Monday February 28, 2005

The United States, in its annual human rights report, accused China of muting dissent, suppressing religious rights and restricting freedom of speech.

Chinese mourner (AFP/File)

"The Government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses," said the 2004 report, which also said Beijing's cooperation and progress on human rights last year was "disappointing."

The report said there were cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and mistreatment of prisoners.

"The lack of due process was particularly egregious in death penalty cases, and the accused was often denied a meaningful appeal. Executions often took place on the day of conviction or on the denial of an appeal," it said.

As many as 600 people were serving sentences for the now-repealed crime of counterrevolution and "many of these persons were imprisoned for the nonviolent expression of their political views."

"The Government maintained tight restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press, and a wave of detentions late in the year signaled a new campaign targeting prominent writers and political commentators," the report said.

Beijing also barred commemorations of the bloody military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protesters and in April and June detained many people who planned to mark the event, the report said.

In the western Xinjiang region, Beijing "used the international war on terror as a pretext for cracking down harshly on suspected Uighur separatists expressing peaceful political dissent and on independent Muslim religious leaders."

"The human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and in some Tibetan regions outside the TAR also remained poor," the report said.

The Chinese government has also continued its crackdown against the Falun Gong spiritual movement, it said.

"Several hundred Falun Gong adherents reportedly have died in detention due to torture, abuse, and neglect since the crackdown on Falun Gong began in 1999." (1)

Women have also suffered under the communist regime, the report said.

"Violence against women, including imposition of a coercive birth limitation policy that resulted in instances of forced abortion and forced sterilization, continued to be a problem, as did prostitution."

(1) To date, 1379 Falun Gong practitioners are verified to have died in the persecution, but the real number is believed to be far higher.

Source http://us-politics.news.designerz.com/us-rebukes-chinas-human-rights-record.html?d20050228