Vietnam says Rights Record Accusations are Distorted

Vietnam said that U.S. human rights reports have negatively distorted the true state of the situation there. The country has been accused of abusing ethnic minorities, including many Christians.

"Severe violations of religious freedom" have placed Vietnam among "Countries of Particular Concern", the U.S. State Department said.

The report said that Vietnam had restricted freedom of religion and only allowed government approved religious organizations to operate.

"The government failed to issue a nationwide decree banning forced renunciations of faith, did not tend the physical abuse of religious believers, continued to hold a significant number of religious prisoners, and although it permitted the re-opening of some churches closed in the Central Highlands in 2001, it refused to allow the re-opening and registration of hundreds of others," said the State Department.

Still, the report said that there had been improvements in religious freedom, saying "Some religious leaders expressed cautious optimism about a new Ordinance on Religion that the Government released in November, and in December."

Vietnamese officials in Hanoi said the country respects freedom of religion and that the report contained made up stories.

"The report gave fabricated details about times, people's names and several cases to cheat those who do not have objective information about Vietnam," said the Communist Party's newspaper, the Nhan Dan daily.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said the reports were biased. "We absolutely reject these wrongful assessments."