(New York, October 22, 2002)
- Chinese President Jiang Zemin should take the opportunity of his summit with U.S. President George Bush to release all of China's political prisoners, Human Rights Watch urged today. Bush and Jiang are set to meet in Crawford, Texas on October 25 and at the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Mexico.
"Releasing just a few political prisoners does not constitute significant human rights progress, although we'll welcome it if it happens. But releasing all of China's political prisoners would really be a significant way to mark Jiang's upcoming retirement as president and leader of the Communist party. If Saddam Hussein can do it in Iraq, why not President Jiang?"
Mike Jendrzejczyk
Human Rights Watch's Washington director for Asia
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"Releasing just a few political prisoners does not constitute significant human rights progress, although we'll welcome it if it happens," said Mike Jendrzejczyk, Human Rights Watch's Washington director for Asia. "But releasing all of China's political prisoners would really be a significant way to mark Jiang's upcoming retirement as president and leader of the Communist party. If Saddam Hussein can do it in Iraq, why not President Jiang?"
Human Rights Watch urged Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to insist on expanded labor freedoms, unfettered access to HIV/AIDS information, and an end to Internet censorship and the crackdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Bush should use U.S. trade links with China to push for respect for Chinese workers' rights to free expression, association and assembly; lifting of restrictions on independent unions; and acceptance of a mission from the International Labor Organization on freedom of association. The United States should also urge the immediate release of detained labor activists. For more details, please see Human Rights Watch report "Paying the Price: Worker Unrest in Northeast China".
To combat the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, China should give HIV/AIDS activists unfettered rights to freedom of expression in their efforts to educate the public about the disease and how it is transmitted. The government should also commit itself to protecting the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS and those at high risk of infection. There is still no reliable information about rates of infection in China. The United States should encourage China to undertake a nationwide survey of HIV prevalence using internationally accepted methods as a basis for future policies. Please check these pages to see Human Rights Watch's work on HIV/AIDS.
Human Rights Watch called on Bush to speak out, privately and publicly, about the increasing repression of Uighurs in predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province. Since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, China has attempted to justify its broad crackdown in Xinjiang on counter-terrorism grounds. In August 2002, the United States designated the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) as a terrorist organization, saying the group had links to al-Qaeda.
"Bush should make it clear that by designating one Uighur group as a terrorist organization, the United States is not giving China a blank check to simply label Uighurs as terrorists and then arrest them," said Jendrzejczyk. "Bush needs China as an ally in the war on terrorism. The best way to grow a terrorist movement is to trample on the rights of people who already have grievances." Please see Human Rights Watch backgrounder "China Human Rights Watch Concerns in Xinjiang".
Jendrzejczyk said Bush should urge China to open up Xinjiang to give private and U.N. human rights monitors and trial observers unhindered access.
President Bush should press for speedy ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which China signed in October 1998, and for the repeal of official restrictions on Internet content and access that threaten punishment for individuals who download material that "jeopardizes national security, reveals state secrets, subverts state power or undermines national unity." He should again urge that China guarantee its citizens freedom of belief and the right to participate in religious activities outside of state control.
"Bush should also raise concerns about Beijing's pressure for enactment of new laws that could seriously undermine civil liberties in Hong Kong," said Jendrzejczyk. On September 24, Hong Kong's secretary for security unveiled an outline for proposed new laws against subversion, sedition, secession and treason after years of pressure from Beijing to put such laws into effect. Hong Kong is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it has pledged to uphold.
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