MCLC: Human Rights report 2013

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: Human Rights report 2013
***********************************************************

Source: Human Rights Watch (1/21/14):
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/21/china-new-leaders-fail-embrace-genuine-r
eforms

For Immediate Release

China: New Leaders Fail to Embrace Genuine Reforms
2013 Sees Some Movement on Abusive Policies but Ongoing Harsh Repression
of Critics

(New York, January 21, 2014) – The Chinese Communist Party reinforced its
monopoly on power in 2013 through tough new measures and hardline
rhetoric, dashing hopes that the country’s new leadership would engage in
deep systemic reforms to improve human rights and strengthen the rule of
law, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014
<http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014>.

Although it announced the abolition of the abusive administrative
detention system Re-education Through Labor, relaxation of the one-child
policy, and plans to improve the delivery of justice, the new leadership
of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang has yet to embark on fundamental reforms that
adequately respond to the public’s increased demands for justice and
accountability.

“The Chinese government has responded to domestic and international
pressure by announcing partial reforms on issues such as Re-education
Through Labor and the one-child policy,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at
Human Rights Watch, “But the leadership has also embarked on a harsh
crackdown on critics, while using hardline rhetoric to make clear they
have no intention of liberalizing the political system.”

In the 667-page world report, its 24th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews
human rights practices in more than 90 countries. Syria’s widespread
killings of civilians elicited horror but few steps by world leaders to
stop it, Human Rights Watch said. A reinvigorated doctrine of
“responsibility to protect” seems to have prevented some mass atrocities
in Africa. Majorities in power in Egypt and other countries have
suppressed dissent and minority rights. And Edward Snowden’s revelations
about US surveillance programs reverberated around the globe.

Before the new leadership formally assumed power in March 2013, many in
China had high expectations for reforms to address rising social tensions
resulting from land seizures, forced evictions, corruption, pollution,
poor treatment of migrant workers, discrimination based on residency
status (“hukou”), imprisonment of activists, and other problems.

During the Chinese Communist Party 3rd plenum in November, the Party
announced that it had decided to abolish Re-education Through Labor, which
has allowed the detention of individuals for years without trial since the
1950s. It also announced relaxation of the birth quotas under the coercive
family planning policy, allowing couples to have a second child if one of
the parents is an only child. Following the Plenum, the Supreme People’s
Court issued guidelines urging courts to strictly adhere to procedural
protections in the revised Criminal Procedure Law, including prohibiting
using confessions through torture as evidence at trial. The new leadership
also announced its commitment to fight endemic corruption by striking at
both “tigers and flies,” suggesting position and connections will no
longer assure protection.

“It is too soon to know whether recently announced reforms will be matched
by action to translate them into reality,” Adams said. “But while Xi
Jinping has spoken a lot about tackling corruption and there have been
some high profile arrests, the government has harshly retaliated against
those who exposed high-level corruption in the government and Party.”

Beginning in March, China detained and arrested more than fifty activists
across the country in an attempt to push back and reassert control over
the acceptable boundaries for civil society activism. Those detained
include activists involved with the New Citizens Movement, a civic
platform that organizes street protests to press for the public disclosure
of official assets as a mechanism to fight corruption. Many of these
activists remain in detention.

In August, the Chinese government waged one of the harshest crackdowns on
the Internet in recent years, railing against “online rumors,” detaining
“rumor mongers” across the country, punishing outspoken citizens and
journalists for blowing the whistle on corruption, and extending existing
criminal legal provisions to make it easier to punish online expression.

The government continued to implement repressive policies in the minority
areas of Tibet and Xinjiang. In Tibet, it maintained a massive security
presence, severely restricted the movement of Tibetans, and stepped up
surveillance of the local population by moving party cadres into every
village. In Xinjiang, pervasive ethnic discrimination and severe religious
repression continued to fuel rising tensions. More than one hundred
people, including ethnic Uyghurs, Han, and others were killed in incidents
that produced the highest collective toll since the July 2009 Urumqi
riots. In both Tibet and Xinjiang, the government used live ammunition
against peaceful protestors, injuring and killing some. In both areas the
government is also carrying out involuntary population relocation and
rehousing on a massive scale.

Among other concerns, this year’s World Report 2014 also highlighted:

* Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo continued his 11-year jail term in
northern Liaoning Province. His wife Liu Xia remained under unlawful house
arrest, reportedly suffering from severe depression;

* China continued to lead the world in executions. The exact number
remained a state secret, but experts estimate it decreased progressively
from about 10,000 a year a decade ago to less than 4,000 in recent years;

* After years of denial and inaction, the Ministry of Environmental
Protection finally acknowledged the existence of “cancer villages,” with
abnormally high cancer rates. Domestic media had written extensively on
the issue. Victims have long pressed for justice and compensation with no
consequences; and

* In May, China’s first-ever Mental Health Law came into effect, filling
an important legal void but failing to close loopholes that allow
government authorities and families to detain people in psychiatric
hospitals against their will.

Human Rights Watch said that international pressure on China over rights
was inconsistent in 2013, continuing a long-term trend. Many countries,
such as the United Kingdom and France, toned down their criticism in
summits with the Chinese leadership, instead touting “human rights
dialogues” that are proven to achieve few, if any, results.

“China is home to more than a billion people and is a major global power,
so how the rest of the world addresses its human rights situation is more
vital than ever,” Adams said.

To read Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2014 chapter on China, please
Visit:

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/china

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on China, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/asia/china

For more information, please contact:
In Hong Kong, Nicholas Bequelin (English, French, Mandarin):
+852-8198-1040 (mobile); or bequeln at hrw.org
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-790-872-8333 (mobile); or
adamsb at hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @BradAdamsHRW
In Washington, DC, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499 (mobile); or
siftonj at hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @johnsifton