Local Statement by the Delegation of the European Union on International Human Rights Day
11.12.2017
On 10 December the international community marks the anniversary of the
proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration,
which all UN members including China have agreed to uphold, states that each
and every one of us has the right to freedom of thought, freedom of religion
and belief, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and
association. Here in Beijing, each of us continues to witness first-hand China's
success in improving the lives of its citizens. We witness, for example, the
significant improvements in the Chinese people's standard of living and in access
to social services such as health and education. We also witness improvements
in the sphere of some civil rights, such as a continuing effort to combat and
prevent domestic violence. We welcome the commitment by the Chinese authorities
to ensure legal representation for greater numbers of criminal defendants, and
we hope that the new system that will replace the shuanggui system will ensure
basic rights for all civil servants, including the right to legal
representation.
However, we remain extremely concerned about China's ongoing denial to
its citizens of other fundamental human rights under the Declaration. During
the past year, we have been deeply troubled by the deterioration of the
situation with respect to freedom of information and freedom of expression and
association, including with respect to online activity. .The arrest, detention
and conviction of human rights defenders, lawyers and other citizens exercising
fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion and belief, including in Xinjiang
and Tibet, have continued. We regret the death in detention of 2010 Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, and are also concerned about the recent conviction
of human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong and the detention of human rights
defenders Ilham Tohti, Wang Quanzhang, Wu Gan, Tashi Wangchuk, Li Yuhan and
Huang Qi, each of whom was detained in connection with their promotion of
fundamental human rights. We call for China to immediately end the detention
and harassment of these and other Chinese citizens and human rights defenders
and their family members. All criminal defendants should have access to lawyers
of their own choosing and to their family members, and should not be subjected
to forced and public confessions, torture or other mistreatment. While
recognising the progress made in registering foreign NGOs during 2017, we also
call on China to make additional efforts to allow foreign and domestic NGOs to
register and operate freely and effectively. Finally, we continue to be
concerned about the lack of effective implementation of China's Criminal
Procedure Law, as well as the adoption of laws which are incompatible with
China's other obligations and international commitments.
All of us know from first-hand experience the difficult and never-ending
work of promoting and protecting the full spectrum of human rights. The Chinese
authorities have made commitments to promote law-based governance and the
creation of a modern and prosperous society. The respect and promotion of the
full range of human rights is not only consistent with these aims, but in our
view necessary for their full achievement. In the coming year, a core part of
our engagement will include working with China to promote human rights under
the Universal Declaration.
