Throughout his life and career, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has made profound contributions to the development of the Party’s theory on human rights. The General Secretary’s views will continue to be an important source of inspiration and direction for human rights activities in the new era.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visits and presents gifts to patients being treated at the Artificial Kidney Department, Bac Kan Provincial General Hospital. Photo: Document

1. Human rights are sacred and noble values ​​of every nation, people and all of humanity. In the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam, it was not until the United Nations was established in 1945, adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and established international standards on human rights in the fields of civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and the rights of disadvantaged groups in society that our Party had a viewpoint on human rights; but right from the first day of its establishment, in the document of the Party's founding conference in February 1930 (the Party's Brief Platform), it proposed the policy of carrying out a bourgeois democratic revolution and agrarian revolution to move towards a communist society. In terms of society, the people are free to organize; men and women have equal rights, and universal education follows the industrial and agricultural transformation.

The August Revolution of 1945 succeeded, the core ideas and values ​​of human rights, such as the right to equality, the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to pursue happiness, stated in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 were declared by President Ho Chi Minh in the Declaration of Independence giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. The core values ​​of human rights were included in the first Constitution of the new-style state - the 1946 Constitution. After completing the people's national democratic revolution, the whole country moved towards socialism, the 6th National Congress of the Party (1986) marked a historical turning point, when the Party proposed a comprehensive renovation policy, helping the country overcome difficulties and challenges. Although the 6th Party Congress Documents have not used the concept of human rights, with the viewpoint that "Along with caring for people's lives, state agencies must respect and ensure the civil rights stipulated by the Constitution" and "...ensure the true democratic rights of the working people, while resolutely punishing those who violate the people's mastery rights". After nearly 40 years of implementing the renovation policy, building a socialist-oriented market economy, a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people and for the people, implementing socialist democracy and actively and proactively integrating internationally, the Communist Party of Vietnam has built a system of fundamental and comprehensive theoretical viewpoints on the issue of human rights, respecting, ensuring and protecting human rights. The theoretical viewpoints on human rights of our Party have been built, developed and perfected as they are today thanks to the great contribution of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. 2. As Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, especially as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (2011 - 2024), he was the one who directly participated in directing the summary of 25 years of implementing the renovation policy, 20 years of implementing the Platform for national construction during the transition period to socialism (1991), Head of the Editorial Team of the 11th National Congress Documents and Head of the Subcommittee of Party documents (Documents of the 12th and 13th National Congresses of the Party). In the Party documents adopted during the renovation period, the viewpoint on human rights was most clearly and centrally expressed in the Platform for national construction during the transition period to socialism (Supplemented and developed in 2011) adopted at the 11th National Congress of the Party. Together with the Party's previous views on human rights expressed in the Platform for national construction during the transitional period to socialism (1991), Directive No. 12-CT/TW, dated July 12, 1992, of the Central Party Secretariat, on "The issue of human rights and the views and policies of our Party" and in the documents of the 12th and 13th National Congresses of the Party, the Communist Party of Vietnam has a comprehensive system of theoretical views on human rights in the period of renovation and international integration. Firstly, in the period of renovation, our Party determined: " Humans are the center of the development strategy, and at the same time the subject of development. Respect and protect human rights, link human rights with the rights and interests of the nation, the country and the people's right to mastery". Continuing this viewpoint, the 13th National Party Congress clarified further, when determining: “The people are the center, the subject of the cause of innovation, construction and protection of the Fatherland; all policies and strategies must truly originate from the lives, aspirations, rights and legitimate interests of the people, taking the happiness and prosperity of the people as the goal to strive for”. Second, “The State respects and guarantees human rights and citizens’ rights; cares for the happiness and free development of each person. Citizens’ rights and obligations are prescribed by the Constitution and the law. Citizens’ rights are inseparable from citizens’ obligations”. Third, linking respect for and protection of human rights with the role and responsibility of the socialist rule-of-law State, originating from the nature of our State as a State of the people, by the people and for the people; The State operates for the people, ensuring and implementing human rights”. Fourth, “Pay more attention to caring for the happiness and free, comprehensive development of people, protect the rights and legitimate interests of people, respect and implement international treaties on human rights that Vietnam has signed”. Fifth, “Implement human rights, basic rights and obligations of citizens, in the spirit of the 2013 Constitution (...) perfect the legal system, respect, ensure, protect human rights, rights and obligations of citizens”. Sixth, “build a clean, strong judicial system, protect justice, respect and protect human rights” to “build a Vietnamese judicial system that is professional, fair, strict, honest, serving the Fatherland, serving the people. Judicial activities must have the responsibility to protect justice, protect human rights, civil rights, protect the socialist regime, protect the interests of the State, and the legitimate and legal rights and interests of organizations and individuals. Seventh, "be ready to dialogue with relevant countries, international and regional organizations on the issue of democracy and human rights; proactively and resolutely fight and defeat all plots and actions to interfere in internal affairs, violate the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security and political stability of Vietnam". Eighth, ensure human rights in the process of moving towards socialism. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong believes that socialism is the best model to ensure and protect human rights. The General Secretary emphasized: "The socialist society that the Vietnamese people are striving to build is a society of rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization; owned by the people; have a highly developed economy, based on modern productive forces and appropriate progressive production relations; have an advanced culture, imbued with national identity; people have a prosperous, free, happy life, and have conditions for comprehensive development; ethnic groups in the Vietnamese community are equal, united, respect and help each other to develop together; have a socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people, for the people, led by the Communist Party; have friendly and cooperative relations with countries around the world". The General Secretary emphasized, "a society in which development is truly for the people, not for profit that exploits and tramples on human dignity. We need economic development to go hand in hand with social progress and justice, not an increase in the gap between rich and poor and social inequality. We need a humane, united, mutually supportive society, oriented towards progressive and humane values, not unfair competition, “big fish swallowing small fish” for the selfish interests of a few individuals and groups”. Thus, the goal and aspiration to build a society for freedom, for human rights to be respected and guaranteed can only be achieved under socialism. Therefore, to ensure human rights are realized in social life, the right path today is to move towards socialism.
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Medical examination for ethnic minorities. Photo: Document
3. Thoroughly grasping and fully implementing the viewpoints of the Party and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on human rights in Vietnam at the present stage is of special importance in order to arouse the aspiration for developing a prosperous and happy country. First of all , it is the viewpoint that takes people/people as the center, subject, goal, and driving force of national development. It is necessary to thoroughly grasp and well implement this viewpoint in the organization and operation of state agencies, cadres, and civil servants; requiring development programs and policies to focus on the subject of rights, which is the people/people. Taking the rights and legitimate interests of the subject of rights as the basis for building and planning national development policies; taking the happiness and prosperity of the people as the highest goal to strive for in all activities of state agencies, cadres, civil servants, and public employees. Orientation for national development by 2030, Vietnam is a high-middle income country and vision 2045 to become a developed, high-income country with determination to improve the quality of life for people, especially the poor and people living in remote areas. To achieve this goal and vision, it is necessary to prioritize human development, maximize the human factor in planning national development strategies; require improving the effectiveness of respecting, ensuring and protecting human rights in the activities of state agencies and socio-political organizations. For the National Assembly, as a legislative body, it is responsible for concretizing the Party's viewpoints, policies and guidelines on human rights into legal provisions; continue to prioritize the development of laws on human rights, creating a legal basis to respect, ensure and protect human rights and civil rights. For the Government, building a state administration that serves the people, is democratic, ruled by law, professional, modern, clean, strong, open, transparent, respects, ensures, and effectively protects human rights. Second, economic growth goes hand in hand with social progress and justice, ensuring and protecting human rights in every step, every policy, and throughout the development process. According to the General Secretary's point of view, that is: "We should not wait until the economy reaches a high level of development before implementing social progress and equity, and we should not "sacrifice" social progress and equity to pursue purely economic growth. On the contrary, every economic policy must aim at the goal of social development; every social policy must aim to create a driving force for economic development; encouraging legal enrichment must go hand in hand with hunger eradication, sustainable poverty reduction, and care for those with meritorious services and those in difficult circumstances. It is necessary to promote economic, cultural and social development, constantly improve and enhance the material and spiritual life of the people, ensure good implementation of social security and human security, focusing on strategic and key areas, remote areas, and ethnic minority areas. Implement well religious policies, ethnic policies, land, labor policies, etc.; especially policies for vulnerable groups in the market mechanism. Security policies Social development must ensure the connection between economic development and social development, unify economic policies with social policies, economic growth goes hand in hand with the implementation of social progress and equity in each step, each policy and throughout the development process. Strengthen propaganda so that all cadres, party members and people fully understand the viewpoints of the Party and the General Secretary on social policies, implement social policies to ensure and protect human rights. Ensure the inseparable relationship between people as individuals and people in communities, groups and collectives: Each individual must have their rights and interests best guaranteed; each individual and citizen must be considered the subject and central driving force of social policies. Strengthening propaganda, education, training and fostering to raise awareness of the role of social policies in ensuring and protecting human rights, it is necessary to have a correct understanding of the importance of approaching human rights, ensuring human rights in each development policy, from the planning and planning stages to organizing and implementing policies. Third, linking respect for and protection of human rights with the role and responsibility of the socialist rule-of-law state. Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW, dated November 9, 2022, "On continuing to build and perfect the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam in the new period" continues the viewpoint of taking people as the center, goal, subject and driving force of national development; the State respects, ensures and protects human rights and citizens' rights. Proposing the general goal of the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam is to uphold the Constitution and the law, respect, ensure and effectively protect human rights and citizens' rights; The goal by 2030 is to basically perfect the mechanisms to ensure people's mastery, ensure and protect human rights and citizens' rights. Fourth, continue to perfect the legal system on ensuring and protecting human rights, citizens' rights and obligations. Respect , ensure and protect human rights, citizens' rights and obligations to continue building a legal institution for human rights and citizens' rights, ensuring equality, corresponding to the authority of the state apparatus to continue to concretize and perfect the institution of democratic practice, ensuring that all state power belongs to the people.   Thereby promoting and forcing state officials, civil servants and public employees in their relations with the people through the rule of law, while gradually eliminating distorted relationships such as "community - affection", "individual - individual", "group interests" and subsidization, or the ideology of granting and granting rights and benefits. Along with the requirement to improve the effectiveness of activities to ensure and protect human rights in state institutions, it is necessary to continue to build and perfect a synchronous legal system in the direction of building a socialist rule of law state by 2030 and vision 2045. The legal system must be synchronous, unified, feasible, public, transparent, stable, focusing on the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the people, promoting preventive effectiveness, ensuring humanity and benevolence that need to be permeated in each provision of the law. Thus, the legal system is built and exists for the people and protects human rights; Continue to specify the provisions on human rights in the 2013 Constitution, ensuring compliance with international standards on human rights that Vietnam has participated in, pay attention to building laws to protect the rights of vulnerable social groups, such as the rights of children, women, the elderly, ethnic minorities, etc. Continue to institutionalize the expansion of the mechanism to ensure democracy, democratic rights, "ensure people's participation in all stages of the process of making decisions related to the interests and lives of the people", linking the right to participate with the right to enjoy the fruits of development, the fruits of the renovation process . This is a direct solution to respect, ensure, protect human rights and ensure the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of citizens as recognized by the Constitution. It is necessary to propagate and thoroughly educate all levels, sectors and all people about the importance of the Law on Implementing Democracy at the Grassroots Level in 2022; Moving towards building a law to implement democracy, not just democracy at the grassroots level; researching and building a Law on Transparency and Accountability in Public Service Activities. Fifth, judicial activities must have the responsibility to protect justice, protect human rights, citizens' rights, protect the socialist regime, protect the interests of the State, and the legitimate and legal rights and interests of organizations and individuals. According to the spirit of Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW, the goal and task of building a judicial system with the responsibility to protect justice, protect human rights, requires that in criminal proceedings, the right person, the right crime, the right law, must not wrongfully convict innocent people and must not let criminals escape. In judicial activities, it is necessary to focus on perfecting policies and laws related to the judiciary, ensuring respect for and protection of human rights and citizens' rights, including studying and promptly perfecting the mechanism to prevent, stop and handle all acts of illegal interference in judicial activities. Research can soon promulgate the Law on Prohibition of Interference in Trial Activities; ensure the independence of the court according to the jurisdiction of the trial, the judge, the jury to try independently and only obey the law; build a judicial procedure institution with trial as the center, litigation as a breakthrough; ensure democratic, fair, civilized, rule of law, modern, strict, accessible judicial procedure, guarantee and protect human rights and civil rights. Effectively apply the simplified judicial procedure; combine non-judicial procedural methods with judicial procedural methods. With the nature of the socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people and for the people, it requires continuing to innovate and improve the effectiveness of the mechanism of people participating in trials in court. Summarizing practices, researching and perfecting legal regulations on initiating civil lawsuits in cases where the subject of civil rights is a vulnerable group or in cases related to public interests but no one initiates a lawsuit to ensure true justice for the people, leaving no one behind. Sixth, respecting and implementing international treaties on human rights that Vietnam has signed or participated in. Applying the human rights approach with an inclusive development perspective in building and implementing human rights is to ensure the unity, connection, and interdependence of human rights, so that people can enjoy their rights in the development process. At the same time, affirming that people are the subjects of human rights, enjoying the fruits of the development process created by themselves, and that is the enjoyment of rights, not charity, humanity, or giving from anyone. In policy making to ensure human rights, it is aimed at constantly improving and enhancing the material and spiritual life of the people. The policy of ensuring human rights must ensure the connection between economic and social development, unify economic policies with social policies, economic growth goes hand in hand with the implementation of social progress and equity in each step, each policy and throughout the development process. Vietnam has participated in most international treaties on human rights. Up to now (2024), Vietnam has ratified and joined 7/9 fundamental conventions of the United Nations on human rights; ratified and joined 25 conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), including 7/8 fundamental conventions. In the coming time, it is necessary to continue to deploy and implement synchronously and effectively international treaties on human rights such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); ILO conventions, labor standards, labor rights in new generation free trade agreements... It is necessary to develop national action plans and programs on human rights; have criteria for assessing the impact of human rights, especially the rights of subjects directly affected by the draft law, before passing it; incorporate the content of the human rights approach into social development management; the planning and implementation of policies, programs, plans, and strategies for socio-economic development must effectively use the human rights approach; ensure the good implementation of human rights and civil rights recognized in the 2013 Constitution and international commitments on human rights to which Vietnam is a member. Seventh, Vietnam is ready to dialogue with relevant countries and international and regional organizations on the issue of democracy and human rights; proactively and resolutely fight against and defeat all plots and actions to interfere in internal affairs, violate independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security and political stability of Vietnam. With the Party's viewpoint of "Proactively participating, actively contributing, enhancing Vietnam's role in building and shaping multilateral institutions and international political-economic order, fully implementing international commitments and signed trade agreements", in recent years, with the policy of active and proactive integration, the viewpoint of "bamboo diplomacy", Vietnam has not only strived to implement international commitments, but also made many contributions in the field of promoting and protecting human rights in the region and the world. This is clearly demonstrated through the level of trust with a very high rate of approval votes when Vietnam joined the United Nations Human Rights Council and was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Vietnam actively participates in bilateral and multilateral dialogues with countries and international organizations, such as maintaining dialogue channels with the United States, Australia, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union (EU); At the same time, promote dialogue within the framework of the Human Rights Council between relevant countries, regional organizations and UN human rights mechanisms to address specific concerns on issues related to human rights and humanitarian issues; in conjunction with coordination with developing countries in the fight to ensure that the UN Human Rights Council operates in accordance with principles and procedures, without politicization and without interference in the internal affairs of countries. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council (term 2023 - 2025), Vietnam has had many initiatives together with Bangladesh and the Philippines to successfully build a Resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on human rights and climate change; Resolution on the organization of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; initiatives on human rights and vaccination; actively protect the interests of developing countries; The rights of disadvantaged groups... are highly appreciated by countries. Associate Professor, Dr. Tuong Duy Kien - Director of the Institute of Human Rights, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (According to Communist Magazine)

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