Petition urges NPC to ratify human rights treaty in China
Petition addressed to NPC ahead of annual session calls for adherence to international agreement, which Beijing signed in 1998
More than 120 influential scholars, lawyers and journalists have signed a petition urging the National People's Congress to ratify an international human rights treaty, as part of the leadership's pledge to promote constitutional rights and the rule of law.
The petition, addressed to the NPC Standing Committee ahead of the NPC's annual session beginning next week, calls for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to be ratified "as soon as possible".
"There is still a substantial gap between the situation in China with respect to human rights and rule of law and the requirements of international human rights treaties … but now is the best time for our country to ratify the treaty," the letter said.
There is still a substantial gap between the situation in China with respect to human rights and rule of law and the requirements of international human rights treaties
Signatories include scholars Qin Hui, Yu Jianrong and He Weifang , liberal Communist Party veterans He Fang and Feng Lanrui, and rights lawyers Pu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhiyong .
They said they feared a society that did not value human rights or individual freedoms would plunge into "hatred and violence, division and hostility" if crises erupted.
The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights. China signed the ICCPR in 1998 but has not ratified it.
The covenant commits its parties to respecting civil and political rights, including freedom of speech, religion and assembly and rights to a fair trial.