London  - Amnesty International has appealed to the Chinese leadership to take further steps on human rights before next month' Olympic Games while also stressing that it recognized the efforts already made by Beijing to address "longstanding human rights concerns."

In an open letter Tuesday to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Amnesty's secretary-general Irene Khan urged China to take "this historic opportunity to act" on five concrete steps to fulfil pledges made in its Olympics bid.

They included the demand for the release of all prisoners of conscience, the publication of "full national statistics" on the death penalty, the introduction of a moratorium on executions and a full government account "for all those killed or detained" during the riots in Tibet in March.

"Amnesty International recognizes the Chinese government's efforts to address some longstanding human rights concerns," said Khan. "I am particularly encouraged by the apparent progress made in reducing the use of the death penalty through the Supreme Peoples Court review process," said Khan's letter.

Amnesty also appreciated recent statements by a number of Chinese officials that China was following the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty," she said.

The human rights group was also welcoming the news that 1,157 people held in connection with the protests in Tibet had been released.

The official commitment to "full media freedom" and regulations for foreign journalists represented another step towards realizing greater freedom of expression for journalists, said Khan.

However, these developments notwithstanding, the preparations for the Olympics had "actually had a negative impact in some areas of human rights."

"Official persecution of human rights activists continues, particularly those making connections between ongoing human rights violations and China's hosting of the Olympics," said Khan.

The "clean-up" of Beijing through the extended use of Re-education Through Labour programmes was a "worrying development," particularly as it ignored calls for a reform of this "arbitrary system of detention."

"Amnesty International calls on you to grasp the opportunity of the Olympic Games to implement" the recommendations before the Games begin," said Khan.

"I believe that delivering on these five points will go a long way towards the Games being remembered not only for positive achievements on the sports field but in the field of human rights as well." (dpa)