Human Rights -- The Thousand-Year Aspiration
By Nguyen Thanh Giang
A Vietnamese intellectual in Hanoi
Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804), who contributed greatly to the study of the movement of the earth and the universe outside our galaxy, used to repeat everywhere he went the saying "Carry out justice, even if the world would disappear tomorrow".
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations on December 12, 1948 states in the preamble: "Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of humankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom for fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.
It is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and opposition, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law."
On June 25, 1993, an international conference on human rights "earnestly adopted the Vienna Resolution and Program of Action:
"The International Conference on Human Rights once again reaffirms the solemn promise of all nations to promote human rights everywhere, to respect and to protect all individual rights and basic liberties in accordance with the United Nations Charter and other covenants relating to human rights and international law..."
Since 1948, following the inception of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has adopted no less than 53 covenants and resolutions relating to the basic rights of human beings contained in the various covenants on political, economic, cultural, and social rights.
Although human rights have been the constant aspiration of people and humankind has expended countless efforts for the best means to realize the human rights question, Karl Marx considered bourgeois human rights "as the human rights of selfishism" and the "interests of members of the urban society." Lee Kuan Yew sneered that "the human rights question is the flipside of the Asian silver dollar." He speculated that "the Russians don't believe a single world in the Declaration that they had signed (meaning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948). As for the Chinese, they were then in a state of chaos. They had to pretend to support human rights and freedom as inherent to humankind in order to win American aid and fend off opposition from other communists." (1)
In Vietnam, human rights have been enumerated among the rights of citizens. Article 50 of the 1992 Vietnam Constitution states: "In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam human rights in the political, civic, economic, cultural and social fields are respected. They are embodied in the citizen's rights and determined by the Constitution and the law."
An issue so dear to human beings is by other humans talked up, distorted, offended! It is not surprising then that inside a cage at the zoo in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, there hangs the sign, "the most dangerous beast in the world." Look into the cage and ones sees only the reflection of himself from a mirror.
Might the world share common values on human rights? Might Vietnam deem it necessary to protect those shared values?
The writer of this tract, by nature only accustomed to the study of physics, which is quite foreign to the study of humanities, has little hope of being able to discuss or explain an issue of this magnitude. He desires to present instead observations on an aspiration of humanity and to dream that his country shall be completely deserving of enjoying that aspiration--and that the millions of living bodies which have fallen in the last half century will awaken to the basic values in human rights recognized in the notions of independence, freedom, and happiness.
1. Concepts of human rights
Thomas Jefferson began the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, by affirming: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Perhaps here was the first time that the notion of human rights was formally proclaimed in a document.
The Declaration affirmed that human rights are self-evident, natural, and inalienable. These rights arose and endure with human society; not invented nor instituted by will, but by a "creator" endowed. Thinkers from ancient times perceived natural rights as the property of all people. 36 centuries ago, Hammurabi--the founder of Babylon--believed that "justice arose to block the stronger from hurting the weaker." J.J. Rousseau, opened the "Social Contract" with the declaration, "Man is born equal."
In the history of progress, the conception of human rights has been innate, providing the strength to reach for liberty and equality. Serfdom was transformed and abolished by the struggles of serfs to regain the human rights taken from them by their masters. Then, the basic expectation of human rights was liberty, not the skirmishing for economic rights. The bourgeois class by raising the flag of democracy, liberty, and equality, brought together all of society to bring down feudalism and eliminate a society of subjects to build a society of citizens.
The 1776 Declaration of Independence proclaimed the three main ingredients of human rights: life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights belong to all in equal measure regardless of creed, gender, or social position. Equality is the innate talent of everyone. Each person is endowed by the Creator the ability to feel, interact, think--and if allowed to progress in a normal fashion--the right to enjoy basic human rights. Inequality in the right to enjoy human rights is only brought about by deformation in society.
According to the usual grouping found in international covenants, human rights encompass two spheres.
* The sphere of political and civil rights include:
1) Right to live and not face arbitrary loss of life. 2) Right to personal safety without unjustified detainment or imprisonment without a fair trial. 3) Right not to face cruel and unusual punishment even if in jail. 4) Right to equality before the law. 5) Right to freely choose one's residence and travel. 6) Right to private property. 7) Right of inviolacy regarding personal life, family, residence, and correspondence. 8) Right to protect one's reputation, prestige, and integrity. 9) Right to worship and not to worship. 10) Right to form associations and assemble. 11) Right to petition and protest any individual or organization. 12) Right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 13) Right to demonstrate. 14) Right to participate in the administration of society (vote, stand for office).
* The sphere of economic, social, and cultural rights include:
1) Right to be employed and enjoy the fruits of labor. 2) Right to receive medical care. 3) Right to enjoy an educational system, foremost an elementary education without charge. 4) Right to have a residence. 5) Right to live sufficiently for the person and family. 6) Right to live in an environment without pollution, toxins. etc...
Humanism arose from the human characteristics, considering liberty, equality and fraternity as part of human traits. Treating the person as the first and also final aim, human rights, as the highest of all values, are on a plane greater than sovereignty and not bound by borders.
However, Marxism does not recognize human beings in the abstract and therefore neither recognizes the above conception of human rights. Marx often said that man is not some being standing apart from the universe, but rather from man is the universe, nation, society.
Those schooled in historical materialism view human rights as the interests of persons as far as they are members of society. Therefore, the human rights that these persons receive in regards to essence, content and appearance as well as to legal guarantees are all determined by the social system. They [the Marxists] consider human rights as what is socially defined and recognized, which persons acquire within the capacity of living beings in society. This recognition and definition manifests in the capacity of a person as participant in the activities of society. With or without this capacity means to have or not have rights; the degree of this capacity is the degree of rights.
While Jan Martenson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, declared that in human rights there are no second-class citizens and there is no one born to sit at the back of the human rights bus (2) -a Chinese thinker still views "human rights as foremost the human rights of a particular class with clear class characteristics. The origins of human rights contain alongside a historical process of class development....
The recognition of a given individual by society, requires first knowing what class the given individual falls into....The human rights of the ruling class is a restriction in regards to the class which is ruled....Yet even within a single class, the human rights of everyone are restrictions on everyone else with relations to them..." (3)
Such reasoning is easily fashioned into the basis for arguing that "the human rights" of the working class must be different, and certainly superior to the human rights of the peasant class, of the intellectuals. "The human rights" of the communist is a prerogative. "The human rights" of Pol Pot let him liquidate millions of his own people! "The human rights" of Stalin furnished for him the mission to imprison and kill tens of thousands of his compatriots! Truly horrific!!!
Beginning in ancient times, people already paid attention to personal rights. Urbanites in several Egyptian cities exercised such rights as freedom of speech and equality of all before the law. Antigone exhibited before Creon the right of disobedience. Spartacus declared before the slaves the right to oppose repression.
It is regrettable that throughout our history in the socialist countries there has persisted an attitude rejecting the general idea of human rights. When it is necessary to consider this most sacred and all encompassing need, there are people who have emphasized the priority of economic and social rights over political rights and personal liberties. They regard political rights and personal liberties as either luxuries not yet required or not ever needed by the bulk of the masses. During the human rights co conference in Vienna in 1993, the Chinese deputy foreign minister Liu Huashu expressed: "For any developing country, economic development is the most important human right."
Do they intend to make people only care about food in their bellies and forget all else? If so, then fine. However, what they do is give some more dry peanuts today and extra dry fish tomorrow and mandate us all to cheer long life for the Party forever and forever and appreciate the leadership!
Nevertheless, the elevation of economic and social rights only makes them more exposed in both logic and reality. In terms of economic living standards, the socialist countries in general, and China in particular, have all fared very poorly relative to the Western countries.
And now consider Vietnam. Why is it that even today we are among the twenty poorest nations on earth? What has the Vietnamese revolution from 1930 until now accomplished? Why have we not a focused policy for the challenge of "economic development is the most important human right" as you gentlemen have raised?
It is truly surprising to hear a scholar adamantly defend, "Only a simpleton would believe: The person with nothing more than just his mouth has the right to freedom of speech just as the person with electronic communications, television, newspaper, and publishing house; the person without a single coin in his pocket has the right to stand for office equal to the person who can spend tens of millions of dong to run for office; the person on the street has the right to self protection equal to the person who can hire a term of bodyguards." (4)
How can cause and effect, means and consequences, be so confused? From the same starting point each individual will transform differently as everyone knows. In society, there are those that become teacher, craftsman, king, etc. However, the Creator "molds" in each person a head, four limbs, five senses. Such is the case for human rights, shared by all.
2. The world needs to unite its actions for human rights.
Near the end of this second millennium, [countries of] the world, voluntarily or otherwise, are moving closer to one another at the speed of light compared to those of steam engines when the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was announced in 1789. Voluntarily, people struck down the Berlin Wall, the most conspicuous and shameful human divider. Now with the emerging Internet, it is hard to stop a message from being sent to the whole world.
The world has become so much warmer when distant lovers cannot only listen to each other's voice but also see each other on their own personal computer screens. At the same time, the world today has to face new worries like the hole in the ozone layer, the spread of AIDS, international terrorist groups, etc.
Facing such realities of globalism, humankind is more and more aware of the need for united policies, in which one can no longer think of just oneself. Nations cannot simply think of their own defense but have to attach their fate to that of the international community. Global benefits and values are not only becoming undeniable reality but are also taking top priorities over others.
The emergence of global problems also infringe on the interests of individual countries. A reason for that is because human rights both incorporate within themselves individual needs and reflect the combined result of all global matters. On the other hand, each global matter either bears certain rights defined for humankind or is the object of those rights. Rights of individuals and nations intertwine with global issues while global issues lead to the creation and operation of common guidelines and limits. These institutions, in turn, create the favorable condition for the forming of forces to jointly solve the human rights issues in the direction of the advancing human civilization. Human rights are as multi-faceted, complicated, and full of contradictions as the world itself. At the same time, they bear the same characteristics as the world's--indivisible and inseparable.
The building of a common concept on human rights and the effort to execute the most effective measures to implement and protect those humankind values are the sacred duties of us all in the quest for a just and humane world, that guarantees the stable development for each country and for the whole international community.
Freedom, equality, and justice are both the characteristics and requirements of human rights. It is these precious and long-lasting values that will unite and raise up the human race. When one raises the banner "Freedom or Death", he might not necessarily be successful but for sure, he is honest and trustworthy. In contrast, many people have been tricked into becoming sacrificial lambs under the banner "Nation or Death" by evil gangs or fanatical individuals throughout our history.
How frightening it was when the ruler of a small island screamed: Enemies that set foot on this land can only walk on the ruins of blood and ashes!
Why do tens, hundreds of millions of people and their countries can only be allowed to exist after being "dyed" with a certain ideology, obedient to a certain party, and submissive to a certain leader? How could they force the young and old, male and female to love Socialism in order to be recognized as patriots? Consequently, those that do not love Socialism are considered traitors and could loose their right to life. Why do we need to burn down the whole Truong Son mountain range if this country does not belong to us?!
Had human rights been properly upheld and truly respected, the masses would not have been tricked so easily into such vain sacrifices.
To protect the interests of certain groups and to defend the reign of dictatorial and totalitarian governments, many politicians are doing their best distorting human rights. At times, they emphasize the separation of the civil and political rights from the social and economic rights. At others, they insist on the unique characteristics of human rights in the East, as compared to those in the West. For the rest of the time, they loudly complain about how the human rights thread on sovereignty.
It is, therefore, necessary to reiterate the following excerpts from international documents on human rights:
- Article 10 of the Final Report of the Asian Human Rights Convention in April 1993: "repeats the independence and indivisibility of human economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights, and the equal respect of these rights." - Article 5 of the Vienna Proclamation and Program of Action on June 1993: "All human rights are universal, indivisible and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless ess of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms." - Article 1 of the Project on State Responsibilities to International Laws: "Any state committing action against any international laws will be held responsible internationally." - Article 8 of the Vienna Proclamation and Program of Action on June 25, 1993: "Democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives. In the context of the above, the promotion and protection on of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national a nd international levels should be universal and conducted without conditions attached. The international community should support the strengthening and promoting of democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the entire world."
From the same urgent needs for economic, cultural, social rights, communists once joined hands in singing "the Internationale", "Rise, slaves of the world...." Karl Marx once passionately cried: "Workers of the world, unite!". To obtain these universal and sacred human rights today, the alliance of the international community must reach out even wider. The alliance for human rights will not distinguish the rich from the poor, black continent from white union, eastern civilization of Yangtze and Euphrates from western lifestyles of Hollywood and Baikonur.
President Francois Mitterand of the French Republic once wondered if it was ever possible for people to join their actions when all values were relative and offset one another. He, in answering himself, believed there was no other way but to find the common values to build, at a minimum, the foundation for human cooperation. He insisted: "In today's world, no one can save himself through acting against others. The increasing interdependency between economic and cultural systems have forced people to cooperate te."
Not many people still agree with former U.S. National Security Advisor Brezinski's anti-human-rights statement: "Under the human rights banner, we will back Communism to the wall." At the same time, it is essential for each individual and country to pay attention to the effort to propagate the ideal of human rights to each and every other human being, and country. This attitude was illustrated in President Jimmy Carter's speech at the 30th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Human Rights principles are the soul of U.S. foreign policy and the factors to define U.S. relations with other countries." Canadian Foreign Minister Joe Clark delivered a similar statement at the Commencement of the International Center for Human Rights and Democracy Development noting that Canada could readily end its relations with any regime that violates human rights seriously while trying through other measures to provide direct aid to people in need.
In early 1990, the French President, U.S. Under-Secretary of State, and British Foreign Minister announced that their respective countries were planning on linking foreign aid to human rights.
That is a correct course of action, indeed! Such behavior is worthy of individuals and governments of this beautiful and warm planet, among the billions of sparkling stars. One should not indulge in his own and his country's material wealth and ignore those still suffering under cliques who are, in the name of certain parties, governments, leaders, etc. depriving or restricting other people of their sacred human rights.
After all, the responsibility on human rights rests mainly with the United Nations. This organization, first, should escalate its effort in human rights information. Residential units in many countries should be given news bulletins, pamphlets, statements, covenants on human rights in their own language. We should utilize radio and TV broadcasts to disseminate human rights information. It will be quite encouraging if Radio Free Asia takes up that responsibility. The UN authorities and jurisdiction should be improved to implement human rights more effectively. Now is the appropriate time to organize an international committee on human rights and an international tribunal on human rights. This committee should have the authority to investigate human rights complaints by any individuals or communities; and the court would try those cases that the committee itself cannot settle satisfactorily for any reason.
Due to resistance by a number of member countries, the 1993 International Convention of Human Rights in Vienna could not reach the decision to designate a UN High Commissioner on Human Rights for each country. It, however, believed such a measure was necessary and would eventually be applied. Indeed, the Russian sociologist Penovskin commented: "The adjustment by international laws (regional or universal) of matters relating to human rights is nothing but a proof of humankind's maturity on a uniformed policy ." (5)
3. Human rights in Vietnam
Laws regulating rights and duties of Vietnamese citizens continue to increase in quantity through various constitutions. The 1946 Constitution had 18 articles on human rights; the 1959 Constitution 21 articles; the 1980 Constitution 29 articles; and the 1992 Constitution 34 articles--almost twice the number of human rights articles as in 1946. However, as stated in the introduction of this writing, human rights in Vietnam, according to Article 50 of the 1992 Constitution, are "completely embedded" in citizen's rights.
First, it is essential to recognize that human rights and citizen's rights are not identical in both form and content. Human rights might include citizen's rights, but the latter cannot completely contain the former. Furthermore, with the new definition of human value in today's globalized world, people are not just citizens of nations but also citizens of the world community.
Nevertheless, human rights, or just citizen's rights, must be guaranteed by a legal system. Even in the 6th century BC, the Greek philosopher stated he liberated everyone with the laws. Heraclit supported this idea and called on people to defend the laws like defending one's own home. In the 17th and 18th century, the Capitalist Revolution also highlighted the legal principle that all citizens be allowed to do anything not prohibited by the laws, while all government officials only things authorized by the laws.
The legal scholar Nersecjanc, head of the Russian Academy Legal Research Committee, summarized the idea: "Legal system does not exist without human rights, and there are no human rights without laws or outside the laws."
In Vietnam, in early 15th century, Le Loi taught his subordinates: "Since the old age, the management of the country requires laws. Without laws, even the government is in chaos."
Unfortunately, in the last 50 years we have ignored the role of laws. Actually, we have discarded laws and intended to use the proletarian dictatorship to rule the country. Legal scholar Nguyen Huu Liem described: "The reality of Vietnamese society in these last years of the 20th century is the absence of laws and the collapse of traditional ethical values. Vietnamese are living with a vague feeling as compatriots and without any concept of citizenship" (6). He further observed: "the Vietnamese war history constantly diminished the spirit of citizenship needed for a legalistic regime and society. Fighting, brutality and violence only formed "bold," "fearless" people but not ones with patience, calm mind, internal strength based on righteousness and justice, and open-mindedness for reconciliation."
Indeed, in decades of wild brutality, to pump others up for war, people were willing to resort to very inhuman slogans: "Treasure trucks as your children, and value fuel as your blood!", "Rifle as wife, ammunition as kids!", "Best part of life is at the front", etc.
My Dear God! How could human blood be compared to fuel? And wife and children to trucks, rifles, bullets? No matter how good the reasons were, with a calmer mind to think as a real human, one could not help but feel startled and nauseated.
With such mentality, anyone preaching human rights is definitely stripped of his or her right to live.
Only with such mentality, could they easily "mobilize the masses" to burn books, to hang teachers upside down at town halls for "political accusation"; could wives stand in public ferociously making accusations against husbands; could children stand up insulting and burning beards of fathers during the Land Reform campaign.
Thanks to such mentality, when the need to "fight against revisionists" was announced, they quickly destroyed and exiled thousands of victims, including those who had taken oaths along with them by the sickle-and-hammer flag. Many of the victims had endured great hardship, risked their own lives, and were serving in the Central Committee and ministries like Bui Cong Trung, Ung Van Khiem, Vu Dinh Huynh, etc.
One could not help recalling an old image. To condemn the colonists and imperialists, the revolutionist Nguyen Ai Quoc [Ho Chi Minh] stately accused to the world: "Any natives supporting socialism are arrested and sometimes killed without trials." Ironically, soon afterward, they do just this "Any natives supporting any non-socialism ideas are arrested and sometimes killed without trials!"
The effect of those inhuman slogans and those policies that unhesitatingly bypassed the laws and trampled on human rights are still lingering today. Minor skirmishes and insignificant conflicts of interests are enough for people to wield the knives to their friends' bones, cut their wives' flesh, and slash their fathers' faces.
There is a reason for the warning in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of the 1789 French Revolution: "Ignorance, neglect, or contempt for human rights are the only causes for public misery and government corruption."
Millions of Vietnamese lost their lives for the sacred calling "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom." But independence without respect for the laws provides neither justice nor freedom for Vietnamese. Just like John Locke insisted: "No matter how insincere the reasoning might be, the aim of the laws is not to destroy or limit but to protect and widen freedom....Where there are no laws, there is no freedom."
Maybe that is why Chairman Ho Chi Minh once confided: "if the country's independence is regained but people can't enjoy happiness and freedom, such independence would be meaningless." Ly Dong A, a great patriot trying to build the Duy Tan [Modernization] theory in Vietnam, also believed "Nation and People are just concepts which are hollow without being provided with content." He considered it extremely important to build successfully "a real life force in people, and everyone strives for a common ideal and just cause."
In recent years, the Vietnamese National Assembly has paid attention to and, in a hurry, drafted some volumes of laws including some important ones pertinent to human rights. Indeed, drafting the laws is necessary but the education and distribution of those laws also must be done to the whole society. And most important of all is the enforcement of those laws.
It is shameful to see that before Litigation Laws started to take effect, in our country, only 30% of people being imprisoned had been brought to trial. Most of the remaining 70% were wrongly detained. During that time, the ratio of innocent people being urgently arrested rose to 90%. After the Litigation Laws went into effect, the number of people being urgently arrested decreased by 22%. However, in 1996, there still were about 500 people being wrongly arrested.
A legalistic government must be "one that respect the laws." In other words, it is a government that issues laws, abides by the laws and manages society by laws. Unfortunately, nobody knows whether Vietnamese will ever live in an atmosphere of justice of a legalistic government when the government organs themselves either do not fully understand or intentionally bypass the laws; when there still exist ambiguous, public-yet-closed, condemning-without-cause trials, like the ones given to Hoang Minh Chinh, Do Trung Hieu, Le Hong Ha, Ha Si Phu, Nguyen Kien Giang!
Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, "Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property" was never looked at. During the years of carrying out socialist reforms, we not only resolutely eliminated capitalists but also were determined to end "private, capitalist industries and trades." At the 15th and 16th meetings of the Vietnamese Communist Party Central Committee, we were attentively listening to joyous reports that "The economy in the North has changed from a multi-sectors system to basically a homogeneous one with only two forms of ownership - by all people or by community!"
Fortunately, recently we corrected this error and wrote into the Constitution "The government develops a multi-sectors economy according to the market model....with various forms of organized manufacturing and trading based on the recognition of all-people ownership, community ownership, and private ownership..." (Article 15).
Simply by admitting and denouncing the erroneous structure of the socialist economy and implementing a market economy, we were able to resolve better human rights in the economic and social areas. Market economy creates the necessary conditions for economic equality. In the market economy, everyone is both buyer and seller and can compete from level position. No privileges can undermine the rule of values in the economic structure of society because here each person's position depends on how he provides and responds to the rule of value. Such rule can relentlessly raise or lower anyone. Any attempts to create legal barriers in favor of certain groups or parties shall be neutralized by the market economy principle.
To create a favorable condition for the market economy to quickly expand its positive effect in society, the government needs to move promptly from the role of directing the economic sectors through ministries and local people's committees to directing through functionaries on taxes, legal courts, and the laws; quickly separate managing administrative functions from collection administrative functions to lessen activities that are anti-democratic, abusive of power, and harassing to people normally seen at government offices.
Despite our successes in solving a number of people's economic rights issues in these years of reform, we must admit that there are still many problems in the civil and political rights areas. There are urgent needs for serious reform of election laws for representatives to the National Assembly and laws to organize the National Assembly to modern standards and be truly democratic. We must end the practice of "Party list candidates and people vote" and all tactics of prearranging seats and directing people' s votes. There must be true respect and guarantee for people's freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of association. Do not arrogantly claim ignorance of the masses as an excuse to limit people's political rights.
The ultimate goal of a revolution must be human rights, not just the thin layer of sovereignty. Stop beating around the bush and keep milking on the war merit of the old years. The never-ending quest for human rights require each party, each government, each individual to move forward, improve and even reincarnate if he wants to continue to be at the leading position.
Listen to the advice from the last century: "Each of the obsolete political regimes has experienced a miserable period because its power machine turned people's aspiration for freedom into illusion. This regime is doomed because it ties itself to an arrogant yet hopeless core. If it continues to move against the new reasoning and principle of the era, it will make a historical mistake....This regime will be a comedy to the world with all of its heroes condemned to death. History will advance and will not leave anyone alone. It will pass through all stages and ultimately send obsolete regimes to the graveyard. The last stage that history has just passed through is a horrible melodrama." (7) Vietnam once stately opened its "Declaration of Independence" with the universal truth of human rights. Vietnam is a member of the United Nations. Vietnam signed or ratified various covenants relating to human rights such as the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Covenant on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Covenant on Children's Rights, Covenant on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Covenant on Prevention and Punishment of Genocidal Crimes, Covenant on Elimination and Punishment of Crimes of Apartheid. Vietnam also said: "The fundamental principles in these international documents are common values of humankind which we need to protect." (8)
Vietnam is industrializing and modernizing itself. Vietnam can very well turn into a dragon, but first and foremost, Vietnam must strive for those sacred common values. That is the thousand-year aspiration of humankind and of the Vietnamese people.
Nguyen Thanh Giang
Address: A13-P9 TTPK Hoa Muc,
Trung hoa, Tu Liem, Hanoi
Tel: 8.586 012
Notes:
(1) - Lee Kwan Yew - interview with Tuan Bao Thoi Dai (Modern Age Weekly) -
June 14,1993
(2) - Jan Martenson - "UN and Human Rights for Today and Tomorrow"
(3) - Lang Yihuai - "Human Right Reality in Socialist Societies and Human
Right Struggles in the World"
(4) - Chen Jinda - "Socialist Regime and Human Rights" - Bao Cau Thi
(Marketing Magazine) 1992
(5) - Penovski N. - "New Reality in the World and Human Rights"
(6) - Nguyen Huu Liem - "Legalistic Democracy"
(7) - Karl Marx - "Critique of Hegel Philosophy"
(8) - Nhan Dan Daily June 18, 1993