Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

Committee activities (inquiries and reports)

Australia ’s Human Rights Dialogue Process

Appendix F – EU Council’s Human Rights Dialogue Benchmarks for the EU-China Dialogue

In January 2001, the Council made public the benchmarks on the basis of which the dialogue should be assessed:

1. Ratification and implementation of the two covenants
2. Cooperation with HR mechanisms (visit by the rapporteur on torture, invitation to other rapporteurs, follow-up recommendations from conventional mechanisms and rapporteurs, implementation of the agreement with the Office of the High Commissioner for HR)
3. Compliance with ECOSOC guarantees for the protection of those sentenced to death and provision of statistics on use of the death penalty
4. Reform of administrative detention, introduction of judicial supervision of procedures respect for the right to a fair trial and the right of the defence
5. Respect for fundamental rights of all prisoners, progress on access to prisoners and constructive response to individual cases raised by the EU
6. Freedom of religion and belief, both public and private
7. Respect for the right to organise
8. Respect for cultural rights and religious freedoms in Tibet and Xinjiang, taking account of the recommendations of the UN treaty bodies, halt ‘patriotic education’ campaign in Tibet, access for an independent delegation to the young Panchen Lama who has been recognized by the Dalai Lama.