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Experts: Approval of International Covenant Vital
"I am very glad that China approved the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, " said German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin Wednesday.
"This shows that the human rights undertaking in China has made great progress," Daeubler-Gmelin told Xinhua while attending the Third China-Germany Human Rights Seminar, which concluded today.
She believes that Chinese people will enjoy better economic, social and cultural rights as the National People's Congress (NPC) has approved the Covenant and the approval will play a positive role for approving the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the future.
Experts and officials attending the seminar expressed similar views, noting that the ratification of the covenant is not only an important measure and solemn promise made by the Chinese government, but also a vital contribution to human rights undertaking in the world.
Yu Anguang, member of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, said that China spent merely three years approving the covenant after signing it, while most developed countries took much more time to ratify the covenant.
Yu pointed out that the main content of the covenant is reconciled in China's relevant laws, policies and practices. China has promulgated a number of laws and regulations on protecting the people's economic, social and cultural rights, such as the Labor Law, General Regulation of the Civil Law, Law of Succession and Law of Protection for Minors.
Liu Nanlai, vice-director of the Human Rights Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in view of the large population of China, the implementation of the covenant will not only improve human rights conditions in China, but it is also of vital significance to human rights undertaking all over the world.
"It's a good thing in every way," said Joachim Stuenker, a German congressman, who pointed out that the covenant will play a decisive role in anti-poverty programs.
From the law perspective, ex-president of the German Judges Union Rainer Voss said the ratification has laid a profound legal foundation for the protection of citizen's rights.
The NPC, China's supreme legislature, made a decision to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in February 28 this year.
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