The Chinese government’s use of illegal enforced disappearances to silence dissenters was just one of several ominous setbacks to human rights protections in 2011, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2012, released today.
The 676-page report assesses progress on human rights in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined. In its chapter on China, Human Rights Watch outlines the threat posed by a provision in China’s draft criminal procedure law to effectively legalize such disappearances, which remain a serious crime in international law.
Triggered by the leadership’s nervousness over the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and by the initial phase of the leadership transition in China, these developments suggest a more hard-line response as the public increasingly demands the rule of law and respect for the freedoms of association, belief, and expression.
“The Chinese government’s sharp crackdown on critics – while trying to cover abuses with a fig leaf of legality – is an alarming sign of what the next year could be like for Chinese citizens, government critics, and human rights defenders,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s time for other governments to stipulate to Beijing that a worsening in China’s human rights environment in 2012 will have a direct impact on bilateral ties.”
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