Citizenship: Human Rights in China

Urging China to respect Human rights

The human rights association "Human Rights In China" - HRIC - has launched the internet site "Where's Hu now", for the occasion of the first visit to the US of China's president Hu Jintao. The site is available in english and chinese. It indicates the tour of Mr Hu as well as his meetings. It also proposes to send Emails and letters to important people such as Bill Gates or President George W. Bush, asking them not to forget the poor situation of Human rights in China.

The human rights situation in China is generally deteriorating and remains serious for human rights defenders, including journalists, workers, lawyers, petitioners, religious practitioners and health activists, and others who raise issues that the PRC government considers sensitive.The Chinese government continues to maintain tight restrictions on freedom of speech and press, as evidenced by the surge in detentions in late 2004. A recent campaign to target "public intellectuals" resulted in the censorship of individuals, publications and broadcasts, as well as Internet and other wireless technology. On April 12, 2006, HRIC submitted an open letter and a list of urgent detention cases in China to U.S. President Bush in advance of his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. HRIC urges President Bush to raise issues of particular human rights concerns, especially the increasing economic disparities undermining social stability and peaceful and sustainable development, and censorship and crackdowns on freedom of expression and access to information. Alone in 2005, out of the total reported 2148 executions carried out in the world, 1770 were in China (94%), as informs Amnesty International.

The british newspaper Guardian also reported a serious breach of Human Rights involving the trade of executed prisoners' organs for transplants from China to the UK. According to the paper, the British Transplantation Society said that "an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the organs of executed prisoners are being removed for transplantation without the prior consent of either the prisoner or their family". Thousands of organs are thought to be involved in the lucrative trade, it said. Transplant centres, patients, and the Chinese authorities and judiciary could all be implicated in a breach of human rights.

About HRIC
Founded by Chinese scientists and scholars in March 1989, Human Rights in China (HRIC) is an international, Chinese, non-governmental organization with a mission to promote universally recognized human rights and advance the institutional protection of these rights in the People's Republic of China (China). HRIC's approach is a long-term process of engaging multiple international actors, including the media, governments, corporations, various United Nations bodies, and other multilateral organizations.

[French summary - résumé en français]

Inciter la Chine à respecter les droits de l'homme

L'association Human Rights In China, qui milite pour les droits de l'homme en Chine, a lancé le site Internet Où est Hu ?, à l'occasion de la première visite du président chinois Hu Jintao aux Etats-Unis. Accessible en anglais et chinois, le site présente une carte qui retrace le parcours et les rencontres diplomatiques de M. Hu. Il propose également aux visiteurs d'envoyer des e-mails à diverses personnalités telles que Bill Gates ou le président George W. Bush, pour les inciter à ne pas ignorer la question de la répression en Chine au profit de contrats financiers lucratifs.