China tells United Nations it protects human rights

By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - China on Monday stoutly defended its human rights record, rejecting suggestions from Western countries that it uses torture and jails dissidents and insisting its policies are guided by the rule of law.

Backed by a range of Asian and African nations, it told the U.N. Human Rights Council that allegations it oppressed ethnic groups in Tibet and other parts of the country were political propaganda aimed at denigrating China's achievements.

"Ours is a state where the rule of law prevails," a top official of China's Supreme Court told the 47-nation Council, while the chief Beijing delegate said: "China is fully committed to the promotion and protection of human rights."

Officials from various government ministries took the podium to declare that the Chinese people enjoy free speech and a free press, that all ethnic minorities enjoy full rights, and that the country lives in peace and harmony.

They denied reports that the ruling Communist party runs "black jails" -- secret prisons where, Chinese dissidents say, it tortures opponents -- that any restrictions are placed on religious groups, or that China allows child labour.

The discussion came in a newly launched process called the "Universal Periodic Review", or UPR, under which all members of the United Nations are expected to submit themselves every four years to scrutiny of their human rights record.

China has avoided having its overall rights practices discussed in any detail in major U.N. bodies for over a decade, and its strong reaction clearly showed deep sensitivity on the the issues involved, observers said.