Contact: Sharon Singh, [email protected], 202-675-8579, @AIUSAmedia
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Frank Jannuzi, deputy executive director for Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama and China President Xi Jinping meeting on June 7 and 8, 2013 in Southern California.Amnesty International USA sent a letter to President Obama outlining key human rights issues that should be discussed at this bilateral.
"President Obama needs to ensure that human rights issues are not left on the dialogue cutting floor in his meetings with President Xi later this week. In fact, human rights issues should be at the core of any 'new type of great power relationship' discussed by the two leaders."
"The Chinese government needs to make progress across the board – ending the harassment, imprisonment and detention of human rights defenders and their families; respecting the economic, social, cultural and religious rights of ethnic minorities and ending the practice of administrative detention of political prisoners without a fair trial."
"The 'rebalancing' that the Obama administration says it wants to accomplish in East Asia should begin by making sure that national security and economic issues do not overshadow the human rights violations that are occurring in China every day."
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.