A/HRC/28/57/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights visited Viet Nam from 18 to 29 November 2013. She visited Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Sa Pa, as well as villages in the Da Nang, Quang Nam and Lao Cai provinces. The Special Rapporteur met with government officials responsible for culture, tourism, education, information and communication and ethnic minorities, at the national and local levels, as well as officials from people’s committees and the Central Commission for Propaganda and Education of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur met representatives of the National Assembly and various unions. She also met artists, academics, teachers, directors and staff working in research institutes or cultural institutions, representatives of civil society, members of ethnic communities, people involved in the tourism industry and representatives of United Nations agencies. 2. Thorough discussions were held with all interlocutors on the successes and challenges in implementing cultural rights in the country, particularly the rights of people to enjoy the arts, to freedom of artistic expression and creativity, to manifest their cultural identity and to access and enjoy their own cultural heritage and that of others. The Special Rapporteur also addressed issues relating to history teaching in schools and the impact of tourism on the enjoyment of cultural rights, with a view to assisting the Government and other relevant actors in their efforts to address the challenges and obstacles in that context. 3. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Viet Nam for its invitation, as well as all the people she met, for their time and expertise. She regrets, however, that in many instances, it proved difficult to speak to people freely, owing to the presence of government officials. Many people preferred to meet with her discreetly, for fear of reprisals. She encourages the Government to continue to invite special procedures to visit the country, in accordance with the terms of reference for fact-finding missions by Special Rapporteurs (E/CN.4/1998/45, appendix V), and to allow people, in particular civil society actors, to meet mandate holders freely, without fear of reprisals. II. General context and framework A. International framework 4. Viet Nam is a party to United Nations instruments protecting cultural rights, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to important United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conventions, such as the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. 5. In recent years, Viet Nam has enhanced its cooperation with human rights mechanisms. It became a member of the Human Rights Council in 2014 and has regularly invited special procedures to visit the country. 4