Wednesday, February 04, 2009

UN Reviews Human Rights Conditions in China

Filed under: Headline, Human Rights | Tags>> United Nations | February 4th, 2009

(Clearwisdom.net) On February 9, 2009, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights will review the human rights conditions in China based on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is a new and unique process that involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member states once every four years. Those that trample on human rights receive the most attention from the media and the public. The upcoming review is an opportunity to expose the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and help the people and governments around the world find out the facts about the persecution.The CCP launched a brutal and large-scale persecution against millions of Falun Gong practitioners ten years ago. The level of cruelty has been unprecedented, and the international community must not allow this persecution to continue. The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has submitted a strongly worded report to the United Nations on the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government. The reported has been published on the official website of UPR here.

(Search Keyword The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group)

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group states that the CCP’s severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners violates every article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and all international human rights treaties and laws that are based on the UDHR. The submission focused on the following aspects of the persecution:

  1. Deprivation of Dignity and Personal Freedom and All Basic Rights

  2. Deprivation of the Right to Life, Liberty, and Personal Security

  3. Slavery

  4. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

  5. Deprivation of Protection of Law, Access to Legal Help, and a Fair Trial

  6. Arbitrary Detention

  7. Destruction of Families

  8. Deprivation of Freedom of Movement, Right to Nationality, and Right to Asylum

  9. Deprivation of Fundamental Civil and Political Rights

  10. Deprivation of Basic Social and Cultural Rights, and the Right to Personal Development

Information from Falun Gong practitioners and their sympathizers from China indicate that millions have been subjected to arbitrary detention; hundreds of thousands have been sent to labor camps; and thousands have been sent to psychiatric hospitals and injected with harmful chemicals. Almost all who have been arrested were tortured, and most women who have been arrested have suffered violence, including sexual abuse. Thousands have been tortured to death, while large numbers of living Falun Gong practitioners have systematically had their vital organs harvested, leading to their deaths. Information from other sources, including inquiries and interventions by Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), also point to a severe and extensive persecution. Given the information blackout by the PRC government, the real situation is believed to be much worse. The long duration of this persecution and the number of people affected makes the PRC government’s persecution of Falun Gong the most severe human rights violation in the world.

The PRC government’s severe and extensive violations against Falun Gong practitioners are precisely what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) calls “barbarous acts that have outraged the conscience of mankind.” Such acts go against the letter and spirit of the UN Charter and violate every article of the UDHR and all international human rights treaties and laws that are based on the UDHR. The PRC’s membership in the UNHRC taints the image of the UNHRC.

While this submission focuses on China’s human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners, it is important to note that Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Christians, dissidents, and other groups have suffered similar human rights violations.

The Chinese and English versions of the Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of China are available here and here.

Chinese version is available here.



OLYMPIC WATCH: Human Rights in China and Beijing 2008

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