Geneva (VNA) – The UN Human Rights Committee held a session on March11-12 in Geneva, Switzerland to review Vietnam’s third national report on theimplementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR).

The 20-strongVietnamese delegation to the event was led by Deputy Minister of Justice NguyenKhanh Ngoc.

The delegation’sparticipation in the session demonstrated Vietnam’s seriousness in fulfillingits obligation of reporting its enforcement of international commitments.

Dialogue at thesession is expected to help members of the UN Human Rights Committee understandmore about the Vietnamese Government’s commitments, the country’s achievementsas well as challenges and difficulties facing it in promoting and projectinghuman rights.

On this occasion,Deputy Minister Ngoc granted an interview to Vietnam News Agency correspondentsin Geneva about new progresses and remarkable achievements that Vietnam hasmade in promoting and protecting human rights, including civil and politicalrights since the second national report was submitted to the committee in 2002.

Acquiring thecommittee’s recommendations, Vietnam has paid great attention to law making,with many important laws related to civil and political rights promulgated orrevised. Notably, the 2013 Constitution marked a breakthrough in awareness ofhuman rights and the responsibility of the State, organisations and individualsin recognizing, respecting, protecting and ensuring human rights and citizen’srights in all fields.

Subsequently, manylegal documents have been issued to institutionalize the 2013 Constitution,which have recognised most civil and political rights, while mechanisms toensure and promote those rights have step by step been enforced. The effect ofthose moves can be seen clearly in reality, such as the harmonious co-existenceof various religions in the country with mutual respect and non-discrimination.The press in Vietnam has also enjoyed unceasingly development, serving as theforum for social organisations and the people as well as a tool to safeguardthe rights of the people and society. The litigation process has been improvedtowards increasing transparency with respect for and protection of humanrights.

The deputy justiceminister stressed that the improvements in both law making and enforcement areimportant legal factors to ensure that every one has opportunities andfavourable conditions to exercise their human rights.

Regarding the workingsession with the UN Human Rights Committee, Ngoc shared that the inter-sectoraldelegation had informed the committee member of Vietnam’s achievements andrejected inaccurate information of several organisations and individuals aboutthis issue.

The UN committee hadappreciated the delegation’s participation and dialogue in the session, hestated, adding that they had also recognised the encouraging results made byVietnam in implementing the ICCPR.

According to him, likeother developing countries, Vietnam is facing a lot of difficulties inimplementing the ICCPR such as limited capacity of law making and enforcement,a lack of resources for social welfare and development, and the impact ofglobal issues and non-traditional security challenges.

Therefore, the countryhopes for continued cooperation from the UN committee. It will also work out aspecific plan to implement the committee’s recommendations, with the prioritygiven to continuing to build a law-ruled Sate, intensifying law and judicialreform and effectively implementing legal regulations, he added.-VNA