INHERITANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATIONAL RIGHTS
Declaration of Independenceof America in 1776 andDeclaration Human Rights and Civil RightsThe Declaration of Independence was born in 1789 after the struggle for independence of 13 British colonies in North America and the great French bourgeois revolution. Based on the inheritance of progressive ideas of the Enlightenment period, the two Declarations are convincing affirmations of human rights, national rights, and the principle of "popular sovereignty" in the struggle against the feudal autocratic regime, guiding people towards democratic values, noble human values of freedom, equality, and fraternity.
The Declarations affirm the most basic human rights, which are the right to life, liberty, equality, and property. These are “natural, inalienable and inviolable rights of every human being.”(1).
In the versionDeclaration of IndependenceAmerica, author Thomas Jefferson affirmed that the colonies must have the right to be free and independent nations and from the abolition of British colonial rule, the struggle for independence of the colonies in North America also aimed at fighting for the natural rights of each individual. With such great values, the two Declarations marked a milestone in the cause of national liberation and human liberation. It is a Declaration with deep humanistic and humane values, which is the foundation for building the progressive democratic constitutions of France and the United States later.
CopyDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizenof the French Revolution in 1791 also stated: "Men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and with equal rights"(2).
InDeclaration of Independence set upIn the 1945 Declaration of Independence of Vietnam, from the first lines, President Ho Chi Minh quoted the most famous sentences in the two historical Declarations with great respect: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness…”. Here, President Ho Chi Minh started from the noble human values, universal to all mankind as the basis and goal for the struggle of the Vietnamese people. From there, he affirmed that the struggle to liberate the Vietnamese people was also aimed at realizing the legitimate, sacred rights that no one could violate, and was the continuation of the flag of national liberation and human liberation that the French and American revolutions had raised high.
President Ho Chi Minh inherited, expanded and developed the values of the previous Declarations in the new era.Declaration of IndependenceIn the United States, the original sentence “all people” is “all men”. The original sentence was set in the context of the United States in the late 18th century when slavery still existed, racial discrimination and discrimination were very severe, the men with rights mentioned in the Declaration were only white men. Thus, the basic human rights, those inherent rights, are not for everyone, but only for white men. As for Ho Chi Minh, he clearly affirmed that rights are for “all people”, regardless of status, composition, religion, gender, ethnicity. That is an absolute expansion, bringing great values and being consistent with the progressive development of humanity.
Also from affirming the morality and justice of humanity, President Ho Chi Minh exposed the false face and brutal nature of French colonialism. InDeclaration of IndependenceHe profoundly summarized the crimes of French colonialism during nearly 100 years of rule in our country in all aspects, especially the trampling and deprivation of natural human and national rights. And from there, he affirmed: in the new era, not only the feudal autocratic regime but also colonialism with its brutal nature needs to be abolished, to protect human rights and dignity. As long as colonialism exists, and one nation oppresses and enslaves another, then surely human rights of colonial and dependent nations will be trampled, not recognized and implemented.
Another noteworthy point is that from human rights, President Ho Chi Minh extrapolated to national rights: "All peoples in the world are born equal, every nation has the right to live, the right to happiness and the right to freedom."(3)From human rights, he extrapolated that national rights are also natural and sacred rights, "an undeniable truth."(4). If the American Declaration of Independence mentioned both human rights and national rights, then the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence linked these two basic legal categories in a dialectical and close relationship. National independence is a prerequisite for ensuring human rights and vice versa, implementing human rights is promoting the noble values and true meaning of national independence. The highest human right is to live in a free country, to be a citizen of an independent country.
In addition, President Ho Chi Minh expanded the concept of national rights in both breadth and depth, which the previous Declarations had not mentioned. Based on the situation of colonial Vietnam that had just gained independence and the international historical context at that time, Ho Chi Minh affirmed: national rights are not only the right to national self-determination, but also the right to equality, freedom, unity and territorial integrity. National independence is closely linked to the principles of national equality and self-determination, to the right to life and the right to happiness of each nation. Moreover, the right to independence and equality here must be established in relation to all countries in the world, regardless of size, strength or difference in political institutions. Therefore,Declaration of IndependenceIt is not only for the Vietnamese people but also an encouragement and sacred affirmation of all peoples in the world, especially the small and weak peoples under the rule of colonialism.
From human rights to national rights,Declaration of Independencecontributed to the creation and affirmation of a new legal and justice system of human civilization, towards fairness, equality, and the elimination of oppression, exploitation, and injustice on the national and international levels. That justice later became not only a constitutional principle of Vietnam and many other countries, but also an international legal provision when it was recorded in the United Nations with international conventions related to national sovereignty, national independence, and self-determination.
The two Declarations of France and the United States mentioned human rights and national rights as sacred rights, an inevitability of creation. But as a citizen of a colonial country, President Ho Chi Minh deeply understood that such sacred, inherent rights cannot be obtained naturally, but must be shed blood, sacrificed, and fought for with the determination "rather sacrifice everything, but never lose the country, never become slaves".(5). Faced with the harsh challenges of history, a nation that does not know how to fight for independence and freedom does not deserve to enjoy independence and freedom.Declaration of IndependencePresident Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Our people have broken the colonial chains for nearly 100 years to build an independent Vietnam... A nation that has courageously fought against French slavery for more than 80 years, a nation that has courageously stood with the Allies against fascism for several years, that nation must be free! That nation must be independent!”(6)That nation also has the iron determination to "spend all its spirit and strength, lives and property to maintain that freedom and independence!"(7).
The birth ofDeclaration of Independenceis truly a milestone in the history of the Vietnamese people, as well as in the liberation struggle of the colonial peoples. If the two Declarations of France and the United States marked an important milestone in the struggle against feudalism, in the cause of human liberation; then the Declaration of Independence signaled a new era, the era of liberating peoples from the oppression of colonialism on a world scale; the era of oppressed and exploited peoples regaining the right to live, the right to independence and freedom.
INHERITANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF PEOPLE'S SOVEREIGNTY
Absorb progressive ideas in the workSocial contractby Jean Jacques Rousseau,Declaration of Independenceof America affirms the truth: “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”(8).Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizenof France pointed out that “ignorance, indifference, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public calamities, and of the corruption of governments... The aim of all political organizations is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man.”(9). The necessity of building a popular government, operating for the highest goal of protecting human rights and for human happiness has been affirmed in these two historic Declarations. Moreover, “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”(10).
The August Revolution in Vietnam led by President Ho Chi Minh was not only a revolution with the mission of liberating the nation, eliminating the chains of slavery of French colonialism and Japanese fascism. That revolution also carried out the mission of overthrowing the autocratic monarchy that had existed for nearly 1,000 years. Vietnam, from a colonial and feudal country, became an independent country, following the Democratic Republic regime.
InDeclaration of IndependencePresident Ho Chi Minh clearly expressed that the subject of the revolution is the people, the achievements of the revolution are made by the people and the people are the ones who protect those achievements: "Our people have overthrown the colonial chains for nearly 100 years to build an independent Vietnam. Our people have overthrown the monarchy of several decades to establish the Democratic Republic". It can be said that here the principle of "people's sovereignty" with the meaning that the people are the subject of the new Vietnam, of the Democratic Republic has been clearly affirmed by President Ho Chi Minh. Moreover, the concept of people that he used is not limited to any class or stratum but is all patriotic Vietnamese people, regardless of gender, status, religion, or class.
The Democratic Republic regime was pointed out by President Ho Chi Minh inDeclarationis a regime that thoroughly and substantially practices the principle of “people’s sovereignty”. It is a regime established from the results of the people’s struggle, built according to the wishes of all classes of people, aiming at the noble goal of “Independence - Freedom - Happiness” for the people. This thought of his was later clearly expressed in the 1946 Constitution - the first democratic Constitution of Vietnam, of which he was the Chief Drafter: “All power in the country belongs to the entire Vietnamese people, regardless of race, gender, rich or poor, class, or religion”. Article 7 of the Constitution recognizes the political rights of citizens: All Vietnamese citizens are equal before the law, and are entitled to participate in the government and the nation-building process according to their talents and virtues. The people have the right to decide on important national affairs as well as to dismiss the representatives they have elected.
It can be said that, born more than a hundred years after the two historic Declarations of Humanity, in a new historical context, theDeclaration of Independenceof Vietnam has inherited, refined and developed the core, most sustainable and universal values of the two previous Declarations. With those values,Declaration of IndependenceVietnam's Declaration of Independence is not only a declaration of independence, giving birth to a Democratic Republic of Vietnam pursuing the goal of "Independence - Freedom - Happiness", but also an important contribution to the cause of national liberation, human liberation and human happiness.
Source: Propaganda Magazine of the Central Propaganda Department
Article link:Declaration of Independence: Inheritance and development of progressive ideological values of the era | Propaganda Magazine (tuyengiao.vn)
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