VIET NAM

Follow-up

State Reporting - Action by State Party

CERD A/56/18 (2001)

B. The sixth to ninth periodic reports of Viet Nam*

The following letter dated 16 August 2001 was addressed to the Chairman of the Committee by the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations Office at Geneva:

"Dear Mr. Chairman,

"I am addressing this letter to you in regard to the content of the concluding observations by the Committee on report of Viet Nam's implementation of the Convention. While reaffirming our strong commitments to promote dialogue and cooperation with the Committee, I would like to convey to you and other distinguished members the disappointment of my delegation at some observations by the Committee which we consider unbalanced. For the sake of objective comprehension of the facts by the Committee, I would wish to offer the following observations and clarification.

"- Looking simply at the format of the paragraphs, one sees the imbalanced proportion between the 'positive aspects', which are dominant features in our case but inadequately mentioned, and the 'concerns', many of which are taken, unfortunately, on the basis of distorted information and allegations.

"- The observations and recommendations contained in paragraphs [418, 420, 421 and 422] in particular are exemplary of this. There has never been any justified complaint about non-protection of the refugees' rights in Viet Nam; on the contrary, Viet Nam's resolution of the Indo-Chinese refugee problem was considered as a model and good example by UNHCR. In fact, the whole paragraph [420] as well as the phrase 'including the rights of Vietnamese repatriated from Cambodia' is really at odds. By the same token, the allegation of forced sterilization of minority women in paragraph [418] is wrong. Regarding paragraphs [421 and 422], it is regrettable that the distorted information and allegations of some irresponsible NGOs, which were obscurely raised by one member, have been taken as the Committee's view.

"–My delegation's concern is that such concluding observations mentioned above do not promote constructive dialogue on the part of the States parties, neither do they help to encourage steady implementation of the Convention, nor do they enhance the Committee's prestige and credibility.

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* See paragraphs 409 to 429 of the present report.

"– Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to attach herewith** a few pages of a recent United Nations document on Viet Nam's development progress for authentic reference by the Committee's members. I also kindly request that this letter be included in the annual report of the Committee to the General Assembly.

"Please accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Respectfully yours,

(Signed)	Nguyen Quy Binh

Ambassador

Permanent Representative"

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** Attachment available in the files of the secretariat.