Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dzung said the 2005 Human Rights Report released by the US Department of State gave erroneous and unbiased comments on the human rights situation in Vietnam and the country flatly rejects these wrongful allegations.

Mr Dzung made the remark in reply to reporters at a regular press briefing held by the ministry in Hanoi on March 9.

Over the past years, the Vietnamese State has spared no effort to help people better enjoy human rights and has won plaudits from people at home and throughout the world.

People are more and more actively engaged in social management process and openly express their opinions and aspirations at the important national events.

Reality shows that Vietnamese people throughout the country are actively contributing their opinions to the draft reports for submission to the 10^th National Party Congress. The Vietnamese State always respects and guarantees its citizens’ rights to belief and religious freedom and rights to freedom of non-belief and non-religion. The promulgation of many law-regulated documents has facilitated religious activities.

There is no religious repression and racial discrimination treatment in Vietnam and no one is detained for his or her different political opinions or religious reasons. Only law-breakers will be punished in accordance to the Vietnamese law, Mr Dzung stressed.

Due to differences in political systems, development levels, traditions and cultures, it is inevitable that there remain certain countries like Vietnam and the US, which still maintain different viewpoints and ways of addressing human rights issues. However, it is unacceptable to impose one’s own viewpoints on other nations.

In the implementation of an agreement reached by the two countries’ senior leaders on developing a constructive partnership, friendship and comprehensive co-operation in the principle of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, and in pursuit of frank and open dialogues on issues of common concern, the two foreign ministries recently resumed their human rights dialogues.

"We hope that through dialogues and contacts, the two sides will promote mutual understanding to narrow the differences in religious and human rights issues, thus contributing to developing bilateral relations in line with the interest of the two countries’ people," Mr Dzung noted.

*** Asked about reports by some foreign news agencies quoting Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong’s statement during a recent meeting with the Japan Federation of Economic Organisations (Nippon Keidanren), Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dzung said these reports were wrong as they were only based on information released by an official of Nippon Keidanren.

Mr Dzung made the statement in response to a Vietnam News Agency reporter’s question about some foreign news agencies quoting a Nippon Keidanren official as saying: "At a meeting with Nippon Keidanren chairman Hiroshi Okuda on March 1, Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong apologised for recent disputes over conflicts between workers and employers at some Japanese-invested companies operating in Vietnam."

During the meeting, the FM spokesperson recalled, President Luong said: "The Vietnamese Party, State and Government always pay attention and listen to opinions from people, businesses, including foreign enterprises, in order to perfect policies relating to economic development and improvements to people’s living conditions". Regarding issues recently emerging in some businesses, President Luong affirmed that "the recent strike was mainly caused by unsatisfactory solutions to labourers’ rights. The matters will be resolved properly with co-operation from all three sides – the Government, enterprises and labourers".