Hanoi (dpa, Dec 10) - At least ten political and religious prisoners in Vietnamese jails are ``in danger of death if they are not allowed immediate medical treatment'', an overseas Vietnam human rights group charged Thursday.

The statement, issued by the Paris-based Vietnam Committee for Human Rights, said the inmates were ``critically ill as a result of ill-treatment, torture, exhaustion from hard labour, poor diet and lack of medical treatment.''

Among those feared in danger is Thich Huyen Quang, 79, patriarch of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), who is in a kind of internal exile in a remote valley in south-central Quang Ngai province.

The revered monk, whose secular name is Le Dinh Nhan, reportedly suffers from a heart condition and high blood pressure but has been denied ``all assistance and medical treatment'', the committee charged.

His cabin was recently flooded by heavy typhoon rain and he apparently had to climb onto a table to sleep, they said.

Quang is one of several independent religious figures that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance was blocked from meeting by Vietnamese authorities during a visit in October.

Among others reported in critical condition are three other Buddhist monks, a Catholic brother, and a member of the Hoa Hao sect.

The others are secular intellectuals, including Nguyen Van Bao, 65, a history teacher, who suffers from tuberculosis, high blood pressure and the loss of most of his teeth, after 20 years in prison.

Bao is serving a life term in the T5 Reeducation Camp in northern Thanh Hoa province, according to the committee, which has proved a largely reliable source of information about the Vietnam's vast penal system.

``These prisoners, and many more in Vietnam, are detained under inhuman conditions in jails and reeducation camps merely for adhering to the principles enshrined in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights,'' added the statement released on that document's 50th anniversary.

The committee did not say how it knew the details of the physical conditions of these prisoners but it has become one of the most reliable sources of information about Vietnam's vast penal system, especially concerning political prisoners.

Vietnam's prison system is not open to independent monitoring, domestically or internationally.

The committee cited last year's adoption of Decree 31, which allows for administrative detention for up to two years without a court order for national security cases, as another step towards suppressing political dissent.

Meanwhile, Vietnam, which has signed eight international conventions on human rights, marked the anniversary with a conference, where senior officials mostly re-stated old positions.

A letter from Vietnam's Communist Party chief, read to the conference, stressed the country's long tradition of humanity and magnaminity, according to state press reports Thursday.

The letter, from Le Kha Phieu, said Vietnam should ``selectively absorb'' other notions of human rights but at the same time guard against those who might use the issue to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

``Given the on-going multilateral globalisation, we should protect and bring into full play our humanity, solve differences on human rights in a constructive and cooperative spirit that respects the independence and sovereignty of each nation,'' papers quoted the former military general as saying.