VIET NAM: Children's Rights References in the Universal Periodic Review

II. Overview of the promotion and protection of human rights in Viet Nam since the last review

 

A. Strengthening the legal system and policies on human rights

 

10. The 1999 Penal Code, amended in 2009, abolished the death penalty for 8 crimes and reducing the number of crimes subject to death penalty from 29 to 21, ceased the application of death penalty or life imprisonment to juvenile offenders and added provisions on new crimes related to terrorism. Other amendments and supplementations will be considered to reflect the humanitarian aspect of law, harmonize with international instruments on anti-crimes that VietNam is a party to, and strengthen international cooperation in preventing and combating crimes. Possible amendments alo include developing criminal-related policies towards juvenile offenders so as to better ensure their rights as well as establishing mechanisms to better protect juveniles affected by crimes. At present, VietNam is also considering to amend the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code in order to ensure better the rights of people, the juveniles in particular, in criminal procedure activities.

 

11. Since 2009, the National Assembly has enforced and amended many laws with a view to creating strong legal foundation for the exercise of human rights. New laws related to human rights include Law on Sate Compensation Liability (2009), Law on the Elderly (2010), Law on the Persons with Disabilities (2010), Law on Adoption (2010), Law on Complaints (2011), Law on Denouncement (2011), Law on Human Trafficking Prevention and Combat (2011), Law on Trade Union (2012), Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (2012), Law on Legal Information Dissemination and Education (2012). Several other laws were also amended by the National Assembly, such as Amended Law on Elections to the National Assembly and Amended Law on Elections to the People’s Council (2010); Amended Labour Code (2012), Amended and supplemented Law on Lawyers (2012), Amended Law on Publication (2012). The Government also issued many documents to guide the implementation of laws in line with the socio-economic development of the country.

 

B. Strengthening education on human rights

 

15. Implementing recommendations accepted under the UPR mechanism, the issue of human rights has also been gradually mainstreamed into teaching curricula at secondary schools and university with a law faculty. Viet Nam has integrated human rights issues into teaching curricula at police training colleges and organized a large number of training workshops on human rights for police forces, especially those agencies involved with human rights protection.

 

C. Implementation of international obligations in human rights

 

1. Implementation of reporting obligations under international human rights treaties to which Viet Nam is a party

 

16. In 2012, Viet Nam submitted and presented its report on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) from 2000 to 2009, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, Viet Nam submitted its report (for the 1993 – 2010 period) to the Committee of the Convention on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In 2012, Viet Nam also submitted its report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and is actively preparing for its report on the implementation of the Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Overall, Viet Nam has fulfilled its reporting obligations under international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party.

 

2. Consideration of participation or ratification of international conventions on human rights

 

18. Viet Nam signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008, passed the Law on Persons with Disability in 2010 and is currently completing procedures to ratify the CRPD soon. In 2012, Viet Nam joined the Convention on Transnational Organized Crimes and Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children; acceded to the Convention No. 122 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Employment Policy.

 

3. Dialogue and cooperation with UN mechanisms on human rights

 

21. During the drafting of this report, Viet Nam is also arranging the visit for the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights in November 2013, sent an official invitation to the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and right to food. Viet Nam will also consider receiving Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Special Rapporteur on the rights of migrant workers in 2014; Special Rapporteur against Torture after Viet Nam ratifies the Convention Against Torture, Special Rapporteur on the prevention of trafficking and child prostitution in the earliest possible time.

 

4. International cooperation on human rights

 

22. International cooperation on human rights has been a priority for the Government of Vietnam. At regional level, together with other ASEAN member countries, Viet Nam actively contributed to the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), ASEAN Commission on the protection and promotion of rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and drafting of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration which was adopted by ASEAN heads of States in November 2012. This is the first document outlining the framework for enhanced cooperation and protection of human rights in the region, showing the commitment of ASEAN countries to respect and ensure fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to development and peace of the people in the region.

 

23. Viet Nam has actively involved in the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT), closely coordinated with UN agencies namely UNICEF, UNODC, IOM, UNIAP, WV as well as concluded many bilateral agreements and treaties with Laos, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, etc. with a view to effectively strengthening the fight against human trafficking in the region. At the moment, Viet Nam is working closely with UNODC to enhance cooperation in the fight against child-related sexual criminals in the region.

 

III. Respect, protection and promotion of human rights in practice

 

A. Civil and political rights

 

4. Rights of inmates and detainees

 

39. Prisoners have a right to education during their sentence and prisons strictly run education programs on literacy, elementary education, vocational training, laws or politics. Preventive healthcare and treatment for inmates are well taken care of. Prison health clinics have been upgraded or improved with their staff professionally trained. For medical treatment, many prisoners who were suffering from severe illness or diseases have had their sentence temporarily suspended. The prison management boards also collaborate with local authorities in disseminating information on anti-drug, prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Prisoners have the right to work as it suits their health with working time regulated by the Labour Code. The payment for their work can be transferred into supplements for their meals or accounted for their personal income.

 

B. Economic, social and cultural rights

 

1. Social welfare provision

 

45. For groups requiring further assistance including the poor, near poor, ethnic minorities, children under 6, the State has spent 22,303 billion VND (equivalent to more than 1 billion USD) to buy healthcare insurance for them in the period of 2011 – 2012. Thanks to that policy, in the last 2 years, 29 million individuals who are of the poor or ethnic minorities can have free healthcare insurance, while the near poor had 70% of the fee sponsored. In the field of education, the State has also spent 11,844 billion VND (equivalent to 500 million USD) to assist the poor in education such as waiving tuition fees for children of the poor households or households benefiting from social welfare policy,

granting scholarships for children, providing lunches at school for children under 5. Therefore, in the period of 2011 – 2012, 4 million pupils who are children of poor households have their tuition fee waived or reduced, their schooling conditions improved and their meals at school sponsored. This contributed to the reduction in the rate of school drop-outs among children and the increasing net school enrolment.

 

2. Labour market development and employment creation

 

46. In Viet Nam, according to statistics by the General Statistics Office, as of the fourth-quarter 2012, 52.79 million people are in working age (from 15 years of age). This is a great advantage in terms of human resources for socio-economic development; however, it also puts pressure on job creation every year. Skilled workers account for approximately 46% of the working population, 33.5% among those are trained workers, initially meeting the demand of the labour market.

 

3. Hunger eradication and poverty reduction

 

49. Comprehensive and sustainable poverty reduction has been the top priority of the Government in its efforts to protect human rights and achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In recent years, poverty reduction in Viet Nam has experienced great progress. Thanks to achievements in economic growth and social welfare policies, Viet Nam has fulfilled the MDG in poverty reduction ahead of schedules. The percentage of poor households across the country has decreased from 13.7 in 2008 to 9.6 in 2012. Average income of poor households has doubled in the last 5 years. In 2012, the number of households in shortage of food reduced by 27.6% and the percentage of poor households nation-wide decreased by 1.76% as compared to 2011 figures. Strong downtrend was observed in all 3 important poverty indicators namely poverty percentage, poverty gap and poverty severity. More importantly, not only that a large number of people got out of poverty but also their living standards and quality of life have been dramatically improved.

 

5. Healthcare and education

 

54. Viet Nam identifies public healthcare as a top priority in its development strategies, national goals programs and has achieved considerable progress in this area. To date, Viet Nam’s healthcare system’s capacity has been greatly consolidated and further improved. Every commune now has a clinic and 74% of them have a doctor(s). As of 2012, 68% of the population participated in healthcare insurance programs. Viet Nam has also considerably reduced infant mortal rate to 23/1000 births in 2012, equalling one-third of the figure in 1990. Viet Nam has fulfilled the MDG in malaria prevention and control. HIV/AIDS control and prevention has also achieved progress in detecting infected cases and providing prompt treatments.

 

55. Education and training also recorded positive developments. Viet Nam has achieved universal primary education and is close to universal secondary education. In 2012, the net primary school enrolment is 97.7% and that of secondary school is 87.2%. Education dimensions have been further expanded and infrastructures have also been improved to better meet the growing need for education of people of different age groups and from different geographical areas. Training quality has experienced positive developments, initially meeting the demand for trained human resource for economic growth. The policy of education and training socialization has achieved some success, reflected in the mobilization of resources for school infrastructure building, investments in school establishment, and education funding in various forms.

 

C. Rights of the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups

 

3. Children

 

62. In October 2012, the Prime Minister approved the National Action Plan for Children for the 2012–2020 period, with an aim to carrying out the comprehensive goal of building a safe and friendly living environment for better accomplishment of the right of the child; closing the gap in living conditions between groups of children and children in different regions and areas; enhancing quality of life; and providing a chance at equal development for all children.

 

63. Viet Nam is the first Asian country and second in the world to join the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), along with the First and Second Optional Protocol. The Government of Viet Nam has made great efforts in completing a legal policy, incorporating international law’s regulations on the rights of the child into the national legal system and applying these policies to protect their rights and best interests. In addition, Viet Nam actively takes part in regional and international initiatives to protect the rights of the child, and continue to broaden international cooperation and carry out related international commitments.

 

64. Strategic programs and policies such as vaccination for children, healthcare insurance assistance, free examination and treatment for children under 6 years old, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention, etc. have produced good results. Under-five mortality rate has dropped from 58% in 1990 to 24% in 2011, under-one mortality rate from 31% in 2001 to 15.5% in 2011.

 

65. The National Program on Child Protection in the 2011–2015 period focuses on media activities, education, social campaigns for stronger awareness and behaviour change in protecting the right of the child; the initiation and application of protection, care and educational programs for children; a complete legal system and policies concerning child protection, education and rights; encouraging social, political, economic and vocational organizations, along with families, the community, the people and children to join efforts to protect, care for and educate children; consolidating the organizing system, in addition to enhancing the ability of those working directly with children; strengthening and expanding a network of collaborators and volunteers to protect and care for children; and improving the quality of inspection, supervision and assessment.

 

5. Ethnic minority groups

 

71. In 2012, 100% of the communes had accomplished universalisation of primary education standards, many of which had accomplished universalisation for lower secondary education standards. The net primary school enrolment rate is 98 % average in the whole country, including 95 % of children in ethnic minorities. All provinces with large ethnic minorities have technical secondary schools, colleges, vocational and technical training schools in the fields of agriculture, economic management, finance, education and healthcare. In 2010, the government promulgated Decree 82 which regulates the teaching and learning of spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities. In 2012, teaching and learning of 12 ethnic minority languages were carried out in 32 provinces. By the end of 2012, there were 2629 ethnic minority language classes with 136 600 students. The Ministry of Education and Training is in cooperation with UNICEF to carry out pilot bilingual education on the basis of mother tongues at Lao Cai, Tra Vinh, Gia Lai provinces and has achieved initial good results.

 

IV. Priorities and commitments to continue the promotion and protection of human rights in Viet Nam

 

A. Remaining challenges

 

8. Education has been high on the agenda of the State and received big investments. However, there remain many challenges in education, including the inequality in education, the quality gap between education in the urban and rural, far-off areas or those with ethnic minorities, education reform, the improvement of facilities and equipment. Education on human rights at all levels has not received adequate investments and attention. In school curricula, the content of human rights education is overly simple and not well-designed for different ages.

 

79. The obsolete way of thinking has prevented vulnerable groups such as women, children, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities from fully understanding and taking a proactive approach towards their rights. The mentality to favour men over women has been an obstacle for gender equality; social prejudice creates discrimination against people of ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. Constraints of resources lower the effectiveness of programs and policies, especially in the increase of support and access to social services by children, people with disabilities and the elderly.

 

B. Priorities

 

82. The quality of education is one of the top factors to increase productivity, develop the economy in-depth and develop social aspects. With the awareness of the policy to develop human resource, the Government has adopted national policies to and continued to invest in education with the two major goals: (i) to increase the rate of net enrolment age at all levels; and (ii) to improve the quality of teachers. Education on human rights is a special priority to improve people’s awareness and that of law enforcement agencies in the work to better promote and protect human rights.

 

84. Community healthcare towards a healthy society with good access to healthcare service, both for physical and mental health, is one of the highest priorities of the Government. In the coming years, the Government will focus on dealing with child mortality rate, especially the newborns, increasing the effectiveness of vaccination, National Nutrition Program, National Program on Reproductive Health and the National Program on HIV/AIDS.

 

 

I. Background and framework

 

A. Scope of international obligations

 

1. The Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty recommended that Viet Nam strengthen its legal and institutional framework through the ratification and immediate implementation of major human rights treaties such as CAT, ICRMW, CRPD, CPED and the Optional Protocols to ICCPR, ICESCR and CEDAW.11 Similarly, in 2012, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) encouraged Viet Nam to ratify ICRMW and CAT. In 2012, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) also urged Viet Nam to ratify OP-CAT13, CRPD14, OP-CRC-IC and CPED.

 

2. CRC recommended that Viet Nam ratify the Rome Statute.

 

3. CERD and CRC recommended ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention relating to the status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 

 

4. CERD recommended that Viet Nam ratify the ILO Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries.18 CRC recommended ratifying the ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers (2011). 

 

B. Constitutional and legislative framework

 

7. CERD and CRC welcomed several legislative measures: the Law on Gender Equality (2006), the Law against Human Trafficking (2011), the Law on People with Disabilities (2010), the Law on Education (2005) and its amendment (2009), and the Law on the Protection, Care and Education of Children (2004). However, CRC remained concerned about the slow progress of the legal reform.

 

8. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008 represented an historic accomplishment in terms of the reduction of statelessness. It also assured that subsequent generations of children born to former refugees from a neighbouring country could enjoy the right to a nationality. 

 

9. CRC urged Viet Nam to bring the draft Law on Associations into force. 

 

14. CRC recommended that Viet Nam reform domestic legislation to include all forms of child abuse and disseminate the legislation among law enforcement officials, the judiciary and professionals working with or for children. 

 

C. Institutional and human rights infrastructure and policy measures

 

15. CERD and CRC encouraged Viet Nam to promptly establish an independent human rights institution, in compliance with the Paris Principles, with a broad human rights mandate as recommended by the Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty.  CRC recommended establishing an independent monitoring body for the promotion and protection of children’s rights. 

 

20. CRC remained concerned about the scarcity of resources allocated for children, particularly affecting children living in remote areas, children with disabilities and children from ethnic minorities and indigenous groups. It recommended that Viet Nam utilize a child rights approach in the elaboration of the national budget. 

 

21. While welcoming the National Action Program for Vietnamese Children (2011-2020) and the National Program on Children Protection (2011-2015)42, CRC was concerned about the absence of coordination between the national policies and programmes affecting children.

 

22. While welcoming the Education Development Strategic Plan 2001-2010 and the National Education for All Action Plan 2003-2015, CRC encouraged Viet Nam to develop a national plan of action for human rights education.

 

23. CRC was concerned at the high levels of corruption in Viet Nam. 

 

III. Implementation of international human rights obligations

 

A. Equality and non-discrimination

 

24. CERD was deeply concerned about Viet Nam’s lack of acknowledgement of racial discrimination and inequality between ethnic groups, and negative societal attitudes against persons of minority ethnic origin. It recommended the eradication of discriminatory stereotypes. CRC urged the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to prevent ethnic discrimination.

 

30. CRC was concerned at discrimination against girls, which resulted in their dropping out of school, marrying early and aborting female foetuses. It urged Viet Nam to eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls, and to ensure gender mainstreaming in all anti-discrimination policies and programmes.

 

31. CRC was concerned that children with HIV/AIDS were stigmatized, recommending that Viet Nam ensure that children with HIV/AIDS do not drop out from school, combat stigmatizing of children with HIV/AIDS, and implement the National Action Plan for children affected by HIV/AIDS to 2010 and vision to 2020.

 

32. CRC was concerned about the stigmatization of children with disabilities and urged Viet Nam to eliminate discrimination, particularly in the education and health system, and to explicitly prohibit discrimination against children on the grounds of disability.

 

33. CRC was concerned at the marginalization of migrant children as a result of their unregistered status, urging Viet Nam to include a migrants’ rights perspective into all anti-discrimination policies and programmes.

 

B. Right to life, liberty and security of the person

 

38. UNCT noted that a new Law on Handling Administrative Violations passed in June 2012 included a number of important reforms, including the abolition of administrative detention for sex workers. However, CRC was concerned about the administrative detention system imposed on drug–addicted children and child detainees in centres not being separated from adults, recommending that Viet Nam develop alternatives to deprivation of child’s liberty, provide children with rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, establish a monitoring system of drug detention centres, and guarantee availability of child detention cells.

 

39. CRC expressed concern about ill treatment or torture of children administratively detained in drug detention centres, including through solitary confinement. 

 

40. UNCT noted that Vietnamese women, men and children were being trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation with women and children most at risk, especially from minority groups and border regions.

 

41. According to UNCT, national data confirmed that high rates of physical, sexual and emotional violence against women persisted. Statistics showed that 32 per cent of ever-married women reported having experienced physical violence in their life and 54 per cent of women reported lifetime emotional abuse.

 

42. CRC expressed concern at (a) widespread violence against and abuse of children, particularly girls; (b) lack of measures to prevent domestic violence, including physical and sexual abuse; and (c) neglect of children. It recommended that Viet Nam strengthen the national system for investigating complaints of child abuse and neglect, eliminate violence against children, and establish policies to protect children from all forms of violence. 

 

43. CRC was concerned about corporal punishment in the home, recommending that Viet Nam reform its domestic legislation to explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all settings.

 

44. CRC remained concerned about increasing child prostitution, child trafficking and the use of children in commercial sexual activity. It was further concerned that sexually exploited children were treated as criminals by the police. It recommended that Viet Nam implement the 2011–2015 Action Plan against prostitution and the 2011–2015 Action Plan against human trafficking.

 

45. CRC was concerned about widespread child labour, the relatively low minimum age for labour (12 years for light work), and the fact that child inmates in drug detention centres were subject to forced labour. CRC recommended that Viet Nam eliminate child labour, harmonize national laws and regulations with ILO Convention No. 138, and improve labour inspections.

 

C. Administration of justice, including impunity and the rule of law

 

50. CRC expressed concern about the lack of a juvenile justice system, and that the current measures covered children under the age of 16 years only. It also expressed concern about limited alternatives to child detention and absence of rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, recommending that Viet Nam (a) review the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Law and the Ordinance on administrative violation to include all children under the age of 18 years in the juvenile justice system; (b) establish a specialized juvenile court and specialized protection police units for children; and (c) allocate resources to the juvenile justice system.

 

D. Right to privacy, marriage and family life

 

51. CRC expressed its concern at geographical and ethnic disparities in birth registration rates, recommending that Viet Nam secure the registration at birth of all children, giving particular attention to children living in rural and mountainous areas. 

 

E. Freedom of religion or belief, expression, association and peaceful assembly, and right to participate in public and political life

 

54. CRC was concerned that all sources of information, media in particular, were subject to the Government’s control and did not allow for diversity.  UNCT also expressed concern that – although the Internet had become a major space for social networking and expression – the recent draft decree aimed to replace Decree 97 on management, supply and use of Internet services and electronic information, if adopted, would tighten regulatory and technical controls on Internet access and content.

 

57. CRC expressed concern at the limitation on the freedom of expression of children and their limited access to information, urging Viet Nam to remove all restrictions on the freedom of expression of the child.

 

59. CRC noted with concern that children’s freedom to association was severely restricted. Specifically, UNCT noted that setting up a social organization outside the State’s orbit of mass organizations and “special” organizations was subject to a complicated regulatory authorization procedure, and the classification system determined in different decrees on associations led to a lack of transparency and an unequal playing field for social organizations.

 

60. CRC remained concerned at the lack of application of the rights of the child to be heard in all settings, including in judicial hearings, recommending that Viet Nam carry out awareness-raising programmes and campaigns on children’s right to have their views taken into account, and involve children in the development of legislation and policies relevant to them.

 

G. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living

 

66. CERD remained concerned that not all communities benefitted from Viet Nam’s economic growth. CERD and CRC recommended that Viet Nam (a) combat poverty among marginalized groups, particularly ethnic minority and migrant groups; (b) promote equal opportunities for all persons; and (c) stimulate economic growth and development for the ethnic minority groups and the indigenous communities, especially regarding employment, education and health care.

 

67. CRC was deeply concerned at the high number of children living in poverty, particularly within certain ethnic minorities and migrant populations, recommending that Viet Nam increase the social assistance cash transfer programme for low-income families with children, extending such support to poor ethnic minority families, informal workers’ families and migrants’ families. 

 

68. CRC expressed concern about gaps in the supply of safe drinking water – especially in rural areas and among ethnic minority populations – and inadequate sanitation facilities in the home and at schools.

 

H. Right to health

 

74. CRC remained concerned at stunting and malnutrition rates among children under 5 years of age and neonatal mortality, being higher in rural areas and among children of ethnic minorities and ethnic and geographic disparities in immunization rates.

 

75. CRC expressed concern at high teenagers’ abortions and their limited access to contraceptives, reproductive health services, assistance and counselling, recommending that Viet Nam provide access for adolescents to sexual and reproductive health. 

 

I. Right to education

 

76. CRC recommended that Viet Nam (a) develop early childhood development programmes; (b) ensure free of charge education de facto; (c) increase access to schools, particularly for girls in rural areas; (d) undertake affirmative action targeting children from ethnic minorities and children living in rural areas in order to close ethnic and geographical disparities in school dropout rates; and (e) reform the curricula and pedagogical methods. 

 

77. CERD was concerned at disparities in accessing education quality between majority Kinh students and ethnic minority students, high illiteracy and school dropout rates among ethnic minorities, particularly women and girls, and limited access to mother-tongue-based education. It recommended that Viet Nam ensure equal enjoyment of the right to education, and increase the bilingual education programmes. CRC had similar concerns and recommendations.

 

78. The Independent Expert on Minority Issues recommended that – with the ultimate aim of proficiency in Vietnamese, and as a means to implement fully the provisions in the Constitution relating to ethnic minority languages – the Government permit and support bilingual education for ethnic minority children, commencing with their minority language as the medium of instruction in the early years of primary school.

 

K. Persons with disabilities

 

81. CRC was concerned about the alarmingly disadvantaged position of children with disabilities regarding the right to education. It recommended that Viet Nam develop a rights-based approach in relation to children with disabilities and implement inclusive education policies, with a particular focus on children with disabilities living in rural areas.

 

L. Minorities and indigenous peoples

 

86. CRC urged Viet Nam to preserve the identity for all children, and to eliminate all efforts to assimilate ethnic minority populations with the Kinh majority.

 

N. Right to development

 

91. The Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty urged the Government to adopt a law regulating all social assistance mechanisms in order to ensure accountability and long-term stability of the social protection system, and ensure equitable and inclusive social and economic policies including the protection gaps faced by various vulnerable groups – such as ethnic minorities, women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities and internal migrants – and design programmes to meet their specific needs.

 

 

A. Background and framework

 

1. Scope of international obligations

 

2. AI recommended the ratification of the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to allow individuals to submit complaints to the Human Rights Committee of violations of the rights set out in the Covenant. Joint Submission 3 (JS3) strongly encouraged Viet Nam to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure as soon as possible. Joint Submission 6 (JS6) made similar recommendations. 

 

3. Institutional and human rights infrastructure and policy measures

 

11. Child Fund Australia stated that Viet Nam focused on the strengthening of monitoring rights implementing process as well as that of capacity building for different concerned government rights implementing agencies to ensure better implementation for people. However, the Sacerdotal Council of Cao Dai Tay Ninh Holy See (CAODAI) noted that the awareness of human rights by the public in general and by the Cao Dai followers in particular was low.

 

C. Implementation of international human rights obligations

 

2. Right to life, liberty and security of the person

 

27. According to JS4, victims of trafficking who escape and return to Vietnam have no legal protection. Many rural women find that their land has been confiscated during their absence. If they have children born overseas, the children are not entitled to the obligatory residence permit, or “hộ khẩu”, and become illegal citizens, deprived of the right to education and health care.

 

29. JS3 recommended that Vietnam should amend its Penal Code to include specific provisions specifically prohibiting sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, making travel arrangements with the purpose of sexually exploiting children, printing or publishing information intended to promote child sex tours. 

 

30. JS3 also recommended that the Government increase the capacity of public services to provide adequate care and protection for all child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, including children from foreign countries. 

 

31. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children stated that in Viet Nam, corporal punishment of children was lawful despite the Government’s stated intention to reform the law, and the repeated recommendations to prohibit corporal punishment by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

 

4. Right to privacy, marriage and family life

 

38. JS6 recommended that Viet Nam establish a national database on situation of orphans, abandoned and homeless children, develop an independent monitoring body for child rights, expand community-based child protection system and foster care, and develop comprehensive criteria for child care centres with special attention of children at risks.

 

8. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living

 

63. JS4 noted that hộ khẩu was an obligatory permit which gives access to housing ownership, health care, education and other key public social services. People without permanent residence status (“temporary migrants” of KT3 and KT4 status) had to pay higher prices for electricity and pipe water consumption compared to local residents. The hộ khẩu was also required to obtain birth certificates for new-borns. Parents who are refused hộ khẩu cannot obtain birth certificates, and thus cannot register their children for schooling. Vietnam Association of the Elderly noted that not much support services had been provided for the elderly especially in remote areas. 

 

10. Right to education

 

71. JS10 stated that the Government continued to exclude religious organizations from meaningful educational activities thus condemning future generations to ignorance and competitive disadvantage through the Party’s control and disastrous education policy. 

 

72. International Network for Diplomacy Indigenous Governance Engaging in Nonviolence Organizing for Understanding & Self-Determination (INDIGENOUS) noted that Khmer Krom children were not able to learn in their mother tongue in schools of the state. There was no educational material in indigenous language of Khmer Krom. These state practices resulted in a higher rate of dropout of Khmer youth from school. KKF expressed a similar concern.