Media Release: China
March 25, 2013
The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) supports the call of Chinese
citizens urging the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in
China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in
order to protect and promote freedom of the press.
China
signed the ICCPR fourteen years ago, but has still not ratified the Covenant.
We
urge the Central Committee to ratify the ICCPR, a key international human
rights treaty, which together
with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International
Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), are considered the
International Bill of Human Rights.
The ICCPR will obligate China
to protect and preserve basic human rights such as the right to life and to
human dignity, equality before the law, freedom of speech, assembly and
association, religious freedom and privacy and freedom from torture, among
others.
More
than eight hundred Chinese from all walks of life, living locally and internationally,
have signed the joint statement.
“China
has a responsibility to uphold and ratify the ICCPR, especially as one of five
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council” IFJ Asia-Pacific
Office said. Ratification of the ICCPR is one of the most basic requirements to
display a commitment to protecting human rights.
We
urge Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress in China, and all members of the Committee to hear the voices demanding
ratification of the ICCPR as soon as possible.
For
further information contact IFJ
Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131
countries
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