北朝鮮・チベット・中国人権ウォッチ

中国：オリンピックと人権(アムネスティ・インターナショナル　04.08.27)

2004年のアテネオリンピックが終わりつつある中、2008年の北京の冬期オリンピックの準備は着々と進行中である中、アムネスティ・インターナショナルは8月27日、北京オリンピックに関する声明を発表した。

アムネスティは2008年までの4年までの間に世界の視線が中国に注目が集まることを歓迎するとした上で、中国政府はオリンピックの北京開催が2001年に決定した時には北京オリンピックが中国の人権状況の改善や人権の促進に貢献するとの意向を示したにもかかわらず、実際にはこれらの主張を裏付ける事実は今のところ確認されていないとした。

また、アムネスティは「処刑室」の存在は北京オリンピックの「人間の尊厳の保護」という理念に明らかに反するとした上で、中国政府に対して人権状況の改善を求めている。


China: Olympic Games and Human Rights
Press release, 2004/08/27

As the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics come to a close, preparations for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics are well underway.

"Amnesty International welcomes the intense spotlight that will be focused on China in the four years until 2008," said the organization. "Severe abuses of fundamental human rights are a daily occurrence in China. This spotlight must be used to end these abuses and ensure the "preservation of human dignity"as enshrined in the Olympic Charter."

After Beijing was awarded the Games in 2001, Chinese and Olympic officials asserted that human rights in China would improve as a result of hosting the Olympics.

For example, Francois Carrard, executive director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said he was "taking the bet" that human rights would improve; Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC said: "we are convinced that the Olympic Games will improve the human rights record in China"; and Wang Wei, Secretary General of the Beijing Organising Committee said "We are confident that the Games coming to China not only promotes our economy, but also enhances human rights."

"So far at least, little has been delivered to support these confident assertions," said Amnesty International. "However, we intend to use the spotlight of the Olympics to push as hard as we can in the remaining years to see human rights in China improved above and beyond the assertions made by Chinese and Olympic officials."

Since Beijing was awarded the games in 2001, there has been negligible improvement in China's human rights record. The impending arrival of the Olympic flame has had little positive impact on human rights. Rather, the forced relocation of whole communities with little or no compensation to make way for Olympic venues in Beijing is an example of how human rights have actually deteriorated as a direct result of the Olympic preparations.

Construction projects the Beijing authorities have put out to open tender under the banner "New Beijing, New Olympics The Opportunity for China and the World" include an execution chamber where those sentenced to death by the Beijing High People's Court will be killed by lethal injection.

"Amnesty International believes an execution chamber clearly negates the 'preservation of human dignity' that Beijing as the Olympic host city has committed to uphold."

Hosting the Olympics is a major international boost for the Chinese people. It is now incumbent on the Chinese government to uphold "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" and deliver major improvements in human rights for the people of China.

Background
Areas of human rights in desperate need of improvement in China include:

The death penalty: China continues to execute more people each year than the rest of the world combined. A senior legislator from southwest China recently said China executes "nearly 10,000" people per year. Amnesty International is calling for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty as a step towards abolition.
"Reeducation through labour": More than 250,000 people in China are being detained in labour camps on vaguely defined charges having never seen a lawyer, never been to a court, and with no form of judicial supervision. Amnesty International is calling for "reeducation through labour" to be abolished immediately.
Torture: Torture is endemic in China, and people are highly likely to suffer torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment at some point of their passage through the criminal justice system. Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese government to cooperate fully with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and to implement all recommendations that are made as a matter of urgency.
Freedom of expression and religion: Thousands of people are detained and sentenced each year for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religious belief. Amnesty International is calling for Constitutional guarantees to freedom of expression and religion to be recognised and practised in law, and for the immediate release of people detained for exercising these freedoms.

news.amnesty feature
In a special video feature on news.amnesty, dissident Wang Dan, student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, speaks about his experiences.
http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGASA172708042004


http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGASA170442004