UPR process on Vietnam

Item 6 : Universal periodic review : Vietnam. Joint spoken statement from CETIM and IADL.

Thank you Mr. President

We would like to express our appreciation to the Viet Nam Government for their constructive and considered approach to the UPR process and generally for their commitment in the field of human rights.

We warmly commend Viet Nam for his significant achievements in the promotion and protection of all human rights, especially with regard to poverty reduction, right to education, right to health and right to food, and for the results achieved in gender equality and promotion of women’s rights.

These results are even more meritorious considering that Viet Nam is a developing country having undergone 30 years of war and that Vietnamese people have to rebuild their country while overcoming severe aftermath left by the war, for example by supporting the many victims of bombs, mines and Agent Orange/dioxin. At this regard we call the attention of the HRC on the fact that millions of peoples in Vietnam are still suffering for the dramatic consequences of Agent Orange, a chemical agent produced by American chemical manufacturers and used by the U.S. military during the Viet Nam war. So far nobody has assumed the responsibility and compensate for the damages caused towards the Vietnamese victims.

Despite significant progress realized by Viet Nam in the respect and implementation of human rights, the Vietnamese legal system, in general, contains some inconsistencies and contradictions, with the adoption (since 1986) of free-market-inspired laws. Like the Vietnamese government says, such a situation leads “to difficulties, even misinterpretation in application and enforcement at the grass-roots level. This is the main obstacle to the development of the society and the exercise of human rights.”¹

That is why IADL and CETIM encourage the Vietnamese government to continue with the implementation of the “Strategy on the Development of the Legal System” and remedy this situation as quickly as possible.

Thank you Mr. President