Rights groups want to press China on media restrictions ahead of 2008 Summer Olympics

BEIJING – Rights groups have called on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the International Olympic Committee to confront the organizers of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games over China’s media restrictions and human rights record.\nNew York-based Human Rights Watch said Bloomberg, who is visiting China this week, is obligated to express concern about media freedoms because of his background as founder of the global financial news service that bears his name.\n“Bloomberg should explain to the Chinese government how important media freedom is to China’s social, economic and political development,” the group said in a statement Saturday.\nBloomberg is scheduled to attend a series of meetings with government officials and business leaders in Beijing and Shanghai.\nSeparately, London-based Amnesty International said the IOC must push Beijing organizers at its Executive Board meeting this week in Switzerland for progress on reducing use of the death penalty and detentions of citizens without trial, allowing greater freedom of expression and ending harassment of human rights activists.\nWhile reforms are primarily the government’s responsibility, the IOC “can still make a significant contribution by using its influence to bring about positive change in line with the Olympics Charter,” the group said.\nChina is considered the leading jailer of journalists, with at least 29 behind bars, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy group. Most independent reporting and criticism of the ruling Communist Party is blocked, and monitors erase critical commentary on the Internet and frequently jail cyber-dissidents. Scores of Web sites carrying news and opinion are blocked within the country.\nAuthorities have relaxed rules for foreign media ahead of the Aug. 15 opening of the Olympic Games, promising unrestricted access, visa exemptions, tax waivers for equipment and other benefits. However, harassment and occasional detentions continue, according to monitoring groups and foreign journalists.\nChina is believed to execute more people for crimes each year than all other nations combined and regularly sentences petty criminals and government critics to two or more years in prison camps without trial. Activists highlighting corruption and the denial of civil, religious, medical and labor rights are frequently threatened and detained.\nChina has repeatedly claimed it upholds civil rights in conformity with its constitution, while avoiding discussion of specific cases.