China in the hot seat for human rights violations
Geneva (AsiaNews) Human Rights Watch is calling on the United States to initiate a resolution condemning mainland China for its human rights violations throughout 2003 at this year's UN Human Rights Commission. The six-week summit began Monday March 15th and will continue until April 23rd , with 53 nations represented in the forum. Previously the United States has mildly criticised China for its abuses, but with continued reports of injustice, torture, and censorship, Washington is considering a stronger course of action.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing last Friday, alerting him to the serious concerns the US and other nations have of China's human rights track-record. A Chinese government administrator announced that China opposes a U.S. resolution, and that it should "think three times before acting." Beijing would most likely counter such a resolution with a petition to vote it off the agenda, or to persuade other commission members to pass a "no-action motion". China insists that human rights are an internal affair, and outside countries have no business getting involved. Sha Zukang, China's U.N. representative in Geneva said Monday that the Commission should devote itself to dialogue and cooperation instead of "naming and shaming," indicating that Beijing would prefer to discuss the situation privately with independent nations than to have its practices analyzed at an international forum.
Brad Adams, executive director of the New York- based Human Rights Watch doesn't accept that mode of operation. "The U.N. Human Rights Commission presents a rare forum for full public scrutiny and public pressure on countries that abuse their citizens, and China's record should be addressed in full view of the world," he stated. The organization urged the United States to commit to an all-out effort to line up supporters and the votes necessary to secure the resolution condemning China.
Even if China's National People's Congress approved amendments to the constitution to include a landmark provision protecting human rights, records show the country continues to defy international and domestic standards. In January, extravagant fines were levied to HIV-positive activists in Henan. Beginning in February, Internet censureship was increased, with the widespread closing of internet cafes-which allowed anonymous use of the world wide web- and most recently the shutting down of 'blog' websites when a government-critical letter and sentiments were found among users' personal diary web-logs. Then in March, Roman Catholic Bishop Wei Jingyi was arrested in Heilongjiang on questionable charges.
And according to National People's Congress delegate Chen Zhonglin, "Every year, China has nearly 10,000 cases of the death penalty that result in immediate execution. This is about five times more than all the other death penalty cases from other nations combined." Though the number of state executions is a highly guarded secret, "These NPC delegates do have some special powers so if he asked the right official, there is a possibility that this number is accurate," Yi Yanyong, a criminal law professor at Tsinghua University's School of Law confirmed.
While a few well-known political prisoners were released or granted sentence reductions some weeks before the UN Commission, " None of the (them) should have been imprisoned in the first place," Adams stressed. "The United States should be wary of trading a human rights resolution for more empty promises."
The push for a resolution comes amidst an upsurgence of forced evictions and unlawful detainment of their advocates on the mainland, and the accusation of the AFL-CIO, the largest US labour organization, that China has engaged in a "brutal suppression" of workers' rights, failing to abide by its own national standards of minimum wage, overtime and health and safety.
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