U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Congressional committee that oversees human rights, today reiterated his "deep disappointment" over the UN General Assembly’s creation of a "weak and deeply flawed" Human Rights panel and praised US Ambassador John Bolton for standing on principle to defend the victims of human rights abuses around the world. 

    "Yesterday, the UN missed an opportunity to enact serious reform that would improve human rights around the world and failed," said Smith, who noted that even a New York Times editorial referred to the proposal as ‘an ugly sham.’ "The hypocrisy and gross ineffectiveness that was the hallmark of the former Commission simply cannot be permitted to continue."

    Smith pointed out the sad irony of China, one of the world’s most egregious human rights violators, welcoming the creation of the new UN Human Rights Council. China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN announced China’s strong support for the new Council and declared that it "marks a historic moment" that would strengthen the UN role in the field of human rights. 

    "Oh really?" asked Smith. "Just as it did under the old Human Rights Commission, China fully expects to evade serious and sustained scrutiny on its horrific human rights record by the new Council." 

    According to the State Department 2005 Country Report on Human Rights in China:

• Torture in China remains widespread.
• China’s birth planning policies and population control methods (including forced abortion) retained harshly coercive elements in law and practice.
• Chinese government and security forces increased their harassment, detention and imprisonment of those perceived to be a threat to government authority.
• The government considers the number of death sentences to be a state secret, but foreign experts estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 persons are executed each year.
• 20 public protesters were killed last year during one demonstration, and the state-run media reported that in general 460 persons were killed through abuse or dereliction of duty.
• The country's Internet control system reportedly employed between 30 thousand and 50 thousand persons and was allegedly the largest in the world. According to a 2002 Harvard University report, the government blocked at least 19 thousand sites during a six-month period and may have blocked as many as 50 thousand.
• Several individuals were jailed for their Internet writing during the year. Perhaps most notable was the 10-year sentence meted out to Hunan Province journalist Shi Tao in April for disclosing state secrets.

    "Despite the hope that robust trade with China would result in a modicum of respect for basic human rights and fundamental liberties, the fact is that the dictatorship in China oppresses, tortures, and mistreats tens of millions of its own citizens," Smith said. "Repression in the PRC is getting worse despite prior commitments to improve their horrific human rights record."

    One of the most egregious human rights abuses that continues to receive grossly insufficient global attention is the one-child per family policy enforced in China since 1979, which says that if a woman becomes pregnant with a second child – despite the government’s best efforts to assure that this does not happen – then the parent must pay a heavy penalty or unborn child must be aborted. Heavy fines are imposed upon couples who have an "unapproved" child. These fines can total ten times a person’s annual salary, forcing them to abort the baby.

• The Chinese government abuses the rights of women in particular by going to appalling lengths to enforce its one-child limit. They conduct periodic pregnancy tests on married women, requiring unspecified "follow-up" services and fining them for refusing.
• According to a recent State Department Human Rights report, approximately 500 women in China commit suicide each day – more than five times the global rate.
• The 2005 Reports state that in just one province in China, 130,000 people were detained in order to force submission to abortion or sterilization procedures upon them or their relatives.
• Several late-term abortions were documented, and at least 7,000 people were forcibly sterilized.
• Local officials profited personally from the fees charged for attendance at the "population schools."
• One legal activist was placed under house arrest for exposing these abuses.
• Other instances of forced sterilizations and abortions, committed in pursuance of these harsh birth limitation policies, were again documented.
• The combined effect of the birth limitation policies and the traditional preference for male children resulted in the disproportionate abortion of female fetuses at a rate of 116.9 to 100 overall, and a shocking 151.9 to 100 for second pregnancies.

    As a direct result of these ongoing crimes against humanity, China today is missing millions of girls who were murdered in the womb simply because of their sex. A couple of years ago, the State Department suggested that as many as 100 million girls are missing – a direct consequence of the government’s one-child policy. This is a toned-down way of saying that girls who should be alive today and are not continue to be murdered. 

    "Ambassador Bolton’s vote clearly reflected the collective voice of the severely oppressed by brutal regimes and dictators," said Smith, who has been a leading advocate for global human rights since being elected to Congress in 1980. "Yesterday’s vote was business as usual at the UN and the victims of abuse deserve better."