[Mb-civic] China hits back at US over human rights
Harold Sifton
harry.sifton at sympatico.ca
Thu Mar 9 15:16:49 PST 2006
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China hits back at U.S. criticism on human rights; cites racism, Guantanamo
11:36:01 EST Mar 9, 2006
AUDRA ANG
BEIJING (AP) - China on Thursday lashed out against U.S. criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and noted the abuse of prisoners at U.S.-run detention centres.
The State Council, China's cabinet, denounced the United States for what it called rampant violence and widespread discrimination against minorities - especially blacks - in its annual response to the State Department's report on human rights worldwide.
"For a long time, the life and security of the people of the United States has not been under efficient protection," the Chinese report said.
Blacks are given heavier criminal penalties, arrested more frequently and are more likely to be targeted for hate crimes, the report said.
It also criticized American troops for brutality at prisons in Iraq and the detention camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The response came one day after the State Department said the Chinese government's human rights record "remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses."
The U.S. report said repression worsened in China in 2005, with a trend toward "increased harassment, detention, and imprisonment" of people seen as threats to the Chinese government. It also mentioned tightened controls over print, broadcast and electronic media and censorship of online content.
The U.S. State Department study, published each year since 1977, offers a comprehensive analysis of all countries in the world except the United States.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Washington's report ignored China's progress in human rights, which he said "not only met with the satisfaction of the Chinese people but also has been widely affirmed by the international community."
"We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition," Qin said, adding that Washington should "immediately end the erroneous practice of interfering in other country's internal politics."
Also Thursday, a group of Chinese academics published their own study on human rights in the country, saying the leadership had made some progress but needed to do more.
"Both Chinese and American governments have put out reports but neither of them had objective comments on the conditions of human rights," said Xu Zhiyong, a Beijing professor who was one of the authors of the report.
"Our report objectively and reasonably comments on the conditions," Xu said in a telephone interview.
The report by the Open Constitution Initiative, which was posted online, cited expanded public welfare and the abolition of taxes on farm production as signs of progress. Courts have also been repealing death sentences and the use of torture to produce confessions was slowly being reduced, the report said.
However, it faulted the authorities for tightening restrictions on free speech and religious freedom, saying expansion of civil liberties had not kept pace with economic development.
"We believe the prosperity and freedom are not contradictory. On the contrary, prosperity without freedom cannot last," the report said.
A large section of the Chinese government report on human rights in the U.S. was devoted to racial discrimination, which it said had "long been a chronic malady of American society."
It said the country's blacks and other minorities have much lower living standards and incomes and faced job discrimination. Blacks were also more likely to receive the death penalty for serious crimes, it said.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Muslims have been targeted for arrests and detention under "the banner of 'anti-terrorism,' " the report said.
It also criticized American foreign policy and detailed prison abuse by American troops in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, accusing them of using "various kinds of torture" while trying to "extract information."
The report also touched on:
-Private gun ownership in America, saying the "unchecked spread of guns has caused incessant murders."
-Secret wire taps and surveillance on American citizens under the Patriot Act.
-The poverty rate and the problem of homelessness.
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