(New York, November 15, 2002)
- A new Suzhou city law protecting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is an important first step toward combating widespread discrimination in China, Human Rights Watch said today.
"Suzhou has taken the lead, but the rest of China is dragging its feet. The national government urgently needs to follow Suzhou's example."
Joanne Csete
Director of the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights program at Human Rights Watch
|
|
Suzhou, a city of one million in Jiangsu province, passed a law in October guaranteeing patients and their families equal access to employment, education and health care, and giving PLWHA the right to sue for redress. The law is the first of its kind in China.
Human Rights Watch urged China's new Communist party leadership to press government authorities to adopt similar legislation that protects the rights of PLWHA, and to ensure they are enforced.
"Suzhou has taken the lead, but the rest of China is dragging its feet," said Joanne Csete, director of the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights program at Human Rights Watch. "The national government urgently needs to follow Suzhou's example."
Many Chinese laws attempt to control and supervise people living with HIV/AIDS, and to punish people in high-risk groups, said Csete, but the Suzhou city ordinance is the first one in China that protects their rights.
The Chinese Ministry of Health has acknowledged that it faces a rapidly-escalating AIDS epidemic and has asked for international assistance in combating it. However, local and national laws still permit many forms of discrimination against PLWHA. National laws prohibit HIV-positive persons from marrying, and local laws in some cities forbid them from swimming in public swimming pools or working in food service or childcare. There have been widespread reports in Chinese and international media of community harassment and of discrimination by employers, hospitals and schools.
China's sixteenth Communist Party Congress convened on Friday, November 8, to nominate a new Central Committee, Politburo and seven-member Standing Committee that will run the country for the next five years. Human Rights Watch called on the incoming national leaders to prioritize sweeping legal reform on AIDS. A new national law should be passed that includes protection of the rights of infected persons and guarantees of patient confidentiality. National, provincial and city governments should reform existing laws that permit discrimination and should include provisions to protect patient confidentiality.
These laws increase the public stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, and discourage people from voluntarily testing for the virus.
"If the state wants people to come forward, get tested, and learn about how the disease is transmitted, then legal reform is an urgent priority," said Csete.
|
