“In 2001, as it campaigned for the Games, China promised to move to protect human rights and to relax censorship but it has done very little to live up to those promises,” said Barbara Lochbihler, the secretary general of the German chapter of Amnesty International.

Calling on China to release detained human rights activists, Lochbihler said Amnesty did not expect the situation to improve but rather to deteriorate as the Games drew near.

“There is a chance we will see an increase in harassment, detentions and people place under house arrest ahead of the Games,”  she warned.

Lochbihler was speaking at the launch in Berlin of an international campaign meant to pile pressure on Beijing to respect human rights and lift restrictions on the media before the Games start on August 8 next year.

A Chinese human rights lawyer, Biao Teng, said if the situation failed to improve, activists should call on governments and sports stars to boycott the Games.

“We should think of calling a boycott if necessary. We should make an effort to ensure that at least the most basic human rights are respected,” said Biao, who holds a temporary teaching post at Yale University in the United States.

He urged Beijing to respect freedom of religion and to stop the persecution of followers of the Falun Gong faith.

The lawyer also called on journalists who travel to China for the Games to use the opportunity to the full to write about the political climate in the country.

Lochbihler ruled out a call by Amnesty International for a boycott of the Games, saying the watchdog would instead seek greater dialogue with the Chinese government.