Australia has been urged to use its close ties with Vietnam to demand the communist regime in the country end its “abysmal” human rights infringements at the 17th Australia-Vietnam human rights dialogue Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The organisation also urged the Australian government to press Vietnam to release all political prisoners and detainees immediately and revise its “problematic penal and criminal procedure codes” to meet international human rights benchmarks. The call comes after Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne paid a working visit to Hanoi in November, during which she confirmed that “Australia considers Vietnam a priority in various matters, including infrastructure, agriculture, poverty reduction and climate change.” However, Payne did not publicly raise concerns about Vietnam’s human rights problems, which had reportedly deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Australia should use its influence to press Vietnam to take concrete action to reverse its abysmal human rights …