Olympics: human rights concerns

Human rights abuses have got worse in China in the run-up to the Olympic games, the campaign group Amnesty International says. The respected organisation's new report claims that as China prepares for the games, activists have been imprisoned, people made homeless, journalists locked up, websites blocked and there has been increasing use of forced labour camps and beatings in prison.

Amnesty is asking world leaders due to attend the games, which open in Beijing in 10 days, to speak out against the alleged abuses. The Chinese government has given no official comment on the report, but the China Society for Human Rights Studies, which is linked to the Party, issued a statement saying the situation was getting "better and better".

Roseann Rife of Amnesty said: ""We've seen a deterioration in human rights because of the Olympics. Specifically we've seen crackdowns on domestic human rights activists, media censorship and increased use of re-education through labour as a means to clean up Beijing and surrounding areas."