nobody has been handled for writing blogs or articles. Only thosewho abuse freedom of press, freedom of speech and freedom of Internet to createsocial disorder, resist the State and people or go counter to the nationalinterests are strictly punished.
Those who have been arrested and brought totrial in the recent past have abused freedom of speech to post articles with untrueinformation, defaming the Party’s guidelines and policies and the State’s law,distorting history and inciting people to oppose the State, and undermining nationalsecurity, social order and safety.
All sovereign nations across the world have lawsto strictly deal with those who take unfair advantage of freedom of speech andfreedom of press to resist their countries and provoke hatred and violence.
Internet managers or social websites such asFacebook, Twitter and YouTube have put in place measures to control wrong and fakecontents posted online. Even, Facebook was once sued by several European nationssuch as Austria, France and Germany and fined for spreading online contentsthat incite hatred and distort the truth. The HRW and Al Jazeera could not claimthat “freedom of speech” allows one to “change black to white” to distort thetruth.
That the Vietnamese State respects and ensureshuman rights is undeniable and has been recognised by the internationalcommunity. Therefore, the HRW and Al Jazeera TV channel need to have anobjective and correct view on the human rights situation in Vietnam.-VNA
