Photo: (tapchicongsan.org.vn)

Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in the United States. In theory, Freedom House's activities are to advocate for progress and promote and expand freedom and democracy around the world. Every year, this organization develops and publishes reports such as: World Freedom, Free Online Report, and Freelance Report and Media. But, in recent years, the organization has released misleading information with negative political motives concerning many countries, including Vietnam.

This organization has repeatedly ranked Vietnam in the group of countries without freedom and democracy. Freedom House's assessment and ratings are groundless, not based on official documents or the real situation in Vietnam. Instead, this organization has cooperated with reactionary and opposition forces and political opportunists who bear prejudices against Vietnam to conduct interviews and collect information to slander Vietnam. Freedom House's activities clearly show its prejudice and hostility against Vietnam. It always assumes that in a one-party political regime there is no freedom, no democracy, and no human rights. Not only Vietnam, but many other countries also, are constantly being targeted by Freedom House. The organization attempts to use the guise of democracy and human rights to attack and interfere in other countries’ internal affairs.

Yerlan Baizhanov, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Vietnam(Photo: Phan Sương)

In an interview with VTV, Mr. Yerlan Baizhanov, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Vietnam, said: "There are human rights organizations with very rigid and one-sided ideas. They are dominated by political ambitions. They do not pay attention to differences in historical and cultural circumstances. When making reports, they are often influenced by politics and prejudice. We live and work not to please organizations like Freedom House, but to give people a better life. That's the most important thing".

It’s clear that the Party and State of Vietnam always respects, protects, and guarantees the people's right to freedom and democracy. The Vietnamese National Assembly, during its ongoing session in Hanoi, is discussing the promulgation of the Law on Grassroots Democracy, in order to institutionalize the policy of widely promoting socialist democracy under the motto "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit", in line with the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, and to concretize people’s right to mastery, human rights, and the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens which are stipulated in the 2013 Constitution. On that basis, Vietnam intends to fine-tune the law-governed socialist State of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Vietnam's human development policies have so far been implemented in a synchronous and comprehensive manner covering hunger eradication, poverty reduction, education, health care, and labor and employment development. They are the important foundation for all people to exercise their political, civil, economic, cultural, and social rights in a comprehensive, profound, practical, and effective manner. To evaluate freedom, democracy, and human rights not only in Vietnam but in other countries, it’s important to rely on the opinion of the majority of the people in that country. Organizations like Freedom House are neither based in Vietnam, nor objectively survey the situation in Vietnam, but repeatedly paint Vietnam in a gray color, clearly showing their desire to distort the situation in Vietnam.

Vietnam is currently one of the 20 countries with the highest Internet usage rate in the world, with 70 million users – nearly 70% of the population. Therefore, Freedom House's accusation that Vietnam has no freedom and that the government is conducting "cyberattacks" and "cross-border repression" is clearly an absurd argument and blatant distortion. Freedom House and opposition forces against Vietnam have performed a very clumsy "democratic drama" to attack Vietnam. Freedom House's activities are increasingly revealing their illegitimacy and intention to abuse the name of promoting freedom and democracy to seek to interfere in Vietnam's internal affairs. This activity has violated international law and directly infringes upon Vietnamese people’s rights and interests.