Spotlight on human rights

Jul 24 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

With the Olympic Games in Beijing drawing close a Huddersfield group is joining the growing clamour bringing the issue of human rights in China to the fore. ANDREW BALDWIN reports

WITH the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing just a little over a fortnight away the Chinese authorities are under scrutiny as never before.

When the vast country made its bid for the sporting spectacle its leaders promised improvements in human rights.

Then came Tibet and protests across the globe when the Olympic torch was paraded through the streets.

It put the issue of human rights on a highly visible platform.

Activists are working to make sure the pressure remains on and that the Chinese authorities make good on their promises.

One breakthrough seems to have come in the past few days, with the reported release of 1,157 people who were involved in the Tibet protests last March.

But a lot more needs to be done, say campaigners pushing for change in China.

A gathering in Huddersfield this Saturday will hear about the latest developments and why pressure needs to be maintained.

The town’s Amnesty International group will hold a public meeting at the Ukrainian Club, Edgerton Road, Edgerton, from 1pm to 3pm.

Speakers will include Bernard O’Hear, from Amnesty International’s UK headquarters.

A spokeswoman for the Huddersfield group says: “We are ordinary people from around the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

“Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

“Without improvements to human rights in China the Olympic host will be remembered as a country that executes, tortures and silences its citizens.”

Amnesty International wants:

An end to executions and to ensure fair trials for the accused

Abolition of the Re-education Through Labour programme

The release of Chinese human rights defenders and the go-ahead for them to carry out peaceful actions in accordance with international law

Freedom from censorship, providing full media freedom to journalists, both foreign and domestic.

As the Olympics near and the spectacle and excitement grow, Amnesty International is asking how the games can have a lasting, positive legacy when human rights have been so roundly violated in their preparation.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to go to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, his spokesman confirmed this week.

But Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are among those who have said they plan to stay away.

Officials in many EU states have called for a boycott over China’s human rights record, but Russia says mixing politics with the Olympics is unacceptable.

Separate explosions on two public buses killed two people and wounded 14 in south-west China on Monday morning.

The explosions raised new speculation about security during the Olympics.

The spokeswoman for Amnesty International’s Huddersfield group says: “Chinese human rights defenders are harassed, assaulted and imprisoned for their legitimate protests.

“This violates their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

“They must be free to highlight issues of concern before, during and after the games.

“The Re-education Through Labour programme is of particular concern.

“It violates the right to fair trial and the prohibition of forced labour.

“People on programmes like this risk torture and ill-treatment,” says the spokeswoman.

Saturday’s meeting in Huddersfield is also intended to throw the spotlight on Amnesty International generally.

The Huddersfield group has adopted a prisoner of conscience in Burma and will be drawing attention to his plight.

Khaing Kaung San, born in 1971, was a refugee in Thailand when he was among 105 people arrested and sent back to Burma, contrary to international law, says Amnesty.

He is serving 10 years in prison for “unlawful association” and the Huddersfield group is pressing for his release.