World Tibet Network News Saturday, March 21, 1998

BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) -- A veteran Chinese dissident on Friday called for the setting up of civilian human rights watchdog, saying China's communist government could not be trusted to guard fundamental freedoms. In a letter to Communist Party leaders and the national legislature, Xu Wenli (pictured) appealed for setting up a non-government organization to oversee Beijing's implementation of two U.N. covenants on human rights. "The ancients said a promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold," Xu wrote in his petition faxed to foreign news agencies on Friday. "Therefore, Chinese democracy and human rights activists are all hoping that the Chinese Communist Party...will follow up on its pretty words with pretty actions," Xu said. Xu was referring to Beijing's pledge last week to sign the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Beijing late last year signed a similar pact on economic, social and cultural rights. Xu said independent watchdog bodies were essential to ensure China's compliance w

ith the accords. The political covenant enshrines the freedomsof assembly, expression, religion and equality before the law, liberties that experts say Beijing is still restricting. "A Chinese human rights association should not become an imperial tool that assists the government in carrying out human rights deceptions," Xu said."Citizens do not believe that an officially appointed semi-official organization can effectively protect the human rights of citizens and stop human rights abuses by the government," he said. Xu's appeal to set up a non-government watchdog is surely doomed.

China's Communist Party does not tolerate political or economic organizations it does not ultimately control, viewing them as a threat to its grip on power. Although it is not clear when China will implement the U.N. accords, human rights experts say Beijing's willingness to sign them is the latest signal it is moving to allay international criticism of its rights record. Beijing has also invited the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to visit, and last November it freed on medical parole dissident Wei Jingsheng (pictured), now in exile in the United States. China has angrily rejected criticism of its human rights record as interference in its internal affairs, and argues that feeding and clothing 1.2 billion people is more important than political rights.(Reuters)

1