By Sonya Hepinstall
WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Vietnam emerged relatively unscathed from a U.S. State Department report on Monday that called Hanoi's human rights record "poor" but also pointed to improvement in such areas as freedom of expression.
"The government continued to repress basic political and some religious freedoms and numerous abuses by the government continue," said the report, the department's annual global review of human rights.
However, the government also "allowed citizens somewhat greater freedom of expression and assembly to express grievances, including by delegates in the National Assembly, citizens in local forums with delegates, and small groups of protesters outside government offices."
The report may soothe Vietnam, sensitive about its image in the United States given that a landmark bilateral trade accord signed last year has yet to be ratified by the U.S. Congress or Vietnam's National Assembly.
Religious rights in particular have been a touchy subject in recent weeks, partly sparked by fact-finding hearings held by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington earlier this month that examined the issue in the context of the trade pact.
Hanoi's Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan called the hearings a "rude intervention into the sovereignty and internal affairs of Vietnam."
The commission hearing came hard on the heels of the worst unrest to hit Vietnam for years, involving mainly Protestant ethnic minority hill farmers in the central highlands.
HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT "FACTUAL AND DIRECT"
One of those who testified at the hearing, director of the Heritage Foundation thinktank's Asian Studies Center Larry Wortzel, said the State Department report was "factual and direct" and suggested that Vietnam was doing relatively well.
"I think that it outlines a lot of problems but none so serious that we could say we're just not going to trade with this country," he told Reuters.
The report, available on http:/www.state.gov, cited harsh prison conditions, a lack of independence of the judiciary and continued restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly and association as continued areas of concern.
It also said the privacy rights of ordinary Vietnamese were restricted but added: "The trend toward reduced government interference in the daily lives of most citizens continued."
The report did criticize Hanoi's record on religious freedom, however.
"The government continued to isolate certain political and religious dissidents by placing restrictions on the movements of some dissidents and by pressuring the supporters and family members of others," it said.
Hanoi recognizes six religious groups but bans "illegal groups" including some Buddhists, Protestant "house" churches and Hoa Hao believers who do not recognize or participate in the government-approved associations.
The report said these people were harassed and questioned by police and their activities restricted.
The U.S. Congress has not yet set a date to consider the bilateral trade pact, which would grant Vietnam Normal Trade Relations status and is expected to dramatically boost trade between the two Vietnam War foes.
Charlene Barshefsky, at the time U.S. Trade Representative, told Reuters during a trip to Vietnam in November that she expected the agreement to be ratified in the first quarter of the year, but that timetable is looking tight.