Behind the so-called 'human rights award'

Websites such as Radio Free Asia (RFA), VOA Vietnamese, and BBC Vietnamese cite sources and publish numerous comments distorting the situation in Vietnam. (Illustrative image)

The ridiculous self-proclaimed "Martin Ennals" award.

The organization's website states: "Pham Thi Doan Trang is a leading journalist and democracy activist in Vietnam… She supports the guarantee of civil liberties such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly… She co-founded several leading media outlets such as Law Journal, Green Trees, and Free Publishing House."

First, we must talk about the so-called Martin Ennals Prize, established by the Martin Ennals Foundation. Founded in 1993, the prize honors and protects individuals around the world who have shown exceptional courage in defending and advancing human rights. The prize is named after Martin Ennals, the former Secretary-General of Amnesty International.

In reality, this is a self-proclaimed award established by several organizations under the guise of human rights to create influence and raise funds worldwide. The judging panel consists of members of human rights organizations such as HRW, WOAT, HRF, HURIDOCS, etc. Throughout its operation, this award is given to individuals who have acted against the national and ethnic interests of their respective countries. Many of the award recipients are currently imprisoned for exploiting freedom, democracy, and human rights to carry out subversive activities.

The awarding of the Martin Ennals Prize to Pham Thi Doan Trang – who was recently sentenced to 9 years in prison for "propagating against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" – once again demonstrates a lack of objectivity, unrealistic expectations, and generalizations. Clearly, Pham Thi Doan Trang is a criminal brought to light. Her trial was conducted publicly in accordance with the law. Doan Trang is not a "famous journalist" as the Martin Ennals Foundation calls her, but merely a reporter for several domestic online newspapers. After her downfall, no media organization would hire her.

Yet, the Martin Ennals Foundation used many flattering terms to describe Doan Trang when announcing the award. They described her as: "the most influential and respected human rights defender," "an inspiration for Vietnamese civil society," "a leading journalist," etc.

Published on the Martin Ennals Foundation website. Screenshot.

As soon as the Martin Ennals Foundation announced the "Martin Ennals Award," websites such as RFA, VOA Vietnamese, and BBC Vietnamese quoted the information to echo the sentiment. RFA headlined: "Prisoner of conscience Pham Doan Trang awarded the Martin Ennals Award." BBC Vietnamese, in an article titled: "Martin Ennals Award 2022 presented to Ms. Pham Doan Trang," quoted several human rights organizations to use Doan Trang's case to discredit Vietnam. Specifically, the article quoted Phil Robertson, Deputy Director for Asia of Human Rights Watch, as saying: "Pham Doan Trang is an inspiration to many activists and journalists in Vietnam, where freedom of expression is seen as a threat..."

The arguments and statements of the aforementioned organizations and individuals are baseless, lack objectivity, and blatantly distort the situation in Vietnam.

The sinister plot behind the awards

In recent years, so-called "human rights awards" have frequently been used by hostile forces in their "peaceful evolution" strategy to harm and find pretexts for interfering in the internal affairs of socialist countries, including Vietnam. They organize numerous hearings, seminars, press conferences, issue statements, and promulgate resolutions and reports... falsely accusing and distorting the human rights situation in Vietnam, demanding that bilateral and multilateral humanitarian aid be linked to demands for improvements in democracy, human rights, religious freedom, and freedom of the press and speech... They call for and receive support from non-governmental organizations through the implementation of projects to "promote" and "improve human rights," encouraging Vietnamese exiles and opposition groups to engage in subversive activities against Vietnam. Many agencies and organizations, such as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the European Parliament, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Amnesty International (AL), while acknowledging positive progress in Vietnam in their annual reports, deliberately present negative assessments of the human rights situation in Vietnam.

To serve their subversive activities, they recruit and promote disgruntled or materialistic figures, awarding them self-proclaimed prizes such as: Human Rights Awards, "Influence Awards," "Homo Homini Awards," etc. From there, they lobby some extremist parliamentarians and governments in several countries to raise funds for human rights. To legitimize the financial support and funding from donors, they produce "reports" and "reports" that smear the human rights situation in Vietnam. They thoroughly exploit the moral decay, lifestyle degradation, corruption, and law violations of a segment of cadres and party members to spread propaganda attacking the Party's leadership, undermining public trust in the Party's leadership in order to influence internal transformation and carry out their "peaceful evolution" and subversive plots in Vietnam.

Through fundraising for awards, human rights organizations have received significant financial support from reactionary and anti-Vietnam organizations. In return, these organizations have made biased and unrealistic assessments and comments about the human rights, democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press situation in Vietnam. Their aim is to smear and mislead other countries and organizations about the image of Vietnam and its people. This is a deeply insidious, malicious, and blatant scheme by hostile forces.

These are vivid and compelling examples of Vietnam's development.

However, the reality of the country over the past decades is the most powerful and vivid proof that shatters the arguments of hostile forces. The 35 years of reform (1986-2021) is a crucial period in the country's development, marking the all-round maturity of the Party, the State, and the people. The reform process has truly been intertwined with the destiny of the nation, the destiny of the country, and the destiny of every Vietnamese person, and has been highly appreciated by international friends. They know Vietnam as a peace-loving nation and a country with many achievements in the reform process, especially in socio-economic development, becoming a destination for investors and trade partners worldwide. Over the past two years, despite difficult conditions, Vietnam has provided support in terms of human resources, equipment, and shared experience in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic with other countries.

The international community has a new perspective on Vietnam through the VinFuture Awards. Photo: Nhat Bac/Baochinhphu.

Most recently, on the evening of January 20, 2022, the global scientific community learned about Vietnam through the VinFuture Award Ceremony at the Hanoi Opera House. This is a global science and technology award, established on December 20, 2020, with the mission of "creating positive changes in the daily lives of millions of people by promoting scientific research and technological innovation." The award was founded by Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and his wife Pham Thu Huong and is presented annually in Vietnam. The award council consists of leading scientists worldwide, many of whom are Nobel laureates… Once again, the world learned about a Vietnamese people who are studious, always striving to master technology, and ready to make positive contributions to improving people's lives and creating a sustainable living environment for future generations.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong once said: “Over the past 90 years, under the leadership of the Party, our country's strength and position have been enhanced. Many international organizations assess Vietnam as a developed economic and cultural nation with stable politics and society, and many promising prospects... Our country has never had such a great foundation, role, and position as it does today.” And, the duty of each of us citizens is to constantly cultivate and improve our moral and political qualities; eliminate harmful ideologies and regularly study to improve our skills to continue the legacy of our ancestors in building Vietnam's future.