🚀 go-pugleaf

This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
********************





News Service 53/96

AI INDEX: ASA 17/39/96
14 MARCH 1996


                    ~CHINA: NO ONE IS SAFE~

STATEMENT BY PIERRE SANE, SECRETARY GENERAL
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

15 MARCH 1996
HONG KONG CULTURAL CENTRE

(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)


Two days ago Amnesty International launched a worldwide
campaign to expose the systematic violation of human rights
in China.

A launch that signalled the start of global campaigning in
the months ahead by Amnesty members in more than 70 countries
and territories.

Months of public demonstrations, petition signing and
lobbying of governments including at the United Nations.

In short, we will be pulling out all the stops to put
pressure on governments, inter-governmental organizations and
the business community to take concrete action to bring about
real changes in the human rights situation in China.

In the past, the Chinese government~s reaction to Amnesty has
been nothing short of hostile.

And yesterday~s reaction to our campaign was no different.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the report
was ~not even worth refutation~ and charged us with trying to
smear China~s image by staging our campaign in the region.

We are not interested in rhetoric from the Chinese government
-- we are interested in dialogue.

But they won~t meet us in Beijing, and they wouldn~t meet us
in Bangkok.

The can close their doors to us, but they can~t silence us.

Two members of our delegation were detained two days ago in
Bangkok in an effort to prevent our press conference, but we
still spoke out.


Some 40 riot police prevented us from delivering our report
to the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok two days ago, so we sent it
though the mail.

As Amnesty members around Asia and the world take up this
campaign, there may be other attempts to silence us. Other
governments may help to shelter China from international
criticism, but they will not stop us.

And Amnesty will keep putting pressure on the Chinese
government to bring about radical changes in the human rights
situation.

In China, no one is safe from human rights violations.

The Chinese authorities have created swathes of repressive
legislation to detain or intimidate political opponents,
human rights defenders, members of religious and ethnic
groups and others.

And vague laws open to interpretation are used as a weapon to
achieve the exact same ends.

Unless this whole apparatus is overhauled, no one in China
will be safe.

No one will be safe in China as long as the rule of law is
subordinated to higher political goals.

Laws against ~counter-revolutionary~ activities or groups are
used against those who are perceived as a threat to the
established order.

State security laws have been used to imprison political
opponents or journalists who ~leak~ or publish information
critical of the state or the party.

No one will be safe as long as vague and contradictory
provisions of the law open the door to arbitrariness and
abuse of power and when exceptions built into the laws become
the rule.

Like the provision that prosecutions must take place within
five-and-a-half months of arrest except in ill-defined
~complex cases~.

No one will be safe as long as administrative detention is
used at the whim of those in positions of power.

When rural migrants and political dissidents are held without
charge or trial for up to three months -- with China~s own
ministry of public security admitting that some 900,000
people are arrested and detained this way each year.

No one ill be safe in China as long as the court system is
open to political interference.

The practice of ~verdict first, trial second~ is the kind of
justice meted out to anyone unfortunate enough to cross those
in power. The President of the Supreme Court himself said
that the courts are being ~led by the Party~.

In China, no one is safe. But this does not have to be the
case.

Because laws can be amended, the rule of law can be
entrenched, officials and perpetrators can be held
accountable, and human rights violations can be prevented.

In our campaign, we will also be calling on the business
community to use their leverage in bringing about change.

Because the arbitrary use and abuse of the law poses a major
threat not only to human rights but also to the development
and growth of a safe and sound business environment.

The business community therefore has a vested interest in
pressing for a legal environment that will conform to
international standards, not just in matters of trade but
also in matters of human rights protection.

Because contempt for the rule of law will not distinguish
between the different fields of human and social
interactions.

Besides, Amnesty believes that business in China stands to
benefit from greater transparency, less arbitrariness and a
strengthened rule of law.

Systematic human rights violations, as history has shown,
lead to political instability and rebellion and ultimately
endangers investments. According to John Kamm*, promoting
human rights in China is simply good business.

Amnesty is calling on all business leaders investing, trading
and producing in China to take a hard look at the facts that
we are presenting in our report and to asses them against the
long term moral and financial interests of their
shareholders.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights indeed calls not
only on governments but also on ~all individuals and organs
of society~ to work for the protection and promotion of human
rights.

Business leaders today exercise an enormous influence and are
a role model in most societies.

This influence must be put at the service of the broader
community.

Extending human rights protection to all is part of that
social responsibility.

This would be the expectation of shareholders, consumers, and
all those associated one way or another with the individual
companies.

Business leaders and investors around the world, and of
course here in Hong Kong, can and should engage in human
rights dialogue with Chinese officials.

ENDS.../




*[businessman and former President of the American Chamber of
commerce in Hong Kong]


**********

You may re-post this message onto other sources but if you do
then please tell us at AINS@GN.APC.ORG so that we can keep
track of what is happening to these items.

If you want more information concerning this item then please
contact the Amnesty International section office in your own
country. You may also send email to amnesty-info@igc.apc.org,
an automatic reply service.  A list of section contact
details is posted on the APC <ai.news> conference. If there
is not a section of Amnesty International in your country
then you should contact the International Secretariat in
London.END
**********