HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's government rejected Wednesday accusations by Amnesty International that it suppresses dissent and religious freedom and discriminates against ethnic minorities.
In its annual report, issued Tuesday, the London-based human rights group accused the government of renewed repression in 2001, including the arrest of political prisoners and a crackdown on minority groups in the country's Central Highlands.
It said independent human rights groups were not allowed to enter the country to monitor the situation.
"We resolutely reject the Amnesty International report," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said. "The report is totally untruthful, distorting the reality in Vietnam and grossly interfering in Vietnam's internal affairs."
She said freedom of expression, the press, assembly, demonstration, association and religion "have been enshrined in Vietnam's constitution and laws and ensured by national institutions in accordance with the principles and norms of international laws."
However, she added: "all violations of laws must be dealt with in accordance with the laws."
Vietnam insists that it has no political prisoners, and that all imprisoned citizens have violated common laws.
The Amnesty International report highlighted the case of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has criticized the communist government's policy toward religion for many years. Ly was sentenced in October to 15 years' imprisonment for "undermining national unity" and defying a house arrest order.
The ruling Communist Party allows only religious groups that accept party control.