Vietnam condemns Hammett Award to some Vietnamese

 

Source: Xinhua

Thursday, 08 February 2007

Vietnam has condemned the U.S-based Human Rights Watch for granting the Hellman/Hammett Award to some Vietnamese people, calling this "an absolutely wrongful act," Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.

"The granting of the Hellman/Hammet Award to some Vietnamese by the Human Rights Watch is completely wrong. The organization usually issues distorted information about the situation in Vietnam," the agency quoted spokesman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Dung as saying.

In Vietnam, nobody has been detained because of his or her political opinions, Dung said, noting that there has been no political repression.

Only those who break laws are punished in accordance with the country's regulations, he said.

The Hellman/Hammett Award is granted to writers in the world who had been victims of political persecution and in financial need. In addition to providing much needed financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants focus attention on repression of free speech and censorship by publicizing the persecution endured by the grant recipients, according to the Human Rights Watch.

 

 

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