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04 May 2000
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CAT
24th Session
4 May 2000
Morning
China Opposes and Prohibits Torture, Delegation Affirms
A Government delegation from China told the Committee against Torture this morning that it was a consistent position and principle of China to oppose and prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The remark came as the Committee started its consideration of the third periodic report of China. Introducing his country's report, Qiao Zonghuai, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, said that China had taken effective measures to prevent acts of torture by State functionaries, especially judicial officers, and to punish those who had committed such offences; and fresh efforts had been made to improve its legislation and enforce the relevant legal provisions against torture.
The Deputy Solicitor General of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Stephen Wong, stressed that Hong Kong continued to enjoy the human rights protection that had long been in place, including a well-entrenched tradition of respect for the rule of law; a truly independent judiciary; and numerous channels for the redress of complaints.
Andreas Mavrommatis, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of China, said that Chinese reforms to the criminal procedure law and criminal law were most welcome and they could be considered as part of the irreversible process of change in the country in addition to other Chinese efforts to improve the situation in that area. He added that non-governmental organizations had played an important role in collaborating with the work of the Committee.
The co-rapporteur to the report, Antonio Silva Henriques Gaspar, and other Committee member also posed questions focusing, among other things, on such issues as administrative detention and reeducation through labour; sanctions against public officers who committed acts of mistreatment; sexual assault on nuns in Tibet and death following sexual violence; gender-related torture cases; reports of removal of organs from persons on death row; and the concept of the right to silence.
In addition to Mr. Qiao, the Chinese delegation comprised of 23 members representing various ministries, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
China is among the 119 States parties to the Convention against Torture, and as such it is obligated to provide the Committee with summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Chinese delegation will return on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. with its responses to the questions raised by Committee members during this morning's meeting.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will hear the responses of Portugal to questions raised by experts yesterday morning.
Report of China
The third periodic report of China (document CAT/C/39/Add.2) contains two parts in which it enumerates measures taken in mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This is the first time that the Chinese report includes Hong Kong following the transfer of sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997. The second part of the report, which provides information on implementation of the Convention in Hong Kong, was prepared by the Government of the Region. The report says that since the submission of the second report, China has revised the 1979 criminal law and criminal procedural law of the People's Republic of China.
The report says that changes in the means by which a death sentence is carried out have been introduced in the new laws. In addition to shooting as a means of carrying out the death penalty, more humane means of enforcing death sentences have been introduced, such as the use of lethal injections. The new criminal law also attaches greater importance to the protection of human rights. Considerable additions and improvements have been made in the revised criminal law on the prohibition of the crime of torture as compared to the previous law.
The second part of the report dealing with Hong Kong says that since 1997, there have been no reports of torture as defined in the domestic law. However, in April 1998, four police officers were found guilty of assaulting a drug addict to force a confession and they were charged and convicted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The complainant alleged that the police beat him up, poured water into his ears and nose, and stuffed a shoe into his mouth.
Presentation of Chinese Report
QIAO ZONGHUAI, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, underlined that it was a consistent position and principle of the Chinese Government to oppose and prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. To that end, China had taken effective measures to prevent acts of torture by State functionaries, especially judicial officers, and to punish those who had committed such offences. Since its accession to the Convention in 1988, China had earnestly fulfilled all its obligations and had made fresh efforts to improve its legislation and to enforce the relevant legal provisions against torture.
China's criminal procedure law and criminal law had been amended in 1996 and 1997 respectively to include express reaffirmation of the principles in criminal proceedings such as "offenders shall be convicted and punished according to the law", and "no person shall be found guilty without being judged as such by a People's Court according to law". The amended laws also provided in more explicit terms that all judicial organs should follow the legally prescribed procedures in collecting evidence and that extortion of confessions or testimony by torture or other unlawful means should be strictly prohibited.
While China strengthened legislation against torture, China's executive and judicial departments had also adopted forceful administrative measures to prevent and prohibit the crime. The judicial organs had held a wide range of training courses for their officers. In 1999 the prison administration, for example, had organized 4,470 training courses throughout the country, in which 280,000 persons were enrolled. Those measures had greatly enhanced judicial officers' awareness and ability of enforcing the law strictly and with civility, and thus were of great significance to the eradication of torture.
The third periodic report of the Chinese Government included a separate part on Hong Kong's implementation of the Convention against Torture. China had resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong as of 1 July 1997 and had established a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region according to the principle of "one country, two systems". Under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Government of China was responsible for foreign affairs relating to Hong Kong.
STEPHEN WONG, Deputy Solicitor General of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, stressed that Hong Kong continued to enjoy the human rights protection that had long been in place including a well-entrenched tradition of respect for the rule of law; a truly independent judiciary; and numerous channels for the redress of complaints.
Mr Wong assured the Committee that the Administration firmly believed the actions it took to seek interpretation of the Basic Law from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress were entirely consistent with the rule of law. He did not believe that they, in any way or to any extent, undermined judicial independence. The Basic Law included very clear legal powers with respect to who could interpret it. The fact that the power of final interpretation was vested in a legislative body, rather than a judicial one, reflected the influence of the civil law tradition of China's constitutional arrangements.
ANDREAS MAVROMMATIS, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of China, said that non-governmental organizations had played an important role in collaborating with the work of the Committee. Information concerning China had also been provided by those organizations and their efforts had facilitated the Committee's tasks.
He said that the reforms to the criminal procedure law and criminal law were most welcome and they could be considered as part of the irreversible process of change in the country in addition to Chinese efforts to improve the situation in that area. He wondered why there was gender application of torture. He also wanted to know about domestic violence and the outcome of complaints against the perpetrators; and incidents of sexual preference of children.
With regard to the Falun Gong cult group, which Mr. Mavrommatis said had become a human rights issue, there had been reports that the followers were immolating themselves or committing suicide. The victims were paying their lives for the cult while some people were making money out of it. However, the act of mass arrests by the Government of China was not justifiable. Following his detention, a certain Falun Gong follower had died in police custody. Was there an investigation into that alleged incident? Was there any prosecution taking place concerning those groups? On another issue, the Government had replaced the execution of death penalty by shooting, but parading the individual before execution was inadmissible and the Government had to rectify that act.
With regard to Hong Kong, Mr. Mavrommatis asked about the situation of domestic violence and trafficking in women, and about the measures taken by the authorities of the Administrative Region.
ANTONIO SILVA HENRIQUES GASPAR, the Committee expert who served as co-rapporteur to the report of China, congratulated China for the series of training programmes provided to law enforcing officers throughout the country. The number of investigations of alleged cases of torture, which was 409 in 1996 and 412 in 1997, was little in comparison to the number of allegations reported by international organizations.
What criteria existed in Chinese law so the accused could remain silent? Mr. Gaspar then asked the delegation about the arbitrary detention and deprivation of liberties particularly by the administration, in which the individual had no defence lawyer. He also asked for further information on the system of mandatory internment of individuals in psychiatric institutions.
More information was requested about the two-year stay of execution for the death penalty, and the affirmation that "if a person sentenced to death with a stay of execution does not deliberately commit a crime during the period of suspension, his punishment shall be commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of that two-year period". Mr. Gaspar observed that since the prisoner was still in prison, he might not commit any crime which would prompt his execution.
What measures had the Government of China taken to reduce the use of torture in police custody? What was the maximum period of remand? Did a detainee have a lawyer of his choice? Was the lawyer allowed to be present from the first day of interrogation?
Concerning Hong Kong, Mr. Gaspar doubted the independence of the police in investigating cases of torture.
Other Committee members also posed questions focusing on such issues as administrative detention and reeducation through labour; sanctions against public officers who committed acts of mistreatment; sexual assault against nuns in Tibet and death following sexual violence; gender-related torture cases; reports of removal of organs from persons on death row; and the concept of the right to silence, among other things.
An expert said that China was among the countries that were not contributing to the Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture and asked the delegation to clarify China's position on that issue.
* *** *
24th Session
4 May 2000
Morning
China Opposes and Prohibits Torture, Delegation Affirms
A Government delegation from China told the Committee against Torture this morning that it was a consistent position and principle of China to oppose and prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The remark came as the Committee started its consideration of the third periodic report of China. Introducing his country's report, Qiao Zonghuai, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, said that China had taken effective measures to prevent acts of torture by State functionaries, especially judicial officers, and to punish those who had committed such offences; and fresh efforts had been made to improve its legislation and enforce the relevant legal provisions against torture.
The Deputy Solicitor General of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Stephen Wong, stressed that Hong Kong continued to enjoy the human rights protection that had long been in place, including a well-entrenched tradition of respect for the rule of law; a truly independent judiciary; and numerous channels for the redress of complaints.
Andreas Mavrommatis, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of China, said that Chinese reforms to the criminal procedure law and criminal law were most welcome and they could be considered as part of the irreversible process of change in the country in addition to other Chinese efforts to improve the situation in that area. He added that non-governmental organizations had played an important role in collaborating with the work of the Committee.
The co-rapporteur to the report, Antonio Silva Henriques Gaspar, and other Committee member also posed questions focusing, among other things, on such issues as administrative detention and reeducation through labour; sanctions against public officers who committed acts of mistreatment; sexual assault on nuns in Tibet and death following sexual violence; gender-related torture cases; reports of removal of organs from persons on death row; and the concept of the right to silence.
In addition to Mr. Qiao, the Chinese delegation comprised of 23 members representing various ministries, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
China is among the 119 States parties to the Convention against Torture, and as such it is obligated to provide the Committee with summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Chinese delegation will return on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. with its responses to the questions raised by Committee members during this morning's meeting.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will hear the responses of Portugal to questions raised by experts yesterday morning.
Report of China
The third periodic report of China (document CAT/C/39/Add.2) contains two parts in which it enumerates measures taken in mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This is the first time that the Chinese report includes Hong Kong following the transfer of sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997. The second part of the report, which provides information on implementation of the Convention in Hong Kong, was prepared by the Government of the Region. The report says that since the submission of the second report, China has revised the 1979 criminal law and criminal procedural law of the People's Republic of China.
The report says that changes in the means by which a death sentence is carried out have been introduced in the new laws. In addition to shooting as a means of carrying out the death penalty, more humane means of enforcing death sentences have been introduced, such as the use of lethal injections. The new criminal law also attaches greater importance to the protection of human rights. Considerable additions and improvements have been made in the revised criminal law on the prohibition of the crime of torture as compared to the previous law.
The second part of the report dealing with Hong Kong says that since 1997, there have been no reports of torture as defined in the domestic law. However, in April 1998, four police officers were found guilty of assaulting a drug addict to force a confession and they were charged and convicted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The complainant alleged that the police beat him up, poured water into his ears and nose, and stuffed a shoe into his mouth.
Presentation of Chinese Report
QIAO ZONGHUAI, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, underlined that it was a consistent position and principle of the Chinese Government to oppose and prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. To that end, China had taken effective measures to prevent acts of torture by State functionaries, especially judicial officers, and to punish those who had committed such offences. Since its accession to the Convention in 1988, China had earnestly fulfilled all its obligations and had made fresh efforts to improve its legislation and to enforce the relevant legal provisions against torture.
China's criminal procedure law and criminal law had been amended in 1996 and 1997 respectively to include express reaffirmation of the principles in criminal proceedings such as "offenders shall be convicted and punished according to the law", and "no person shall be found guilty without being judged as such by a People's Court according to law". The amended laws also provided in more explicit terms that all judicial organs should follow the legally prescribed procedures in collecting evidence and that extortion of confessions or testimony by torture or other unlawful means should be strictly prohibited.
While China strengthened legislation against torture, China's executive and judicial departments had also adopted forceful administrative measures to prevent and prohibit the crime. The judicial organs had held a wide range of training courses for their officers. In 1999 the prison administration, for example, had organized 4,470 training courses throughout the country, in which 280,000 persons were enrolled. Those measures had greatly enhanced judicial officers' awareness and ability of enforcing the law strictly and with civility, and thus were of great significance to the eradication of torture.
The third periodic report of the Chinese Government included a separate part on Hong Kong's implementation of the Convention against Torture. China had resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong as of 1 July 1997 and had established a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region according to the principle of "one country, two systems". Under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Government of China was responsible for foreign affairs relating to Hong Kong.
STEPHEN WONG, Deputy Solicitor General of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, stressed that Hong Kong continued to enjoy the human rights protection that had long been in place including a well-entrenched tradition of respect for the rule of law; a truly independent judiciary; and numerous channels for the redress of complaints.
Mr Wong assured the Committee that the Administration firmly believed the actions it took to seek interpretation of the Basic Law from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress were entirely consistent with the rule of law. He did not believe that they, in any way or to any extent, undermined judicial independence. The Basic Law included very clear legal powers with respect to who could interpret it. The fact that the power of final interpretation was vested in a legislative body, rather than a judicial one, reflected the influence of the civil law tradition of China's constitutional arrangements.
ANDREAS MAVROMMATIS, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of China, said that non-governmental organizations had played an important role in collaborating with the work of the Committee. Information concerning China had also been provided by those organizations and their efforts had facilitated the Committee's tasks.
He said that the reforms to the criminal procedure law and criminal law were most welcome and they could be considered as part of the irreversible process of change in the country in addition to Chinese efforts to improve the situation in that area. He wondered why there was gender application of torture. He also wanted to know about domestic violence and the outcome of complaints against the perpetrators; and incidents of sexual preference of children.
With regard to the Falun Gong cult group, which Mr. Mavrommatis said had become a human rights issue, there had been reports that the followers were immolating themselves or committing suicide. The victims were paying their lives for the cult while some people were making money out of it. However, the act of mass arrests by the Government of China was not justifiable. Following his detention, a certain Falun Gong follower had died in police custody. Was there an investigation into that alleged incident? Was there any prosecution taking place concerning those groups? On another issue, the Government had replaced the execution of death penalty by shooting, but parading the individual before execution was inadmissible and the Government had to rectify that act.
With regard to Hong Kong, Mr. Mavrommatis asked about the situation of domestic violence and trafficking in women, and about the measures taken by the authorities of the Administrative Region.
ANTONIO SILVA HENRIQUES GASPAR, the Committee expert who served as co-rapporteur to the report of China, congratulated China for the series of training programmes provided to law enforcing officers throughout the country. The number of investigations of alleged cases of torture, which was 409 in 1996 and 412 in 1997, was little in comparison to the number of allegations reported by international organizations.
What criteria existed in Chinese law so the accused could remain silent? Mr. Gaspar then asked the delegation about the arbitrary detention and deprivation of liberties particularly by the administration, in which the individual had no defence lawyer. He also asked for further information on the system of mandatory internment of individuals in psychiatric institutions.
More information was requested about the two-year stay of execution for the death penalty, and the affirmation that "if a person sentenced to death with a stay of execution does not deliberately commit a crime during the period of suspension, his punishment shall be commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of that two-year period". Mr. Gaspar observed that since the prisoner was still in prison, he might not commit any crime which would prompt his execution.
What measures had the Government of China taken to reduce the use of torture in police custody? What was the maximum period of remand? Did a detainee have a lawyer of his choice? Was the lawyer allowed to be present from the first day of interrogation?
Concerning Hong Kong, Mr. Gaspar doubted the independence of the police in investigating cases of torture.
Other Committee members also posed questions focusing on such issues as administrative detention and reeducation through labour; sanctions against public officers who committed acts of mistreatment; sexual assault against nuns in Tibet and death following sexual violence; gender-related torture cases; reports of removal of organs from persons on death row; and the concept of the right to silence, among other things.
An expert said that China was among the countries that were not contributing to the Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture and asked the delegation to clarify China's position on that issue.
* *** *