AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEáááááááá CONTACT:á Alistair Hodgett x302

January 11, 2000ááááááááááááááááááááááááááááá 202-544-0200

(Washington, D.C.) Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today praised the Clinton administration's decision to sponsor a resolution critical of China's human rights record at the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in March.

"We applaud the Administration for making a decision now that will enable it to lobby other Commission members to join the U.S. in challenging the deteriorating state of human rights in China," said Stephen Rickard, AIUSA Legislative Director. "We encourage other Commission members to support this effort." Amnesty International has also made China one of its top priorities for this session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

Amnesty International has highlighted China's use of draconian national security laws against political dissidents and members of the Falun Gong movement.á Large numbers of people have been executed after summary trials; harsh prison sentences have been meted out to curb dissent, and there are persistent reports of torture and the death in custody of prisoners.

Amnesty International recently learned that, after a grossly unfair trial, two men have been sentenced to death in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region for the political crime of "splitting the country."á Nine other men found guilty of the same crime were sentenced to terms ranging from one year to life imprisonment.á Amnesty International believes the sentences were based on confessions extracted under torture.

"We are currently witnessing one of the most relentless crackdowns since 1989 against people who are peacefully exercising fundamental freedoms of expression and association," said Rickard.á