Ha Noi (VNA)- The practice of human rights has been well ensured more than ever before in Viet Nam during the renewal process, said a senior expert.

Dr. Cao Duc Thai, Director of the Centre on Human Rights Reserach under the Ho Chi Minh National Politics Institute, wrote for the Communist Review of the March issue that human rights are not guaranteed simply in words but through action. A number of revelant policies has been promulgated along with a system of effective instruments, that ensure the equality between the people themselves, between the people and State agencies and public employees, Thai stressed.

Most worthy of notes is the revision of the legal system, including the 1992 constitution, that has geared to a law-governed Socialist State.

The National Assembly has since 1986 passed over 40 codes of laws and individual laws, of which many have directly protect human rights such as the Civil Code, the Labour Code, the Law on Investment, the Law on Child Care, Education and Protection, and the Wordshiping and Religious Ordinance.

Gender equality has been defined as the core principle of all legal documents. The national legal system has granted women high priorities and an equal position with men, Thai said. Wives now are ensured by law to equally share the ownership of their families' property. Women are also entitled to open their own businesses and sign contracts which used to be the exclusive rights for men.

Women have also been enjoying an increasing role in the social and political life as shown in the rate of female MPs increasing from 17 percent of the 8th National Assembly legislature to 27.3 percent in the current 11th term. Viet Nam, therefore, ranks second in the Asia-Pacific region and 9th among 135 countries in the world, regarding the proportion of female deputies in the parliament.

Torturing and inhumanitarian treatment are banned by law while rights to freedom of speech and worshiping and religion have been increasingly protected.

Over 18 million Vietnamese or 24 percent of the national population are religious followers. Religious seminaries are spreading nationwide. The Buddhist Sangha alone has built three institutes with four regular training courses at the college level, 30 high-schools and 37 schools for basic courses, enrolling tens of thousands of monks and nuns. Other relegions have six seminaries with over 1,000 intending priests. Religious clerics and followers take part in all powerful agencies such as the National Assembly and the people's councils at all levels.

Racial equality presents another progress in human rights in Viet Nam as the number of members of parliament coming from ethnic minority groups has been on the rise. Ethnic minority people's living conditions are greatly improved. Motor roads are accessible to almost all villages' centres and national electricity grids have spred to 98 percent of rural districts.

The programme of poverty alleviation for poorest villages has disbursed over 3,222 billion VND for people, mostly in mountainous communities, to afforest barehills and help two-thirds of the tribal population settle down.

The Government has granted preferentials in university admission for 6,000 students from ethnic minority groups. The boarding schools for ethnic minority children now number 393, offering free boarding fees and tuitions for 60,000 pupils./.