On Human Rights

Abstract

In the past period, a number of public enemies in society have deceived a minority of young people, organized a so-called China Human Rights League, and raised such slogans as "oppose hunger and fight for human rights." In doing so, they have tried to beautify capitalist-imperialism on the one hand, and, on the other, vilified the socialist system and attacked the dictatorship of the proletariat. Our newspapers and publications are entirely right in launching their tit-for-tat criticisms. The critical articles are, on the whole, very good, but some tend toward oversimplification and are likely to leave people with the impression that the mere mention of human rights is bourgeois and reactionary. In this issue, we carry an article written by comrades at the Editing and Translation Bureau of Works by Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin entitled "Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin on Human Rights" for our readers' edification and reference. From the expositions on human rights by these leaders and teachers of the Revolution, we may learn the basic stance, viewpoint, and methods that will be helpful toward repudiating today's erroneous ideological trends more comprehensively, realistically and convincingly.