Human Rights Watch called today's vote on China at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights "deeply disappointing" and said it reflected badly on the Commission's own commitment to freedom of expression. By a vote of 22 to 17 with 14 abstentions, the Commission supported a motion, introduced by the Chinese delegation, to shelve a resolution critical of China's human rights record without formal debate. The resolution had been sponsored by the U.S. and Poland.
Joanna Weschler, U.N. representative for Human Rights Watch, said the vote was particularly unfortunate because the human rights situation in China had noticeably worsened this past year, with a major crackdown on political dissent, tightened control over the media, stepped-up "patriotic reeducation" campaigns in Tibet, and the systematic violation of worker rights.
"This vote undermines the Commission," said Weschler. "It suggests that large and powerful countries like China can intimidate members of the commission into ignoring serious abuse." She faulted the E.U. and China's other major trading partners for refusing to co-sponsor the resolution, leaving the impression that human rights in China was no longer an international concern. She also noted that had the U.S. committed itself to a resolution in late 1998 rather than only five weeks ago, it might have been able to overcome the reluctance of other countries to join forces. "No one comes out of this process looking good," Weschler said.
Countries offered various excuses for not backing the resolution. The European Union, Australia, and Canada all said that their ongoing human rights dialogues with China were more productive than public criticism. Some Asian countries quietly said that they could not take on China politically. The Japanese press suggested the U.S. only introduced the resolution to appease a domestic constituency. Some countries remembered the treatment Denmark received when it co-sponsored a China resolution in 1997 — China threatened to cancel all business deals with Danish companies, a threat that was never carried out.
"In fact, only sustained public pressure has led Chinese officials to make significant moves on human rights—that's how they agreed to these bilateral dialogues in the first place," said Weschler. As for the threat of retaliation by China against individual members, Weschler said there was a simple solution. "If all members had joined forces to sponsor the resolution or defeat the no-action resolution, the danger of China playing one off against another would be eliminated," she said.
