HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam has accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs over a statement that urged the communist country to honour its international human rights commitments.

A US embassy press release gave "totally false" information about certain individuals and cases, Nguyen Phuong Nga, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, said late Thursday.

"The demands mentioned in the press release constitute an intervention in the internal affairs of Vietnam," she said.

In its statement Wednesday, the US embassy said it was "deeply disturbed" by the convictions last week of nine democracy activists "for undertaking peaceful activities in support of democracy, human rights and political pluralism."

At separate trials they were jailed for up to six years.

Many of the accused were convicted in connection with banners they displayed which denounced the ruling Communist Party and called for democracy.

The embassy said it was also concerned about the case of writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, "who was beaten and arrested after she publicly expressed her support for the nine activists."

It also referred to the "violent expulsion" from a monastery of monks and nuns who follow one of the world's most influential Buddhist monks, French-based Thich Nhat Hanh, a peace activist and confidant of slain US civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

All these actions "contradict Vietnam's own commitment to internationally accepted standards of human rights and the rule of law," the embassy said.

It urged Vietnam to honor that commitment and immediately and unconditionally release prisoners who are in detention for peacefully expressing their views.

Ministry spokeswoman Nga said Vietnam always respects the right to democratic liberties and freedom of belief and religion.

The conviction of "certain individuals" conformed to Vietnamese law and to international conventions on human rights, she added.