CHINA: China's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual [group] has "retarded" its record on human rights, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights commissioner , Mrs Mary Robinson, said yesterday.
Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to China during which she met the President, Mr Jiang Zemin, and other government figures, Mrs Robinson said some "positive developments" had been made in co-operation over rights issues. However she issued a stark warning that there was still a long way to go. In particular, she said,

But some rights had actually been eroded further during Beijing's campaign against the Falun Gong spiritual movement. , which she said had been accompanied by "sharp" curtailments of liberties.
Mrs Robinson aid she had raised the cases of several prisoners