Hanoi (VNA) -𒁏 Human rights are becoming an increasingly important issue in global political life and one of the three pillars of the United Nations' activities along with peace and security-development.

Major General Nguyen Van Ky, Deputy Chief of the standing office of the Government's Steering Committee for Human Rights, emphasised this while addressing a conference on human rights held by the office and the committee in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau on August 23, which was participated by over 3,100 delegates. For Vietnam, the Party and State always determine that ensuring and promoting human rights is an across-the-board policy, reflected in a series of documents of the Party, the Government, and the 2013 Constitution. The 13th Party Congress's Resolution emphasises the task of ensuring human rights by affirming: "The people are the centre, the subject of the work of innovation, construction and defence of the Fatherland; all policies must come from the people's life, aspirations, rights and legitimate interests; take the people's happiness and well-being as a goal to strive for." Ky, however, said that hostile forces at home and abroad have often taken advantage of human rights issues to incite activities against the country. In particular, issues related to ethnic minority groups, freedom of religion and belief, freedom of speech, the Internet and human trafficking are being thoroughly exploited to distort, slander, and discredit Vietnam, creating an excuse for acts of interference in Vietnam's internal affairs, he noted. Several western countries regularly use annual reports to distort and slander the human rights situation in Vietnam, especially those on human rights, religious freedom, and human trafficking. For example, on July 20, 2022, the US Department of State released the 2022 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. After three consecutive years, from 2019-2021, of being ranked in "Group 2", for the first time Vietnam was downgraded to "Group 3", meaning the country could be subject to US government sanctions. This fact, along with some United Nations human rights mechanisms, raising concerns related to Vietnamese workers abroad, will significantly affect Vietnam's prestige in the international arena, especially in the context that Vietnam is running for a seat at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2023-2025 tenure. For the human rights situation in Lai Chau, Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, who is head of the Steering Committee for Human Rights of Lai Chau Tong Thanh Hai said the authorities have paid special attention to ensuring human rights, and well implementing socio-economic development, ethnicity and religion policies and social security ones to ensure human rights of people from all ethnic groups in the locality. Thanks to these efforts, the security and order situation in Lai Chau is stable, contributing to firmly protecting the national border sovereignty and maintaining social order and safety in all situations; keeping complicated problems from arising; and preventing hostile forces from taking advantage of human rights issues to oppose the Party and State, he said. However, the awareness of human rights issues and relevant works of several cadres, civil servants and public employees in some local agencies remain incomplete, Hai said, adding that their basic knowledge of human rights is limited. The official said the conference offers a chance to raise awareness and responsibility of all sectors, agencies and political and social organisations, especially local officials who work to ensure human rights in the locality. He added that this is the first time that the Steering Committee for Human Rights of Lai Chau province has organised a large-scale conference on human rights. It is essential to equip staff directly working on human rights in localities with information and knowledge, Ky said, noting that the conference is a venue for discussing measures to further promote human rights in Lai Chau. /.