Le Temps: Droits de l'homme: la Chine refuse le dialogue (Human Rights: China rejects dialogue)

For Sharon Hom, director of Human Rights in China, the refusal of China to recognize human rights violations, torture, censorship, excessive use of force in Tibet and in prisons, is unacceptable. In her view, even though Beijing has ratified most international treaties, the country is still plagued by massive corruption fueled by the political elite, the lack of justice and independent NGOs. The lawyer, who has long taught law in China, however, sees some glimmers of hope by mentioning the Charter 08. The document, prepared on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "is a major event taking place at a key moment in the social transformation of China," says Sharon Hom, who adds: "This is not a sudden phenomenon. This is part of a long and complex movement towards modernity."

• “Draft Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review,” UN Human Rights Council, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/CNSession4.aspx ;



• Human Rights in China, “China Rejects UN Recommendations for Substantive Reform to Advance Human Rights; HRIC Summary,” February 11, 2009, http://hrichina.org/public/contents/128130;



• HRIC provides four charts that track UPR recommendations:
  
  Summary Chart of Rejected UPR Recommendations [PDF, 45K]
  
  Summary Chart of Accepted UPR Recommendations [PDF, 42K]
  
  Summary Chart of UPR Recommendations Already Implemented [PDF, 18K]
  
  Summary Chart of UPR Recommendations to Be Examined [PDF, 20K]



• Human Rights in China, “China's UN Human Rights Review: New Process, Old Politics, Weak Implementation Prospects,” February 9, 2009, http://hrichina.org/public/contents/127014;



• Human Rights Council: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/;



• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): http://www.ohchr.org;



• Human Rights Council, Universal Periodic Review (UPR): http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx;



• China’s National Report:
  http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session4/CN/A_HRC_WG6_4_CHN_1_E.pdf (Eng);
  http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session4/CN/A_HRC_WG6_4_CHN_1%20China%20national%20report.pdf (Chi);



• Human Rights in China’s UPR Parallel NGO Report:
  http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/Submissions/2008_HRIC_UPR_Report.pdf (Eng);
  http://big5.hrichina.org/public/PDFs/HRIC_UPR_Submission_on_China_September_2008-CHI.pdf(Chi);



• Human Rights in China’s NGO Parallel Report submitted to the Committee against Torture (CAT): http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/Submissions/HRIC-CAT-2008-FINAL.pdf;



• Concluding Observations of the CAT: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/CAT.C.CHN.CO.4.pdf;



• Chinese government’s response to the Concluding Observations of the CAT:
  http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/CAT.C.CHN.CO.4.pdf (Eng);

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/co/CAT-C-CHN-CO4_ch.pdf (Chi).