Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh
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The bloc, which consists of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, made clear its stance in a joint statement delivered by Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, at the general debate on September 23 on Item 6 in the framework of the 33rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“We recognize that a key to the success of the UPR is its being an intergovernmental peer-review mechanism where every country is equally and objectively reviewed and encouraged to further promote and protect human rights in their own country, according to their needs and priorities,” the statement said.
ASEAN also stress that the UPR must continue to be conducted in an objective, transparent, non-selective, constructive, non-confrontational and non-politicized manner, taking into account their respective social, political and economic circumstances.
“We reaffirm that national mechanisms are best placed to translate UPR recommendations into concrete outcomes for their citizens. In order that the UPR continues to improve the human rights situation on the ground, we believe that UPR should enhance constructive dialogue, serve as a forum of sharing of best practices in the implementation, and promote constructive cooperation, especially through technical assistance and capacity building, in consultation with, and with the consent of, the state concerned,” the statement said.
ASEAN countries once again reaffirm their commitment to continue their constructive engagement with this mechanism of the Human Rights Council. The UPR, which was launched in 2008, involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member States. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights.
Vietnam’s efforts are not only shown in the number of international human rights conventions to which it is a member but also the high sense of responsibility for enforcing them, including integrating the conventions’ content into domestic laws, raising public awareness of their contents on the mass media and school curricula, and seriously fulfilling compulsory obligations to build and submit national reports. The country has submitted a total of 16 reports to the Committees on human rights conventions.
Countries worldwide have welcomed Vietnam’s efforts in joining and seriously abiding by international conventions, UPR recommendations and thorough preparations for devising and presenting national reports. Several developing countries want to learn from Vietnam’s experience, and many others consult Vietnam when dealing with complicated and sensitive human right issues.
In the coming time, Vietnam is set to continue seriously fulfilling international human rights obligations while considering joining more international treaties in the field. The country will work more proactively at human rights forums in general, and at UN agencies in which Vietnam will serve as a member in the time ahead such as the UN Socio-Economic Council for 2016-2018, the UNESCO Executive Board for 2015-2019, and in ASEAN mechanisms.
