China Sincere in Fulfilling Obligations Under Human Rights TreatiesThe Chinese government is very sincere in fulfilling its obligations under the human rights treaties to which it has acceded, including its reporting obligations, said a Chinese official Monday."The Chinese government attaches great importance to the positive role played by international human rights treaties," Special Advisor of the Chinese delegation Liu Jing told the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. "China has ratified or acceded to 17 international human rights treaties, " Liu said, adding that China is now a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Since the last session of the UN commission, Liu said, the Chinese government has submitted to the relevant treaty body its third periodic report on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It is now in the process of drafting the combined eighth and ninth periodic report on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and preparing its second periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Respectively on July 1, 1997 and December 20, 1999, the Chinese government resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao, and established thereafter the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong and Special Administrative Region of Macao of the People's Republic of China. As for the implementation of human rights treaties in the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), China has laws which stipulate that relevant provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which were applicable in Hong Kong and Macao shall remain valid in the two Special Administrative Regions and shall be implemented through their respective local laws. Concerning reporting obligations, Liu said that the two SARs are each responsible for preparing their own reports on treaty implementation and answering questions raised by treaty bodies during consideration. Based on this arrangement, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong of China, since the conclusion of our last session, has accepted the consideration by the relevant treaty body its report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "This kind of practice both enriches the experience of the international community in implementing international human rights treaties and demonstrates fully the importance the Chinese government attaches to international human rights treaties," he said. |
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