AFP: UN rights chief warns Beijing of 'deep concern' on final visit (excerpt)

(Clearwisdom.net)

The following is an excerpt of the AFP report about Ms. Robinson's trip to China:

"UN rights chief Mary Robinson, on her final mission to China, has urged Beijing to embrace political reform and warned that its human rights record remained a 'deep concern.'"

"Despite some praise for Beijing's cooperation with the UN on certain issues, the rights chief used her seventh official visit to China to reiterate a characteristically blunt assessment of the country's human rights situation."

"In her time as United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Robinson said, she had been left with the impression that China was serious about legal reform and strengthening the rule of law.

But 'there is obviously a long way to go, and in the meantime the actual reality of human rights continues to be worrying.'"

"Concerns included the jailing of workers' leaders following major protests which gripped the country's industrial northeast earlier this year and repression of the banned Falungong spiritual group."

"'I would worry about the response to labor unrest, the continuing treatment of Falungong members, the restrictions on the use of the Internet and the attitude towards crime, particularly the 'Strike Hard' approach,' said the former Irish president."

"She also worried about a harsh post-September 11 climate and what it means for the [...] Falungong and for others."

"China's growing problems make it 'all the more necessary' to embrace political reform, she said.

Instead she said authorities are clamping down on freedom of expression and putting further restrictions on Internet use, matters she discussed with Chinese officials."

"Earlier, during a UN-China workshop for judges and lawyers, Robinson said Beijing had demonstrated a willingness to improve legal procedures in recent years."

"Nonetheless, 'in many respects, Chinese law and practice still falls short of international human rights standards' she said in a speech."

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020819/afp/020819073548asiapacificnews.html

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