23 March 2005
US SILENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
Human Rights Watch has criticised the United States and the international community for deciding not to introduce a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights condemning China for its poor human rights record.
On 18 March 2005, the US delegation at the Commission decided not to table a resolution criticising China, claiming some improvements had been made in respecting international human rights standards. No other country is likely to propose a resolution against China at the Commission this year.
UN Commission on Human Rights annually holds a six-week session in Geneva, Switzerland, where it scrutinises countries' human rights records.
The announcement came after China released jailed Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer on 17 March, allowing her to leave China for the United States. Kadeer had been serving an 11-year jail sentence on charges of "providing secret information to foreigners." She had criticised China's harsh repression of Uighurs, an ethnic minority community that resides in the north-west province of Xinjiang.
In Xinjiang, the government has engaged in a brutal crackdown on Uighur religious expression, cultural traditions and social institutions, says Human Rights Watch. Officials label all calls for autonomy or independence as "separatism" and refuse to differentiate them from international terrorism, or to separate peaceful from violent dissent. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang are responsible for systematic torture and the largest number of executions for those accused of state security crimes.
Human Rights Watch says freeing Kadeer in exchange for avoiding international criticism at the Commission is yet another instance of China's "revolving door" policy of releasing a few prominent political prisoners before important international events to head off criticism.
This is the second time in three years that the US has not sought to condemn China's human rights record at the UN.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists' latest report, China continues to be the world's leading jailer of journalists (42 were behind bars at the end of 2004). In 2004, authorities stepped up efforts to monitor Internet users by improving surveillance systems at Internet cafés. At year's end, at least 19 journalists remained in prison for posting opinions or information on the Internet.
Visit these links:
- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/10/china10296.htm
- Rebiya Kadeer Freed: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/18/china10338.htm
- US Explains Why it Won't Criticise China at UN: http://tinyurl.com/5dv3j
- CPJ:
http://www.cpj.org/attacks04/asia04/china.html
- International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Asia/china.htm
- UN Commission on Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/index.htm
- Congressional Executive Commission on China: http://www.cecc.gov/
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