Prof. Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan, Vice Chairman of Party Central Committee Theoretical Council. Photo: PANO

With only 1 thousand words arranged in 49 sentences, this concise historical document not only asserted national sovereignty but also opened a new era of the nation.

In the first lines, President Ho Chi Minh cited the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776, saying that all nations on earth are equal from birth. President Ho Chi Minh opened broadly that human rights are closely linked to national rights, the nation's self-determination, the right to independence and freedom of the Vietnamese nation.

Assc. Prof. Dr. Bui Dinh Phong, senior lecturer at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said that President Ho Chi Minh combined two very basic types of rights, which are the national independence and human freedom rights to become a fundamental right of the nation. The content and fundamental rights of that nation are independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

According to President Ho Chi Minh, human rights and national rights interact with each other. An independent nation is a prerequisite to ensuring the realization of human rights, and conversely, the good realization of human rights promotes the noble values and true meaning of national independence. In the latter part of the Declaration of Independence, President Ho Chi Minh demonstrated the equal national rights that every Vietnamese person is entitled to enjoy as a matter of fact.

Prof. Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee Theoretical Council said that the right to live in peace is exchanged with the blood and wisdom of generations. When there was independence and freedom, Uncle Ho said: "When the country has independence and freedom but the people are not happy, then independence and freedom are meaningless."

The Declaration of Independence affirms the sacred and inviolable rights of the Vietnamese people, the unshakable will of the Vietnamese people and nation in the struggle for and protection of national independence.

Seventy five years after Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence that gave birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, researchers affirm that President Ho Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence also has theoretical and practical value, and has strong vitality in today's era, especially on the issue of national rights and human rights.

Dr. Pham Thi Thu Huong, former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh Museum, affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh’s saying that every citizen having the right to live free and happy is not only Vietnam’s goal, but also the goal towards all countries in the world. The State and Government have made similar actions to ensure people’s human rights by building a law-regulated socialist State of the people, for the people and by the people.

Professor Shigo Shibata, a famous Japanese historian, evaluated: "President Ho Chi Minh's famous dedication is to develop human rights into national rights"./.

Compiled by BTA