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Case Study: CHINA'S ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION LAWS
- In 1998 China signed (but has not ratified) the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- The government has continued to target political dissidents,
anti-corruption campaigners, labour and human rights activists
and members of unofficial religious groups for administrative
detention - imprisonment without charge or trial.
- 'Re-education through labour' - a form of administrative detention
commonly used against critics of the political system - is imposed
by state officials, not by the justice system.
Analysis
The maintenance of social order and stability in a large and complex
society remains the key concern for the government in Beijing. But
human rights campaigners claim that too often the rights of individuals
suffer and the exercise of state power becomes arbitrary.
In 1998, the China Democracy Party attempted to
register as the first legal opposition party since the founding
of the People's Republic in 1949. Leading members were immediately
rounded up, with the most severe sentences handed down to pro-democracy
campaigners, such as Xu Wenli and Qin Yongmin, who had been active
since the late 1970s.
Religious groups have also been the focus of repression.
China prohibits people from practising religious beliefs outside
state-sanctioned churches, temples and mosques.
China's human rights record poses a dilemma for
western governments as the country has made advances in the rights
of women and children, particularly in education and employment.
Rather than isolate such an important power (and potential market),
many western governments have chosen to embark on a strategy of
"critical engagement" with China.
For its part, China has been willing to enter into
a dialogue on critical human rights issues although huge differences
remain on the issue of arbitrary arrest and detention.
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