China is still demonising Dalai Lama: US

This report provides encyclopedic detail on human rights conditions in over 190 countries for 2010.

Released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,the report said in China,the negative trend in key areas of human rights continued.

The government stepped up restrictions on lawyers,activists,bloggers and journalists; tightened controls on civil society; and increased attempts to limit freedom of speech and control the press,the Internet,and Internet access in 2010,the report alleged.

Authorities also increased the use of extralegal measures,including forced disappearances,strict house arrest,arbitrary detention in “black jails,and other forms of soft detention” to silence independent voices and punish activists and their families,it said.

Legal activist Chen Guangcheng,along with his wife and child,remained under house arrest,as did other released political prisoners.

Public interest lawyers,who operated within China’s legal framework,were disbarred,beaten,or “disappeared” for taking on the defense of clients and issues deemed sensitive by the government,it said.

“Bloggers and Web masters have been arrested and charged with subverting state power for re-tweeting a post or operating a Web site where others posted comments. The government also continued its severe cultural and religious repression of ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas,” the report said.

In a special section on Tibet,the report said there was severe repression of freedoms of speech,religion,association,and movement.

The intensified controls applied following the March 2008 riots and unrest in Tibetan areas eased somewhat after the second anniversary of the unrest and its suppression.

“Authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses,including extrajudicial killings,torture,arbitrary arrests,extrajudicial detention,and house arrest. The preservation and development of Tibet’s unique religious,cultural,and linguistic heritage remained a concern,” it said.

The fallout from the March 2008 protests continued to affect the human rights situation in Tibetan regions,the report said,adding that a number of Tibetans,especially monks,remained incarcerated for their role in the 2008 protests and riots.

People’s Armed Police (PAP) presence remained at historically high levels in many communities across the Tibetan Plateau.

“In March all major monasteries in Lhasa were guarded by security forces. On March 14,many shops in the city closed to mark the anniversary of the demonstrations and the police crackdown. Students in many areas protested; in southern Gansu Province,students reportedly protested for freedom,human rights,and in support of the Dalai Lama,” the report said.

The State Department alleged that the security regime employed torture and degrading treatment in dealing with some detainees and prisoners.

Tibetans repatriated from Nepal reportedly suffered torture,including electric shocks,exposure to cold,and severe beatings,and were forced to perform heavy physical labor. Prisoners were subjected routinely to “political investigation” sessions and were punished if deemed insufficiently loyal to the state,it said.

Tibetans who spoke to foreign reporters,attempted to relay information to foreigners outside the country,or passed information regarding the 2008 protests were subject to harassment or detention. During 2009,59 individuals were convicted for “creating and spreading rumours” after the 2008 unrest,it said.