Human Rights Advocates Dismiss China's Claims of Improvement

(Clearwisdom.net) According to a March 30, 2004 Reuters report, the Chinese government hailed 2003 as a banner year for safeguarding human rights, despite accusations of arbitrary imprisonments, crackdowns in Tibet, religious persecution, torture and the muting of free speech. Repression of human liberty in China is one of the focuses of the 2004 U.N. Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva, which began March 15 and will conclude April 23.

The report stated, "The release of a government white paper lauding China's human rights conditions was an attempt to deflect Washington's proposed U.N. resolution condemning its record, but analysts said conditions in the world's most populous country remained poor."

Also on March 30, The Financial Times stated that the timing of the white paper might be strategic. Beijing suspended human rights negotiations with the U.S. last week following Washington's decision to support a United Nations resolution that attacks China's human rights record. It also coincided with the detention of at least three people related to victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

China's political leaders attempt to defend their human rights record in the white paper, but human rights groups and foreign governments, including the United States, said there was little progress in 2003 with respect to many types of repression, including freedom of speech and religion.

A February 2004 report issued by the U.S. Department of State indicated that human rights in China were actually degenerating, and recent changes were only cosmetic. "Although legal reforms continued, there was backsliding on key human rights issues during the year," stated the report.

The report detailed the severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, with extensive citing of torture, arbitrary detention, unlawful killing, and denial of the freedoms of religion, speech, assembly and association. The report also addressed widespread abuse of Catholics, Tibetans, Uighurs, journalists, democracy advocates, AIDS activists and Internet freedom proponents.

Early in March, the U. S. House of Representatives passed resolution H. Res. 530, urging the international community to rebuke the People's Republic of China for a litany of human rights abuses. The resolution passed by a vote of 402-2.

Last week, when the White House announced its plan to introduce the resolution in Geneva, U.S. Department of State spokesman Richard Boucher called upon other members of the international community to join with the United States in supporting the resolution.

Reference:

http://www.iht.com/articles/512555.html

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http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/3/7/45819.html

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/3/10/45923.html