Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- China is using laws that allow detention without trial to ``clean up'' Beijing before next year's Olympics in violation of its vow to improve human rights, Amnesty International said.

The authorities are using the ``Re-education Through Labor'' law that allows a person to be detained for as long as four years without charge, trial or judicial review to clear the city's streets, the London-based group said in a report.

Improving Beijing's image ``through extending detention without trial raises serious questions about the commitment Chinese officials have made to improve their human rights record at the awarding of the Games to China,'' Catherine Baber, head of Amnesty's Asia-Pacific program, said in a statement. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said officials weren't immediately available to comment on the report.

Beijing is undergoing a $65 billion facelift that includes a new airport terminal, subway lines and roads as it prepares for the Olympics. The communist country will use the Games to showcase itself at a time when economic growth of 10 percent a year is increasing China's global influence.

Hundreds of thousands of people may be held in RTL centers, many in harsh conditions, Amnesty said in the report.

The law is used by the Chinese police against ``petty criminals,'' government critics and followers of banned spiritual movements for ``offences not serious enough to be punished under criminal law,'' the group said.

Amnesty published an open letter to the standing committee of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, calling for an end to RTL. The group cited state media as saying the committee is due to discuss a new ``Illegal Behavior Correction Law'' to replace the RTL this month.

`Olympic Legacy'

``A positive Olympic legacy would mean fair trials according to international standards and an end to arbitrary police detention,'' Baber said.

Human Rights Watch, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and Reporters Without Borders issued reports in early August saying China has failed to stick to the pledges on journalism and human rights it made to secure the Olympics.

``If the Chinese authorities are serious about the commitment they have made to improve their human rights record, they now have a unique opportunity to move one step closer to this by ending these abusive detention practices,'' Baber said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 17, 2007 21:59 EDT