Amnesty International attacks China on human rights

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Amnesty International on Tuesday released a new report that alleges China has been intensifying its crackdown on activists inside the country in recent years.

During a news conference in Hong Kong the group said that in the last year, thousands of petitioners, reformists and others were arrested during a government campaign to “clean up” Beijing before the Games that begin Aug. 8.

Amnesty International alleges that many of the citizens who are being arrested have been sentenced to manual labor without a court trial.

“By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the games seven years ago,” Roseann Rife, a deputy director in Asia for the London-based group, said during the news conference. “The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games.”

The Associated Press quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao as saying that people ‘who know China will not agree with this report.”

“We hope Amnesty can take off the tinted glasses it has worn for many years and see China in an objective way,” Liu said during a regularly scheduled news conference.

The group also faulted the International Olympic Committee for its “reluctance” to push China publicly on its human rights record. This past weekend, IOC President Jacques Rogge maintained during a European newspaper interview that ‘the IOC is not authorized and has no means to interfere in sovereign matters,’ Rogge said.

Amnesty International also alleged in a separate report that its website is being blocked inside China.

-- Greg Johnson