The human rights situation in China has worsened in the run-up to the country hosting this year's Olympic Games, a report has warned.

According to Amnesty International, the Chinese authorities have "broken their promise to improve the country's human rights situation" and "betrayed the core values of the Olympics".

"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, Asia-Pacific deputy director at Amnesty International at a press conference in Hong Kong.

"The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games. They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow foreign and national journalists to report freely and make further progress towards the elimination of the death penalty."

Amnesty International's report, titled 'The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises', evaluates the performance of the Chinese authorities in four areas related to the core values of the Olympics: persecution of human rights activists, detention without trial, censorship and the death penalty.

Roseann Rife, Amnesty International: "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."

The document concludes that in most of these areas human rights have continued to deteriorate in the run-up to the Olympics.

"In preparation for the Games, the Chinese authorities have locked up, put under house arrest, and forcibly removed individuals they perceive may threaten the image of 'stability' and 'harmony' they want to present to the world," the report claimed.

Amnesty International believes that local activists and journalists working on human rights issues in China are at particular risk of abuse during the Games.

"Human rights activist and writer Hu Jia continues to serve his sentence for 'inciting subversion' by writing about human rights and giving interviews to foreign media," the report noted.

"Hu Jia suffers from liver disease due to a Hepatitis B infection but the authorities have prevented his family from providing him with medicine in the prison," it added.

Jacques Rogge, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, recently claimed the IOC's quiet diplomacy had led to several human rights reforms, including the new regulations for foreign media.

"We welcome the IOC's recognition of its role on human rights, but given the current reality, we are surprised at their confidence that foreign media will be able to report freely and that there will be no internet censorship," said Rife.

"And they must speak out when the authorities violate the wider Olympic principles."

"Additionally, world leaders who attend the Games need to raise their voice publicly for human rights in China and in support of individual Chinese human rights activists.

"A failure to do so will send the message that it is acceptable for a government to host the Olympic Games in an atmosphere of repression and persecution."

But Beijing rejected Amnesty International's claims that the human rights situation in China had deteriorated.

"I hope that Amnesty International can take off the tainted glasses they have been wearing for years and see China in a fair and objective way, and do something more constructive," said spokesman Li Jianchao.

The China Society for Human Rights Studies, which has links to the Chinese government, also criticised the findings of the report.

Spokeswoman Xiong Lei said Amnesty reports "always say that China's human rights situation is getting worse, but that is contrary to the feeling of most Chinese people".

China's human rights record has been under scrutiny ever since Beijing was awarded the Olympics in 2001.

Olympic torch relays in London, Paris, San Francisco and Islamabad were all marred by human rights protests this year.

The 2008 Olympic Games open in just 10 days.