Clearwisdom HomeNews & Media ReportsOpen ForumPractitioners' InsightsTruth Clarification
About Falun EmblemFalun Dafa WorldwidePersonal CultivationFa-Rectification StoriesScientific Findings
Welcome Note...
 
To Fellow Practitioners
on September 7
 
Article Selections
Cultivation Within Fa Rectification
Righteous Beliefs and Actions
Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Laws
Exposing the Crimes of Jiang Zemin
Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Audio: Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts Formulas
Staged Tragedy: Tiananmen Self-Immolation
Prophecies
Articles with Master's Comments
Announcements
 
Recognition & Support
Worldwide Support
Awards and Recognition
 
Photo Archive
Clearwisdom Photo Sitemap
Journey of Falun Dafa
Evidence of Persecution
 
The Persecution
521 Practitioners Killed in Persecution
SOS! Urgent Rescue
Latest News from China
Eye Witness Accounts
Solemn Declarations
Evil Deeds Provoke Retribution
How to Help
 
Download Materials
Flyers & Handouts
Publications
Information Packages
Audio/Video
Links to Other Libraries
 
Important Links
FalunDafa.org
FalunInfo.net
PureInsight.org
ClearHarmony.net
PureAwakening.net
Falun Dafa Australia Information Centre
SOS! Global RescueWalk
Friends of Falun Gong
FGM TV
 
Contact Us
Editor
Web Team
Submissions Welcome
Daily Posting Subscription
Clearwisdom Fax
 
Search - Help
  
Advanced Search
 
AP: Amnesty International calls on Washington to demand 'concrete improvements' in Chinese human rights

December 13, 2002

BEIJING - Complaining about a lack of Chinese progress, Amnesty International exhorted American diplomats Friday to set specific goals and demand the release of political prisoners during a new round of human rights talks in Beijing next week.

"We remain deeply concerned by the lack of progress," the London-based organization said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. "Without progress on these fundamental topics the effectiveness of the dialogue remains in question."

The meeting Monday in Beijing is part of a periodic series of human rights exchanges held by China since the mid-1990s with the United States, the European Union and other governments. Activists say such meetings produce little, while muting official criticism of China. U.S. and other officials release few details of their talks.

Amnesty cited a wide range of outstanding issues despite past talks with Washington, including torture in prisons and crackdowns on Internet dissent and the Falun Gong spiritual group.

Beijing routinely rejects human rights criticism as interference in its affairs. But it has carried on such dialogues since the mid-1990s with the European Union, the United States and other governments, and in recent years has shifted its public tone to acknowledge progress is under way -- though on China's terms.

Amnesty called on U.S. diplomats to tell Chinese officials that human rights will be an "integral part of the political dialogue" with Beijing.

"The U.S. government should specify the overall aims, concrete objectives and time frame," its letter said. "Benchmarks for progress should be identified and complemented with a clear time frame for the achievements of these objectives."

The group said it sent a copy to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner, who will represent Washington at the Beijing talks. Craner is head of the State Department's human rights bureau.

The letter asked U.S. officials to convey a list of specific requests.

They include the release of Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent Muslim businesswoman imprisoned for sending newspapers to her activist husband abroad, and dissident Xu Wenli, who is serving a 13-year prison term and is reported to be suffering from Hepatitis B.

Amnesty said it recognized that engagement with China is a long-term process, and that "dialogue may not produce major changes in the short term."

However, it said that in some cases abuses have worsened, such as a recent Chinese crackdown on Internet use in which it said at least 30 people have been arrested on vague subversion or state-secrets charges.

Amnesty also complained of imprisonment, torture and sometimes death in the government's crackdown on independent Christian churches, Falun Gong and Tibetan, Muslim and other ethnic minority activists.

China has been accused recently of misusing the international campaign against terrorism to crack down on peaceful pro-independence sentiment in Tibet and among Uighurs, a Muslim minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

"Thousands of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns remain in detention, while ethnic Uighurs, many of them Muslims, are falsely accused of being 'separatists' or 'terrorists,'" Amnesty said. "Many have been executed after secret trials."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=524&u=/ap/20021213/ap_wo_en_po/as_gen_china_human_rights_1&printer=1

Posting date: 12/14/2002
Original article date: 12/14/2002
Category: News & Media Reports

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version


We welcome your comments and suggestions, please email:
feedback@clearwisdom.net


Related Articles