UN Special envoy: Religious freedom improved

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt, Ha Noi, July 31, 2014 - Photo: VGP

He shared with media his initial results of a fact-finding trip in the country from July21-31 following the invitation of Vietnamese Government at a press conference on July 31.

Bielefeldt said that during his meetings with representatives of religious communities, he received some positive responses regarding conditions for religious practices in recent years.

Viet Nam has ratified most of international conventions on human rights including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in which the Article 18 regulates that everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The UN Special Rapporteur commented positively on changes to the 2013 Constitution about human rights, basic rights and obligations of citizens.

Specially, the constitution’s Article 24 states that everyone enjoys freedom of religion and belief and free to follow or not follow a religion. That applies for foreigners living in Viet Nam as well.

He welcomed Viet Nam’s intention to supplement the Ordinance on Religion and Belief in 2015 and scheduled to be approved in 2016.

He also highly appreciated efforts of the Vietnamese Government in improving the religious freedom in Viet Nam.

He said that he would complete the report and consult the Vietnamese Government and submit to the plenary session of the UN Human Rights Council in March next year.

According to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, there are 37 registered religious organizations in the country with about 24 million followers.

Number of education facilities for religious heads has increased significantly in recent years with about 45,000 units. Religious communities decide on the education contents alongside subjects of the Ministry of Education and Training such as history and law.

By Ngoc Van