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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