Agenda item

To receive a presentation from representatives of Amnesty International regarding the Council’s Sister City relationship with Heifi in China, with particular reference to human rights issues in that area of China.

            The Chairman reminded the Members that during July he had advised them that he had received a request from Amnesty International to make a presentation to the August meeting of the Committee regarding the Council’s Sister City relationship with Hefei, with particular reference to human rights issues in that area of China.  He advised the Committee that, since no Member had objected to the presentation being made, representatives of Amnesty International were in attendance.  The Committee agreed that the deputation be received and, accordingly, Ms. Patricia Campbell, Campaigner, and Mr. Bernard O’Hare, China Country Specialist, were admitted to the meeting and welcomed by the Chairman.

            Ms. Campbell thanked the Committee for the opportunity to address it.  She advised the Committee that human rights in China was a priority issue for Amnesty International.

            Mr. O’Hare indicated that the organisation neither wished to discourage trade with Hefei nor did it want Belfast to sever its links with that city.  However, it would like the Council to use its influence to promote the issue of human rights in China through its dealings with officials in Hefei.  He informed the Members that in China people were tortured, the death penalty was applied, dissidents and religious activists were imprisoned, publications and the internet were censored and trade unions were banned.  In addition, the One Child Policy was enforced in a coercive manner through forced sterilisations and abortions and Christians were prosecuted for printing bibles and holding church services in their homes.  He indicated that in China more people were executed each year than in the rest of the world combined and that a total of sixty-eight different crimes, including non-violent ones, carried the death penalty.  For example, in Hefei during 1996 at least eighteen people had been executed and in 2000 six persons are known to have been executed for crimes which had included theft and damaging the electricity supply. 

            He indicated that, with its Sister City relationship, the Council was in a unique position to provide support and to encourage progress in the field of human rights in Hefei.  Mr. O’Hare informed the Members that, contrary to popular belief, local officials in China had considerable power as the country was not controlled from Beijing.  He stated that China did listen to organisations such as Belfast City Council.  Therefore, since local officials could influence how policy was put into practice, if the Council were to raise human rights issues with officials in Hefei, human rights in that city might well improve.

            Mr. O’Hare pointed out that, with the Olympic Games being held in China, it was important that Belfast used this opportunity to support the Hefei authorities to improve human rights in that city and act as a flagship for change in China.  He concluded his presentation by requesting that the Council:

(i)      promote the integration of human rights dialogue and education into its plans for the Council’s relationship with Hefei;

(ii)     put human rights on the agenda during all future meetings with the Hefei civic leadership;

(iii)    raise human rights issues with all official visitors from Hefei to Belfast; and

(iv)    ensure that Council representatives raised human rights concerns during all official visits to Hefei.

            He indicated that by undertaking these actions the Council would help ensure that the legacy of the 2008 Olympic Games would mean improved human rights for the people of Hefei and the rest of China.  He stated that Amnesty International had issued a press release earlier in the day which had called on the Council to adopt these four points.

            The representatives from Amnesty International then answered various questions which were put to them by the Members.  During this discussion, the representatives from the organisation indicated that they would be prepared to provide material to the Council regarding human rights issues in the Hefei region.  The deputation then withdrew from the meeting. 

            During discussion in the matter, several Members indicated that the four points which Amnesty International had requested that the Council adopt in its dealings with Hefei were reasonable.  The view was expressed also that they should be applied not only to the Council’s dealings with Hefei but to the other cities with which the Council had a Sister City relationship.  Other Members were of the opinion that, by issuing a press release, Amnesty International had placed the Committee in an invidious position and that it would have been preferable to have received a report next month which would provide information on how the four points could be embodied into the relationship with Hefei, whether or not by so doing the relationship with Hefei would be damaged and how Belfast businesses had benefited from the existing relationship with Hefei.  This would provide the Committee with an opportunity to consider the points raised by Amnesty International and make a decision on an informed basis.

            After further discussion, it was

Moved by Councillor P. Maskey,

Seconded by Councillor Attwood,

      That the Committee agrees to:

(i)      promote the integration of human rights dialogue and education into the Council’s relationship with Hefei;

(ii)     put human rights on the agenda during all future meetings with the Hefei civic leadership;

(iii)    raise human rights issues with all official visitors from Hefei to Belfast; and

(iv)    ensure that Council representatives raise human rights concerns during all official visits to Hefei.

            On a vote by show of hands twelve Members voted in favour of the proposal and none against and it was accordingly declared carried.