AI: China has not improved human rights

BEIJING, July 29 (UPI) -- Amnesty International says China hasn't kept its promise to improve its human rights as it prepares to stage next month's Beijing Summer Olympics.

The human rights group in London said Chinese authorities have "betrayed the core values of the Olympics" relating to universal fundamental ethical principles and human dignity.

The report hit out against China's persecution of human rights activists, detention without trial, censorship and the death penalty.

The "Broken Promises" report said that in most of these areas "human rights have continued to deteriorate" since Amnesty International's report issued in April.

"By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the Games seven years ago," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy director.

The agency says it has received reports foreign journalists working from Beijing's Olympics press center are unable to access Amnesty International's Web site amnesty.org. A number of other Web sites also have reportedly been blocked.

Among world leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper plan to stay away from the Games, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend the closing ceremony, the BBC reported.