Radio France Internationale: 2003 Amnesty International Human Rights Report Claims that Human Rights in China have Become Worse

On the morning of May 28th, RFI [Radio France Internationale] broadcast the following report in Mandarin to Mainland China and an area of Paris that is home to many Chinese people.

Amnesty International today issued their “Global Human Rights Situation Report 2003”. In the section on China, it was reported that China’s human rights situation in some areas has got worse. Tens of thousands of people in China continue to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or belief.

Based on the Amnesty International Report, torture and ill-treatment remained widespread and appear to have increased as a result of the “strike-hard” campaign.

Amnesty International also pointed out that the Chinese authorities have extended the crackdown to people that they have accused of being “terrorists” and “religious extremists” in Xinjiang, as well as members of Falun Gong. Further regulations have been introduced to control Internet access. Internet users may also be sentenced to jail terms as a result of commenting on sensitive topics.