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Rights under growing threat in China: analysts

Top China dissident faces subversion charge: lawyer
Beijing (AFP) Dec 9, 2009 - Chinese police have recommended prosecutors formally charge top dissident Liu Xiaobo with inciting subversion, his lawyer told AFP on Wednesday, as Liu marked a year in detention without an indictment. Attorney Shang Baojun said Beijing police had passed the case to prosecutors after 12 months of legal limbo for Liu, who was detained on December 8, 2008 after co-authoring Charter 08, a bold manifesto urging political reform. "The public security organs feel the procuratorate should charge him and have recommended that they do so," Shang said after seeing a copy of the recommendation. Shang said the recommended charge was "inciting subversion of state power". The charge is routinely brought against those who voice opposition to the ruling Communist Party.

"It is two-fold. One part relates to Charter 08 while the other relates to articles of his posted on the Internet after 2005," Shang said. Liu is a writer and former university professor who was jailed for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests. He has spent much of the time since then either in prison or under various forms of house arrest or tight monitoring, but has nevertheless remained a thorn in Beijing's side with his writings calling for democratic pluralism. Charter 08 is a petition first circulated online last year that calls for human rights protection and the reform of China's one-party communist system. It has been signed by more than 10,000 people, including leading intellectuals, writers and dissidents, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a network of activists.

The transfer of Liu's case to the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate means it is likely to soon move forward, said Shang. He said formal action by prosecutors typically comes within a month after a case is transferred. "This is an important step in the process," he said. Since Liu's arrest, Western governments, rights groups, scholars and a group of Nobel Prize winners have called for his release. His wife, Liu Xia, and a range of rights groups last week renewed those calls as the anniversary of his detention approached. Liu Xia could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) Dec 9, 2009
 Human rights are increasingly under threat in China, according to a British firm which analyses dangers for business worldwide, while also describing risks in Russia, Nigeria and India as extreme.

While Afghanistan and Somalia are the worst countries in the world for rights, China has dropped five places in a global ranking and is notably poor on arbitrary arrest, freedom of speech and minority rights.

The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2010 by analysts Maplecroft also places Pakistan and Iraq among the worst offenders, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Myanmar, Sudan, Colombia and Zimbabwe.

The rankings are published to mark International Human Rights Day on Thursday.

"The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are predicted to drive the world's economy over the coming years," said Alyson Warhurst, executive chair of Maplecroft and a professor at Britain's Warwick Business School.

"But, the results of this research suggest that economic growth is not translating into progress on human rights. Organisations working in those countries have a number of risks to navigate," she added.

Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces have been fighting Taliban insurgents since 2001, is considered the worst place for kidnapping, child soldiers, disappearances, torture, unlawful killings or internal displacement.

Iraq, which has also seen a surge in violence since the US-led invasion in March 2003, is in second place, while Somalia, mired in civil conflict since 1991, and Pakistan, fighting an Islamist insurgency, are also in the top ten.

China is listed as the 12th most risky country overall for human rights, but the analysts rate the emerging economic giant as the worst for labour rights and protection.

In an assessment of child labour, forced labour and violations of freedom of association, discrimination and working conditions, China has the most risk, followed by Myanmar and Pakistan. Emerging economy India is placed sixth.

Iran, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces this week, is in joint place with Somalia as the riskiest places for civil and political rights, which include freedom of speech and from arbitrary arrest.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, China, Syria, DR Congo and Pakistan complete the top 10.

Meanwhile indigenous people are most at risk in parts of Asia and Latin and Central America, with India topping the rankings followed by Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia, Brazil, DR Congo, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico and Myanmar.

On a positive note, the tiny landlocked state of San Marino in southern Europe is named the best place for human rights, followed by Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Maplecroft has assessed 196 countries for the risks posed to businesses of complicity in human rights violations, putting Russia in 18th place, the United States in 134th and Britain in 155th.

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