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Human Rights and Rule of Law - News and
Analysis
Chinese News Media Highlights Government Efforts to Combat Torture
The Chinese news media have stepped up a publicity campaign that highlights government efforts to reduce the prevalence of torture and coerced confessions. In late July, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced that it had filed criminal cases against 1,751 officials for human rights violations since July 2004, an increase of 7.7 percent over the year before. The SPP also published descriptions of three "typical" cases of "strictly investigating" cases involving torture and abuse. At the same time, Chinese news media have suggested that forthcoming amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) will focus on enhanced legal protections against torture, including a rule to grant lawyers better access to their clients during interrogations. One source notes that the CPL amendments are scheduled to be considered in 2006 for adoption in 2007.
Over the past year, domestic news media sources have published candid acknowledgments of the extent of the problem, running stories that characterize torture as "widespread," "a malignant tumor," " common in many places," and "not just an occasional occurrence in a few regions or among a few people." Public scrutiny of law enforcement torture and abuse has intensified in recent months as a series of wrongful convictions and death sentences stemming in part from coerced confessions have come to light. Controversy over the cases appears to have provided an opening for the publication of a number of critiques of the criminal justice system and analyses of the causes of torture. A May 30 article in the English-language Beijing Review summarizes much of the recent discussion in the Chinese-language press about torture and its causes.
| Source: -See Summary (2005-07-28 ) |
Posted on: 2005-08-02 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=18915 |
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