Delegate Briefs UN Commission on China's Human Rights Achievements

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights while being committed to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights and determined to improve people's livelihood, a Chinese delegate said Thursday.

Alternate Representative of the Chinese delegation Li Baodong told the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of China's achievements by illustrating them with examples in the following four aspects:

-- To administer the state affairs according to law.

In March last year, the concept of running the country in accordance with law was formally incorporated into the constitution. The key essence is to ensure that the government functions as the law sees it, law-enforcement and judicial bodies operate within the law and citizens exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations according to law and the state institution.

The Chinese society is now in the process of transition from too much emphasis on the rule of person and insufficient emphasis on the rule of law to establishing concept of the rule of law, from supremacy of the power to supremacy of the law, from too much emphasis on duties and insufficient emphasis on rights to establishing a correct notion about rights and obligations.

-- Strengthening legislation, popularizing legal education and increasing supervision on law-enforcement.

In recent years, a series of important laws, including the Law on Prison, the Law on Judges and the Law on Lawyers, have been adopted. In particular, the revision of and amendments to the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law have considerably improved the human rights protection during criminal proceedings.

Lately, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee have also passed the Law on Administrative Review and the Law on Legislation. They are now drafting the Law on Supervision.

The nationwide education on legal provisions is developing in depth. Citizens are quickly increasing the awareness of safeguarding their rights and interests by making use of law. The Chinese judicial bodies have moved ahead with comprehensive reform to further enhance the fair administration of justice and to upgrade the level of law enforcement.

-- Effective guarantee of freedom of religion and belief.

The Chinese constitution provides that the citizens enjoy the freedom of religious belief. They may freely choose and express their beliefs and make clear their religious affiliations.

At present, there are more than 85,000 sites for religious activities in China, more than 300,000 clergy, over 3,000 religious organizations and 74 religious schools and colleges. Various religions have witnessed the increase of followers in recent years. For example, the number of Christianity believers has grown now to more than 10 million from 700,000 in 1949.

-- Prohibition of and opposition to torture.

Through its legislation, China explicitly prohibits torture and metes out severe punishment against the use of torture. In judicial practice, China has installed a variety of vigorous mechanisms of supervision, including legislative, administrative and social supervision, and stresses the training of law enforcement personnel in order to effectively prevent occurrence of torture. In 1988, China acceded to the UN Convention against Torture. China is serious about fulfilling its conventional obligations and has thus far submitted three reports on implementation.

"China has made great efforts to strengthen the legal system and develop democracy," said Li. "Remarkable achievements have thus been scored in promoting and protecting all civil and political rights.These achievements are acknowledged by any one free of bias and certainly cannot be negated by the United States and some other western countries or a handful of NGOs through their lies."



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