Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 17:21:50 GMT -5
Amnesty Condemns China on Rights
China's human rights record in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics has
deteriorated, with thousands of people being executed after unfair trials,
according to Amnesty International.
The human rights watchdog sent its latest findings to the International
Olympic Committee and said Chinese authorities would have to act quickly
if they were to fulfil their pledges to improve human rights.
"The serious human rights abuses that continue to be reported every day
across the country fly in the face of the promises the Chinese government
made when it was bidding for the Olympics,'' said Catherine Baber, Deputy
Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty.
"Gleaming stadiums and spectacular parades will be worthless if
journalists and human rights activists cannot speak out freely, if people
are still being tortured in prison or if the government continues its
secrecy about the thousands of people executed,'' she added.
With less than 700 days to go before the start of the Beijing Games,
Amnesty said the Chinese government needed to work fast to fulfil its
pledges to the Olympic movement.
Amnesty said China's overall record remained poor.
"There has been some progress in reforming the death penalty system but in
other crucial areas the government's human rights record has
deteriorated,'' it said.
There had been a renewed crackdown on journalists and Internet users in
the past year, it said, and promises of complete media freedom rang
hollow.
"Thousands of people are executed after unfair trials for crimes,
including smuggling and fraud,'' said Ms Baber.
Amnesty also said grassroots human rights activists, including those
working with residents forcibly evicted from buildings on Olympic
construction sites, were harassed and imprisoned.
Corinna-Barbara Francis, a China researcher for Amnesty who monitors
Beijing's human rights record, said: "We try to remain optimistic but
right now we are concerned as we are not seeing the progress we had hoped
for.''
She said she believed that international pressure would build as the
Olympics got closer.
"China is a growing world power.
"They are more in the spotlight,'' she said.
"But we have certainly been disappointed given the expectations we had and
the promises made by the Chinese authorities.''
Chinese police have detained dissident writer Zhang Jianhong on
allegations of ``inciting subversion'' through online political essays.
Police raided Mr Zhang's home in eastern China's Zhejiang province on
September 6, detained him and confiscated his computer, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said.
His family was later notified by the local Public Security Bureau that he
had been arrested on suspicion of ``inciting subversion of state
authority'', the New York-based group said.
Mr Zhang, 48, was founder and editor of Aegean Sea, an outspoken literary
and news website that was closed down in March for unauthorised posting of
international and domestic news.
He also contributed to several US-based Chinese-language websites,
including the Falun Gong-linked Epoch Times.
Mr Zhang's most recent online essay, written under the pen-name Li Hong,
criticised the government's treatment of Chinese citizens and journalists
two years ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Committee said.
Mr Zhang is the latest in a series of dissident writers to be held or
harassed by the Chinese government in recent months.
Activist Yao Maodong was detained last week in southern Guangdong province
on charges of illegal business activities based on his publishing work,
according to Yu Jie, a Beijing-based dissident.
Other Chinese rights activists have been placed under house arrest, moved
to distant cities, or have gone into hiding.
(source: Reuters)
China's human rights record in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics has
deteriorated, with thousands of people being executed after unfair trials,
according to Amnesty International.
The human rights watchdog sent its latest findings to the International
Olympic Committee and said Chinese authorities would have to act quickly
if they were to fulfil their pledges to improve human rights.
"The serious human rights abuses that continue to be reported every day
across the country fly in the face of the promises the Chinese government
made when it was bidding for the Olympics,'' said Catherine Baber, Deputy
Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty.
"Gleaming stadiums and spectacular parades will be worthless if
journalists and human rights activists cannot speak out freely, if people
are still being tortured in prison or if the government continues its
secrecy about the thousands of people executed,'' she added.
With less than 700 days to go before the start of the Beijing Games,
Amnesty said the Chinese government needed to work fast to fulfil its
pledges to the Olympic movement.
Amnesty said China's overall record remained poor.
"There has been some progress in reforming the death penalty system but in
other crucial areas the government's human rights record has
deteriorated,'' it said.
There had been a renewed crackdown on journalists and Internet users in
the past year, it said, and promises of complete media freedom rang
hollow.
"Thousands of people are executed after unfair trials for crimes,
including smuggling and fraud,'' said Ms Baber.
Amnesty also said grassroots human rights activists, including those
working with residents forcibly evicted from buildings on Olympic
construction sites, were harassed and imprisoned.
Corinna-Barbara Francis, a China researcher for Amnesty who monitors
Beijing's human rights record, said: "We try to remain optimistic but
right now we are concerned as we are not seeing the progress we had hoped
for.''
She said she believed that international pressure would build as the
Olympics got closer.
"China is a growing world power.
"They are more in the spotlight,'' she said.
"But we have certainly been disappointed given the expectations we had and
the promises made by the Chinese authorities.''
Chinese police have detained dissident writer Zhang Jianhong on
allegations of ``inciting subversion'' through online political essays.
Police raided Mr Zhang's home in eastern China's Zhejiang province on
September 6, detained him and confiscated his computer, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said.
His family was later notified by the local Public Security Bureau that he
had been arrested on suspicion of ``inciting subversion of state
authority'', the New York-based group said.
Mr Zhang, 48, was founder and editor of Aegean Sea, an outspoken literary
and news website that was closed down in March for unauthorised posting of
international and domestic news.
He also contributed to several US-based Chinese-language websites,
including the Falun Gong-linked Epoch Times.
Mr Zhang's most recent online essay, written under the pen-name Li Hong,
criticised the government's treatment of Chinese citizens and journalists
two years ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Committee said.
Mr Zhang is the latest in a series of dissident writers to be held or
harassed by the Chinese government in recent months.
Activist Yao Maodong was detained last week in southern Guangdong province
on charges of illegal business activities based on his publishing work,
according to Yu Jie, a Beijing-based dissident.
Other Chinese rights activists have been placed under house arrest, moved
to distant cities, or have gone into hiding.
(source: Reuters)