Vietnam: ICJ makes a submission to the UN Human Rights Committee

Dec 14, 2023

On 14 December 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) filed a submission for the preparation by the UN Human Rights Committee of a List of Issues (LOI) for the examination of Viet Nam’s fourth periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

During its 140^th session, from 4 to 28 March 2024, the Human Rights Committee will prepare and adopt a LOI featuring a number of questions addressed to the State party.

Once adopted, the LOI will be transmitted to the State party. Replies to the LOIs are to be provided in writing before the dialogue between the Committee and Viet Nam’s delegation that will take place during the Committee’s review of the State party’s implementation of and compliance with the provisions of the ICCPR at a forthcoming session of the Committee.

The ICJ’s submission to the Committee highlights a number of ongoing human rights concerns with respect to the country’s implementation of and compliance with the provisions of the ICCPR, which are not adequately addressed in State’s report.

In addition, the submission formulates certain questions and recommends that the Committee should include them in its LOI and address them to the Government of Viet Nam, including on the following pressing human rights concerns:

• The right to freedom of expression and information and to privacy (articles 19 and 17);
• The death penalty (articles 6 and 7);
• The independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial (article 14); and
• The right to an effective remedy (article 2(3)).

The submission is available in PDF here.