23 April 1999
TEXT: U.S. DISAPPOINTED BY UNCHR FAILURE TO REVIEW CHINA RIGHTS
(Beijing uses "no-action motion" to stop U.S. resolution) (770) Geneva -- China has again this year blocked formal consideration of its human rights record at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) by using a procedural maneuver known as a "no-action motion." The 53-member Commission voted April 23 -- 22 in favor, 17 opposed, and 14 abstentions -- to accept China's "no-action motion," preventing any vote on the resolution on the human rights situation in China presented by the United States. Speaking before the vote, Harold Hongju Koh, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State For Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, urged members of the Commission to reject the no-action motion. "We believe that no nation's record should be exempt from international scrutiny," he said. "Resolutions should be judged on their merits." Koh had earlier said that the United States was committed to introducing a resolution on Chinese human rights practices "as a matter of principle." "Every country's conduct should be subjected to international standards and therefore we are absolutely opposed to no-action motions," Koh told a press briefing April 21. Following the vote, U.S. representatives said the United States was "deeply disappointed" that the Commission was prevented from "addressing an important human rights concern that is well within its jurisdiction." China remains the only nation to have used the no-action motion in the Commission to prevent the human rights body from voting on resolutions concerning itself. Tantamount to a veto, the no-action motion effectively prevented the Commission from discussing the resolution on the human rights situation in China co-sponsored by the United States and Poland. The United States says it sponsored the resolution "as part of our principled, purposeful policy of engagement with China." "Our goal was to focus international attention on the sharp deterioration in the human rights situation in China," Koh said in a statement written with Nancy Rubin, U.S. Ambassador to the UNCHR, released after the vote. "We believe that we have accomplished our goal despite the fact that the Commission chose not to take action on our resolution." The following is the text of the statement released April 23 by the U.S. delegation: (begin text) STATEMENT BY HAROLD HONGJU KOH, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, AND NANCY RUBIN, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNCHR APRIL 23, 1999 U.S. RESPONSE TO DECISION OF UNCHR TO ACCEPT "NO-ACTION" MOTION ON THE U.S. SPONSORED CHINA RESOLUTION The United States is deeply disappointed that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights chose to pass a China-sponsored "no-action motion" on the U.S.-sponsored resolution on human rights in China. We would like to thank those countries that joined us in opposing the no-action motion on the grounds that it would prevent the Commission from addressing an important human rights concern that is well within its jurisdiction. We sponsored the resolution as part of our principled, purposeful policy of engagement with China. Our goal was to focus international attention on the sharp deterioration in the human rights situation in China in the world's preeminent international forum on human rights. We believe that we have accomplished our goal despite the fact that the Commission chose not to take action on our resolution. Since the end of last year, Chinese authorities have initiated a crackdown against organized political opposition. Dozens of political activists have been detained for peaceful political activities, and three leaders of the China Democracy Party have been given harsh sentences in closed trials that clearly violated due process. As noted in our annual human rights report, authorities also have tightened regulations on the press, increased monitoring of the Internet, continued to restrict religious practice, and intensified controls over Tibet and Xinjiang. These developments are a source of deep concern. They constitute a reversal of the comparatively more tolerant attitude toward political expression and association that Chinese authorities had begun to exhibit. The Chinese Government has accepted international human rights obligations by signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In its dialogues with the United States, the European Union, and others, China has stated its intention to fulfill its obligations under the ICCPR and other international human rights instruments. We will continue to urge the Government of China to move quickly to bring its human rights practices into compliance with its obligations under international human rights instruments. A positive first step would be ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Government of China signed in October 1998. (end text)
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