The following is the full text of the interview:
On the occasion of the closing of the 22nd UN Human Right Council on22 March in Geneva , what would be your comments on theimplementation of the basic human rights?
As the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, reminded us at theopening of this 22 nd Session, we are celebrating the 20 thAnniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.This is the most significant overarching human rights documents producedin the last quarter of a century, establishing the underlying principlethat human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent andinterrelated, taking the key notion of universality a step further bycommitting States to the promotion and protection of all human rightsfor all people regardless of their political, economic, and culturalsystems.
The so-called nine core-human rights treatiesdeveloped since the Second World War present a formidable legalframework for the protection and promotion of human rights. For thefirst time in history, States have accepted legal obligations torespect, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms ofeach and every one of us. This commitment places the human being at thecenter and imposes restrictions on how States’ exercise their authorityvis-à-vis people who live within their territories.
Despite the progress made since the Vienna Declaration, many humanrights challenges remain unfulfilled, much work remains to be done untilthe promotion and protection of basic human rights and freedoms is madereal without any prejudice and discrimination.
Whatdo you think about Vietnam efforts in contributing to promoting andprotecting human rights on the world over the past several years?
Over the past few years the Government of Vietnam has increased itsengagement with international human rights mechanisms. These mechanismsare tasked to monitor the human rights situations around the world,including the compliance of Governments with core human rights treaties.For example, in 2009 Vietnam subjected itself to the Human RightsCouncil Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is a peer-reviewprocess whereby a country undergoes a review of its human rightssituation by other countries. Vietnam has accepted as many as 93 outof a total of 123 recommendations made by other countries on theimprovement of the human rights situation. Currently the Government ispreparing for the second review to take place at the beginning of 2014.
As part of the Universal Periodic Review process,United Nations Country Teams and civil society organizations can alsosend their own independent assessments of the human rights situations intheir respective countries to the Human Rights Council. The UnitedNations Country Team in Vietnam will submit such a report providingan analysis of the human rights situation based on the UN’s developmentwork with national partners.
There are alsoother encouraging recent developments, including proactive consultationon draft laws with stakeholders. For example, during the drafting of thelaw on handling of administrative sanctions, sex workers and drugusers had a chance to meet with the drafting committee; the currentLand Law amendment in which the Economic Committee of the NationalAssembly organized a workshop with Vietnamese NGOs to hear the voices offarmers; and the revisions to the Law on Marriage and Family, for whichthe drafting committee has conducted surveys and workshops withLesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender groups to consider issues such asthe rights and interests of same sex couples and transgender.
The currently ongoing public consultations on the draft amendedconstitution is a good way of educating and listening to the publicabout the new constitutional amendments. The constitutional reformprocess provides a very good opportunity to Vietnam to furtherstrength protection and promotion of human rights
Vietnam has ratified a number of international conventions onhuman rights and agreed on steps to implement them. How has the UN beenassisting Vietnam to implement its obligations in the framework ofthese conventions?
Vietnam has ratified fiveout of nine UN core human rights treaties. They are the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Eliminationof all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against allForms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of theChild. In the past two years, with UN support, the Government submittedreports to four of the five treaty bodies that are tasked to monitor thecompliance.
The UN is also providing support to theGovernment as it prepares a periodic report on the fifth, the Covenanton Civil and Political Rights. This report will provide an importantbaseline on the status of implementation of civil and political rightsin Vietnam which can be used to revise several important laws oncivil and political rights, such as the law on referendum, the law onaccess to information…
Last year we launched our‘One UN Plan for 2012 – 2016’, which assists the country to meet itsnational priorities and inter-governmental commitments. Our developmentcooperation is rights-based, which means that our support contributes tothe protection and promotion of various rights of people. Inpractical terms, the UN system provides technical assistance andcapacity development, promotes evidence based advocacy and sharing ofinternational best practices.
For example,during the revision of the law on the handling of administrativesanctions, UN agencies facilitated a number of key consultations thatbrought together civil society organizations, affected groups, draftingcommittee officials and committees of the National Assembly to review anumber of key evidence-based recommendations. The adoption of the newLaw in June 2012 marked an important step forward in the protection ofrights and access to justice in Vietnam.
Ourwork continues this year with support to the Supreme People’s Court andthe Ministry of Justice to draft related sub laws, includingprocedures, a new decree on administrative sanctions in the area ofpublic order, safety and security.
The UN isalso supporting the Government to address gender based violence through aset of measures aimed at legislation development, development of socialservices and improving the capacity of Justice officials. We are alsoengaging in cooperation with national authorities on application of theinternational standards to address needs of women in justice, includingthose in prison.
Moving forward, the Government hasreaffirmed their commitment to ratify the Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities, and the early accession to the Conventionagainst Torture. The UN is currently supporting the Government toprepare for ratifying the Disability Convention, and we are also workingwith organizations of disabled people to ensure their right toparticipation in economic, social and political life is better reflectedin public service delivery and national legislation.
Thank you sincerely.-VNA