UN Calls on China to release data on executions

Associated Press, Sept. 2, 2005

The UN's top human rights official on Friday called on China to release details about its use of capital punishment, warning that those executed might be victims of discrimination as she ended a five-day visit to Beijing .

High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed concern about the possible use of the death penalty against ethnic minorities and the mentally ill; saying data from other countries showed they often were executed in disproportionately large numbers.

Arbour also said she expressed her concern over China 's execution of people for offenses "that do not meet the international standard of 'most serious crimes."'

China executes thousands of prisoners every year for crimes ranging from murder to nonviolent offenses such as tax evasion.

"We know from worldwide experience that very often when you go beyond the numbers you uncover patterns of sometimes indirect discrimination ... (and) disproportionate application of the harshest penalties, including often the death penalties, on minority groups, people suffering from mental illness," Arbour told a news conference.

Arbour met this week with the president of China 's supreme court, Cabinet ministers and several activist groups and signed an agreement to help China enact legal reforms that would pave the way for its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

At the start of her visit, she also raised about 10 individual human rights cases of particular concern to the United Nations, including cases of detained journalists, labor activists, two Tibetans, a member of China 's Muslim Uighur minority group and an ethnic Mongolian.

She did not identify the individuals or give details of their cases. She said she had yet to receive a response from the Chinese side.

The cases were selected to show the Chinese government "where progress will have to be made toward ratification" of the international rights covenant, Arbour said.

"I hope we will get some answers in the near future," she said regarding the cases.

Arbour also asked Chinese officials about complaints this week that police were harassing the Empowerment and Rights Institute, a human rights group that helps farmers and others with complaints against the government.

The group's founder, Hou Wenzhuo, told The Associated Press that her office had been raided and that she was under constant surveillance, which prevented her from seeking a meeting with Arbour.

Arbour said officials told her Friday that the search of the group's offices was "a routine check related to a residential permit issue."

Human rights groups accuse China of suppressing independent religious organizations and harassing labor and political activists. They also criticize authorities' enforcement of a birth-control policy that limits most urban couples to one child.

China says it has worked hard to ensure basic human rights by reforming its economy, which has improved the overall standard of living of its people.

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