The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on May 23 held a two-day workshop on “Strengthening National Legislation on Counter-Terrorism”.

The workshop provided a chance for experts from ministries and sectors to review and make a comprehensive evaluation of the current legal system on counter-terrorism, as well as making use of UNODC expertise to put forward recommendations aimed at perfecting such a system in Vietnam. This is the second workshop held by the two agencies. The first one was held in Hanoi in November 2004 discussing international legal framework on counter-terrorism.

Addressing the workshop, Le Kinh Tai, Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, affirmed Vietnam’s constant and clear stance on counter-terrorism.

“Vietnam condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and deems that terrorists must be duly punished,” said Mr Tai.

With this in mind, he said Vietnam has been continuing to cooperate with the international community to prevent terrorism in line with the United Nations Charter and basic principles of the international law.

According to Narumi Yamada, UNODC chief representative in Vietnam, Vietnam has joined eight out of 12 international conventions and protocols on counter-terrorism. She said the workshop aims to discuss measures to implement UN resolutions 1373 and 1267 on counter-terrorism.

Answering a VOVNews reporter’s question, Nguyen Ba Son, director of the Department of Law and International Convention, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Vietnam has recently taken part in international activities relating to counter-terrorism, such as the Hansen Conference in Tokyo, Japan on international counter-terrorism.

The Vietnamese government has studied ways to implement international conventions and will soon join two new conventions alongside strengthening relevant legal documents.

International terrorism is a global issue and the fight against terrorism is given the top priority in countries around the world, including Vietnam, Mr Son said.

Le Kinh Tai said Vietnam is actively implementing the strategy on developing the national legal system by 2010 with many revised and new bills.

Regarding crime prevention and control, the Law on Mutual Legal Assistance and the Law on Extradition are being drafted. Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code, which were ratified by the National Assembly, will come into effect soon.

Of the special note, the Ministry of Public Security is proposing drafting a law on counter-terrorism.