Vietnam accepts 241, or nearly 83 percent, of 291 recommendations made by UN member countries within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, said Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung.

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung (second from left) at the meeting
(Photo: VNA)

Trung delivered the information at a meeting to adopt Vietnam’s national report under the third-cycle UPR in Geneva on July 4 as part of the ongoing 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

He said the accepted recommendations cover important human rights protection contents, such as the completion of the legal system; measures to protect civil, political, socio-economic and cultural rights; enhancement of human rights mechanisms; and new issues related to immigration, climate change, and sustainable development.

The Deputy Minister noted that the review of recommendations had been done thoroughly with the participation of all sides involved.

Trung unveiled that Vietnam plans to design a master plan to assign tasks to responsible ministries and sectors, adding that a mid-term assessment is also planned to ensure the effectiveness of the performance.

He also explained that rejected recommendations are not suitable to Vietnam’s policies, laws and conditions. Most of them suggested Vietnam join a number of international treaties, amend its newly promulgated legal documents, and abolish capital punishment, while some used incorrect concepts and information about Vietnam.

Trung took the occasion to reiterated Vietnam’s consistent policy on protecting and promoting human rights, originating from the country’s historical tradition of national protection and construction and the Party and State’s consistent goal of placing the people at the centre of their policies and actions.

Updating the UNHRC on the protection and promotion of human rights in Vietnam in the first half of 2019, the diplomat stressed the country’s top priority is to build a law-governed State and reform its legal system. 

He also highlighted Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, especially economic growth, alleviating poverty, prioritising resources for social welfare, boosting people’s access to information technology, ensuring and promoting the religious life and ensuring employees’ rights, among others. 

Representatives of participating countries and organisations lauded Vietnam’s efforts and acknowledged the country’s progress in judicial reform, completing its legal system concerning human rights, and increasing people’s living standards.

Many countries also spoke highly of Vietnam’s serious participation in the UPR process, acceptance of many recommendations, and plan to implement these recommendations.

At the end of the meeting, the UNHRC adopted Vietnam’s report. The country will embark on the implementation of the recommendations and making a report for the next cycle which is expected to begin in 2023.

In the last cycle, Vietnam accepted 80.2 percent of recommendations and completed 96.2 percent of them.