The Role of Foreign Human Rights Organizations in China

The East-West Center has organized a public talk that will discuss government self-censorship and examine the role of foreign human rights organizations inside China.

Google's decision to leave China on the ground that complying with government orders to censor search results violates the company's principles raises an interesting question. Should international human rights organizations also consider leaving? After all, they too practice self-censorship to remain in favor with the government. If they left would Chinese people suffer?

This talk will examine the role of foreign human rights organizations in China exploring the various constraints foreign organizations must live with to operate in China.Foreign organizations do not invite known activists to conferences and they avoid sensitive legal topics such as land rights. Despite these restraints these organizations offer the Chinese a tangible benefit. In a country controlled by a government that is deeply hostile to citizens asserting themselves, foreign organizations have increased the ability of ordinary Chinese to correct injustices in the fields of environment, discrimination, and workers rights.

Robert Precht established the Beijing office of the Public Interest Law Institute in 2008 and is serving as director of a State Department funded program to promote public interest law in China. Before working in Asia, Precht was an assistant dean at the University of Michigan Law School and a public defender in New York City. He has taught at two law schools and is the author of Defending Mohammad: Justice on Trial (Cornell University Press 2003). Precht earned his B.A. from Northwestern University (1976) and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1980).