Uddrag af omtalen af programsamarbejdslandet Vietnam i det amerikanske udenrigsministeriums årsrapport for 2004 om menneskerettighedernes stilling verden over.
Vietnam is a single-party state, ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The Government of Vietnam significantly restricted freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and association through a number of means during 2003.
The Governments intolerance of political dissent, including on the Internet, resulted in the arrests and sentencing of several democracy activists who criticized the Government.
The Government also subjected religious communities to strict registration requirements and obstructed the activities of “unauthorized” religious groups, censored domestic media sources, blocked foreign radio stations and websites, and denied citizens the right to form independent organizations.
Restrictions on religious freedom were particularly acute for ethnic-minority Protestant groups in the Central and Northwest Highlands and included church closings, attempts at forced renunciations of faith and religious leaders being detained or fleeing.
The United States has maintained close ties with political activists and religious groups in Vietnam in order to identify and highlight abuses.
U.S. officials have pushed for progress on human rights and reform during bilateral meetings in Vietnam and the United States, including in discussions between Secretary of State Powell and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan during his visit to the United States in December.
Through various democracy and rule of law programs, the United States seeks to heighten awareness of democratic principles at the grassroots level and develop a transparent and responsive legal system in Vietnam.
U.S. diplomatic efforts have influenced the Government to permit opening of new churches in the Central Highlands, greater government tolerance for the operation of “unauthorized” churches in several areas and a reduction of prison sentences for some religious and political activists.
Our programmatic efforts have helped protect trafficked women, facilitate the ratification of an International Labor Organization (ILO) convention against child labor and improve the public availability of much of Vietnams legal code.
The United States engaged the Vietnamese Government diplomatically on human rights issues at all levels over the course of the year.
U.S. officials traveled widely through the country to investigate allegations of abuses, and virtually every Mission officer and most senior U.S. visitors to Vietnam raised human rights in their meetings with Vietnamese officials at local, provincial and national levels.
Through the Embassy in Hanoi and Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, U.S. officials explained international concerns and human rights standards to Vietnamese officials from the local level to the highest ranks of the Government and the CPV.
In Washington, State Department officials repeatedly stressed human rights concerns in meetings with visiting Vietnamese officials. This constant diplomatic pressure has increased the Vietnamese Governments attention to human rights and religious freedom problems, but it has yet to translate the increased recognition of problems into tangible steps to improve the human rights situation.
Due to inadequate progress on human rights concerns, the United States declined to hold a bilateral human rights dialogue with Vietnam in 2003.
The United States supported increased legal transparency in Vietnam by funding a successful 8 million dollar, three-year program to help the Government develop and codify a better and more transparent legal framework as part of the implementation of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement.
Among the 2003 activities of this program were 54 training and policy workshops with 3.330 participants and three study tours for senior legislative and judicial officials.
The Official Gazette – the Vietnamese equivalent of the Federal Register – began daily publication in July, up from six issues per month previously, making the improvements in the Vietnamese legal code available to all in both Vietnamese and English.
This year the United States also began a 200.000 dollar per year program focused specifically on working with government officials to modernize the Vietnamese Law on Associations which, when completed, will allow independent domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to register legally.
The United States sought to advance awareness of human rights and democracy issues in the media by funding Vietnamese journalists to participate in an International Visitor program.
The Embassy also worked with a Vietnamese organization to fund a series of workshops in four cities on the legal rights and responsibilities of citizens, hold legal clinics and produce a series of pamphlets on such topics as citizens rights and basic issues in the Vietnamese legal code.
The United States continued its efforts to document restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam and to raise our concerns at all levels in interactions with the Government.
For example, after U.S. officials highlighted the case of an “unofficial” Protestant church threatened with demolition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese authorities backed off their threats and eventually allowed the church to continue operations.
In October, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford visited Vietnam to set forth concrete steps – including the release of religious prisoners and allowing the opening of new churches – that the Government should take to meet international concerns.
Subsequent to that visit, the Government issued a directive calling for the “continuation of normalizing of relations with the (Protestant Church) in the Central Highlands” and stating a Bible training center may be permitted to open soon. It also allowed an increase in the number of officially registered Protestant churches in the Central Highlands.
The United States continued to encourage the Vietnamese Government to ratify additional ILO conventions addressing worker rights and recognizing core worker rights. In June, the GVN ratified ILO Convention 138 on minimum working age.
The United States also stressed the need to continue to discuss issues surrounding freedom of association and collective bargaining. The US used more than 3 million dollar to fund several programs that address the protection of worker rights.
In 2003 the United States began a program to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities as well as a project to build the capacity of the Government to combat the problem of child labor.
In addition, a program on dispute prevention and resolution for representatives of more than 70 enterprises started its work and enjoyed great cooperation from the Vietnamese Government. Other U.S.-funded programs worked with the GVN to improve the countrys social insurance system and social accountability standards for Vietnamese enterprises.
To counter the problem of trafficking in persons, the United States provided more than 500.000 dollar in funds to international NGOs.
These NGOs operated a shelter for victims of trafficking repatriated from Cambodian brothels, as well as a number of programs to assist returned victims of trafficking and protect women and children in high-risk areas by providing awareness training, vocational training and economic opportunity through micro-credit programs.
Kilde: Det amerikanske udenrigsministerium
