China does not deseve to be on the new UN Human Rights Commission.
China has made great strides forward in the last 20 years. But it still imprisons journalists, political and religious dissidents, and anyone who publicly (or privately) calls for more open and honest government. It opposes democracy, stifles the press, and ruthlessly punishes those who fight for change.
If we can believe some of the most extreme reports, China executes some 10,000 prisoners every year (it admits 3,400, still the most in the world), and sometimes sells prisoners’ organs on the black market. There is near universal agreement that China engages in torture, most notoriously against members of Falun Gong.
Certain actions can be taken that will encourage China to refrain from these abuses, such as awarding Beijing the Olympics (bringing thousands of reporters to cover the event and China itself) and investing in technology (bringing the democratizing effects of mobile communications to the Chinese people), but putting China on the UN Human Rights Commission is not one of these. It gives the impression that China is a champion of human rights when it is in fact a denier of them.
N.B.: Some of these links will not be accessible in China without a proxy.
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