China Dismisses Amnesty Report On Human Rights
01/05/2007 |
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China dismissed an Amnesty International report Monday that accused it of using the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games as an excuse for impression.
A foreign ministry statement sent to AFP said, ?we?re conscientiously implementing the concessions made to gain the right to host the Olympics and every item of this project is carried out in a systematic manner. A few reports colored by ulterior political motives issued by individual organizations won?t succeed in slandering China?s progress on human rights?.
The Amnesty International report said China has failed to live up to promises to improve human rights for the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite reforms to the death penalty system and more freedoms for foreign reporters. It catalogues a wide range of persistent abuses, reports the Associated Press, from extensive use of detention without trial to the persecution of civil rights activists and new methods to rein in the domestic media and censor the Internet.
While welcoming the new rules for foreign journalists and the referral of all death sentences to China?s Supreme Court since the start of the year, the Associated Press quotes Catherine Baber, deputy Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty International saying in a statement, ?disappointingly they have been matched by moves to expand detention without trial and house arrest of activists, and by a tightening of controls over domestic media and the Internet?.
The report called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to push Beijing more to improve its human rights record, especially on issues relating to the Olympics. Baber said, ?the IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses ? whether families forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for sports arenas or growing numbers of peaceful activists held under house arrest?.
The report said if private discussions were not working the ?IOC should consider making these concerns public, especially with the Olympics little more than a year away?.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said, ?it?s clearly comprehensive and we want to take the time to digest it before making any further reaction?.
China said the report ignored progress it has achieved in reform and in improving the lives of its 1.3 billion citizens.
The statement said, ?the Chinese constitution respects and protects human rights. The Chinese government has devoted itself to promoting economic development and social progress, and to advancing comprehensive judicial reform, a sound and democratic legal system and a fair, just and harmonious society. In this way we will bring about the overall development for the people, a policy that is firm and will not change?.
(Source: Gamesbids.com)
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