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300 Chinese activists sign public call for rights
By HENRY SANDERSON,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 11 minutes ago
BEIJING - Hundreds of Chinese activists issued a new public call for greater freedoms Tuesday ahead of the 60th anniversary of the U.N. convention on human rights, but police detained two of the signatories before it was even issued, advocates said.
The online statement _ called the '08 Charter and signed by a diverse group of more than 300 lawyers, writers, scholars, and artists _ represents an unusual open declaration calling for change in a country where criticizing the ruling Communist Party often brings swift punishment.
The statement proposed 19 measures to improve rights in China, including promoting an independent legal system, calling for freedom of association, and ending the monopoly of one-party rule. It was issued to coincide with Wednesday's 60th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"This charter promotes the same ideas and values that the universal declaration of human rights asserts, such as freedom of the press, freedom of association, independent justice, freedom of religion and environmental protection," said lawyer Mo Shaoping, who signed the statement.
"It has nothing that goes against China's constitution," he said.
However, one activist, Zhang Zhuhua, said police showed up at his house Monday night and detained him for questioning, holding him for 12 hours before being releasing Tuesday morning.
"They said I was involved in drafting the '08 Charter' and warned me not to do it anymore. They searched my home and took my computer, books and bank cards," Zhang said.
Also detained Monday was Liu Xiaobo, an outspoken writer and political critic who was jailed for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang said.
It was unclear Tuesday if Liu had also been released. His cell phone was turned off, and his home number rang busy.
Chinese police did not respond to questions made by phone and fax on the detentions.
Liu, 53, is a former Beijing Normal University professor who spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests, which ended when the government called in the military _ killing hundreds, perhaps thousands.
He is still unable to publish inside China, and he has been frequently called in by police for questioning on topics ranging from unrest in Tibet to the government response to May's devastating earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
China's government itself marked the anniversary of the rights declaration Tuesday with Wang Chen, the director of the State Council Information Office, giving a lengthy interview carried by official Xinhua News Agency.
Wang said China has seen great improvements in human rights over 30 years of social reform, but he acknowledged there are "still many problems and difficulties in the development of human rights."
He said such problems include social inequalities, weaknesses in the country's political structure and a lack of awareness by all levels of government.
"There are quite a few things less than satisfactory in the human rights conditions in the country," he said.
However, Wang also chided critics of China's human rights, saying in particular that the U.S. State Department's criticism of China's human rights record was "unfounded."
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