This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7878168.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
China to defend record in Geneva China submits rights record to UN
(about 16 hours later)
China is to make its first report to the UN human rights council in Geneva on Monday. China has submitted its first report on its human rights record for review by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Under the new council system all UN member states must report at regular interviews; a three-nation panel will then make recommendations. The document focuses on improvements brought about by economic development, but also admits that China faces serious challenges.
Human rights groups say it is essential that China's human rights record comes under rigorous scrutiny. The report will be reviewed by a three-country panel, which will then make recommendations by Wednesday.
They say that a failure to address alleged violations will discredit the UN human rights council. Analysts say the process puts China's frequently-criticised rights record under unprecedented scrutiny.
China has apparently prepared a careful report to the UN human rights council, which focuses on the improvements in human rights brought by economic development. The council - which replaced the discredited UN Human Rights Commission - has no enforcement powers, but does have considerable moral authority.
But China's human rights record has been criticised for years. Rigorous scrutiny?
Human rights groups claim that today, 20 years after the crack down on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government continues to persecute political dissenters, and to deny press freedom. China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Li Baodong, defended his country's rights record to the council.
The human rights council cannot order China to make changes - it has no enforcement powers. "China is the world's largest developing country. We are fully aware of our difficulties and challenges in the field of human rights," he said.
But it is the world's top human rights body, and as such has moral authority. FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml">More from BBC World Service
Or, it will have that authority, human rights groups say, if the reviewing panel makes recommendations which seriously address China's human rights record. He said there was still a sizeable number of people on low incomes and an imbalance between those in the countryside and those in the towns.
If that doesn't happen, they warn, the council, already struggling to hang on to credibility, will have very little authority at all. "Medical and health-care services and the social security system still fall short of our people's needs," he said.
Under questioning from some of the European delegates in the council, he defended China's use of the death penalty.
And he hit back at a number of Western countries, including Australia, that raised the alleged repression of Tibetans and Uighurs.
"We would categorically reject this attempt to politicise the issue," he said.
Some human rights activists were angered by the presentation, saying China had failed to address such key concerns as persecution on religious and ethnic grounds and press censorship.
But Nigeria's envoy to the UN in Geneva, Martin Uhomoibhi, who holds the council's rotating presidency, spoke positively of China's efforts.
"We are impressed by the efforts [China] has made to take this country out of slums and poverty," he told the BBC, adding that China had invited UN officials to assess the situation for themselves.
Delegates from Nigeria, India and Canada will now review China's report, and are set to make recommendations to China by Wednesday.
All UN member states are expected to report at regular intervals on their human rights record under the newly-launched UPR process.
But analysts say that China's report has been especially eagerly awaited.
Human rights groups say it is essential that China's rights record comes under rigorous scrutiny.
They say that a failure to address alleged violations will discredit the UN Human Rights Council.
China's human rights record has been criticised for years.
Human rights groups claim that today, 20 years after the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government continues to persecute political dissenters, and to deny press freedom.