AP, Washington
The United States pressed Vietnam Monday over a recent spate of detentions of government critics and pushed for other progress on human rights ahead of a visit next month by President Barack Obama.
Senior officials of the two governments held an annual dialogue on human rights in Washington. It’s an issue which remains a drag on improving relations between the former enemies. Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, said last year saw a sharp decline in arrests and prosecutions for peaceful dissent in Vietnam. But he told The Associated Press there has been an increase in detentions of activists and bloggers this year, which was raised during Monday’s “open and candid” discussions. He said the U.S. side “expressed our hope that this would be addressed and that some of the longstanding cases of concern would be resolved.”
Vietnam’s delegation was led by Vu Anh Quang, director general of the Department of International Organizations at the Foreign Ministry.