Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has called on China and other countries to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. She made the request at the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Symposium now underway in Beijing. But China insists that it would deal with the matter in "its own way".
"Only three of the 52 [countries in the Asia-Pacific region] have ratified all seven core human rights treaties, with 12 more having ratified six," Ms Arbour said.
"Implementation of rights requires that those rights be entrenched in law. The process begins with the ratification of human rights treaties. I therefore urge all member states present who have not yet done so to ratify these core instruments," she added.
Ms Arbour is in Beijing till Friday to urge China to implement legal reforms needed to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Chinese government is regularly criticised for not respecting human rights and denying elementary civil rights. Yesterday however, Tang Jiaxuan, a state councillor and former foreign minister, told the Symposium that every country should be allowed to deal with the matter in "its own way".
"Every country should choose its own way to promote and protect human rights in line with its national conditions. There is no uniform standard with regard to national human rights action plans, institutions or education," Mr Tang said. In his view, many Chinese view poverty as the main problem.
"Under such circumstances, we have no other choice but to make the realisation of the right to development and the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights our most pressing task," he said.
For years, Beijing has claimed it would follow its own human rights path, accusing the UN of adopting a "Western" view.
For the Chinese government food, clothing, shelter are basic human rights. Freedom of the press, freedom of association and democracy are luxuries that can wait or are excuses of the West to colonise Asia.
Yesterday, police shut down the offices of a Chinese human rights group. Some of its most visible members were placed under surveillance, i.e. virtual house arrest, for signing an open letter to Louise Arbour.
Hou Wenzhuo is one of them; he had tried to arrange a meeting to present Ms Arbour with evidence of human rights abuses collected by the group, but has not received a response from the UN official.
For many activists, the main issues in China are the lack of religious and media freedoms, the forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and the suppression of protests over rising social problems.
"These violations contradict the government's public pledges to protect the human rights of Chinese citizens," the activists said in an e-mail sent to news agencies.
