OTTAWA, 26 February, 2002 - Canada must insist on clear commitments from China to improve its human rights record at this year's UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), say Canadian non-governmental groups meeting with Government officials today in Ottawa.
Citing the importance of strong multilateral pressure on China, the NGOs voiced concern that China is using the fight against terrorism to justify its own "strike hard" campaign against democracy and labour activists, religious groups such as the Falun Gong [...].
Expressing frustration with Canada's "dialogue-only" strategy with
China, the groups presented a list of prisoners to Canadian officials requesting
follow-up information on each case. They also made three recommendations in
preparation for the UNCHR session set to begin in mid-March in Geneva.
1. Canada should table a resolution on human rights violations in China and
Tibet
The United States' failure to regain its seat at the UNCHR diminishes the
chances that a resolution on China will be tabled at this year's Commission
session. Canadian NGOs argue that the mere threat of a "China
resolution" at the UNCHR each year places significant pressure on China to
improve its record. This pressure has resulted in some gains in past years,
including China's ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights and the release of high-profile prisoners. Without a
resolution, NGOs fear that there will be no pressure for China to respect
international human rights standards. Canada stopped co-sponsoring the
resolution in 1997, adopting a dialogue process instead. NGOs argue that the
dialogue has not produced any concrete results and that rights violations have
continued unabated during the past year.
2. Canada should challenge China's use of a "no-action" motion to
prevent debate of its human rights record
China's use of the no-action procedural motion has brought the credibility of
the UNCHR into question by allowing a member State to avoid any discussion of
its record. China's use of the no-action motion, which has succeeded every year
since 1990, except 1995, means that the resolution dies a quick death on the
floor without any debate or vote between delegates. On February 2, 2002 China
used the no-action motion in the UN General Assembly for the first time,
successfully blocking the accreditation of Tibet groups to an upcoming UN event
on Sustainable Development.
3. Canada should ensure the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture be given
unrestricted access to China
A planned visit by the Special Rapporteur on Torture to China last year was
delayed by China's refusal to respect standard terms of reference for such
missions. The Rapporteur, Nigel Rodley, refused to compromise and the visit was
cancelled. A new rapporteur, Dutch human rights lawyer Theo van Boven, has
recently been named and China has made some public statements indicating that it
will welcome a renewal of visit negotiations. Canada must ensure that the visit
goes ahead without delay but only if the rapporteur is given complete freedom to
travel and to meet with prisoners in accordance with standard UN guidelines.
Contacts:
Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.ca/ttop) - Canadian Section
Canadian Labour Congress (http://www.clc-ctc.ca/ttop)
Democracy China-Ottawa
Friends of Falun Gong Association of Canada
Rights & Democracy
PEN Canada (http://www.pencanada.ca//ttop)
Toronto Association for Democracy in China
Uighur Canada Association
http://serveur.ichrdd.ca/english/commdoc/prelease/chinaCommission2002.html
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