Amnesty says China failing on rights

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - Amnesty International says China has not made nearly enough progress on human rights ahead of the 2008 Olympics and, if more is not done quickly, the games will be a stain on China, the Olympic movement and the world.

"When the Chinese authorities made a bid for the Olympics, and then won the bid, they made a promise that the Olympics would also be an opportunity for them to develop human rights," Irene Khan, the secretary-general of the world's leading human rights group, told Reuters.

"With a year to go, we still see human rights concerns overshadowing preparations."

In a report on China's human rights a year ahead of the games, Amnesty looked into executions as well as three other areas of concern: detention without trial and "enforced drug rehabilitation"; restrictions on the activities of rights activists; and a clampdown on domestic and foreign journalism.

While in some areas Khan said she believed China was making an effort and there was some evidence of an improvement, she said the overall picture was still cause for deep concern.

"They have made it easier for foreign reporting, but at the same time tightened up the spread of foreign news and tightened up the ability of Chinese journalists to work," she said.

"We've also seen increasing arrests of human rights activists, an increasing use of 're-education' through forced labour, and what they call enforced drug rehabilitation."

China is the world's leading executioner, according to Amnesty, with anywhere between 1,000 and 8,000 people put to death each year. China does not publish execution figures.

Khan said: "This is a moment to be proud of the Olympic Games, but if that pride is then stained with human rights violations, that's bad for China, it's bad for the Olympic Games and it's bad for the international community that's actually participating."

CRITICISM

Since Beijing was named a host, rights groups have shone a spotlight on its human rights record, focusing in particular on the use of the death penalty, forced detentions and freedom of the press.

However, the International Olympic Committee, in its regular reports on China's progress, has frequently praised the hard work the Communist country has put in for the world's foremost sporting event.

Organizers said separately on Monday that preparations were on track and shrugged off concerns about food safety, pollution and accusations they had not lived up to their media freedom pledge.

Jiang Xiaoyu, a Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games vice president, said regulations introduced at the start of the year to ease reporting restrictions for foreign journalists had been well received and they were welcome to report objectively and fairly.

"We welcome even more constructive criticism on faults and problems," Jiang said. "But we absolutely oppose the politicization of the Olympics, as this does not accord with the Olympic spirit."