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 | Friday, May 05, 2000, updated at 11:26(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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China Fulfills Obligations Under U.N. Convention Against TortureThe Chinese government attaches great importance to the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and has fulfilled its relevant obligations, a top Chinese official told the U.N. Committee Against Torture in Geneva Thursday."The Chinese government has taken very seriously the opinions and recommendations made by the Committee during its consideration of our previous reports," Ambassador Qiao Zonghuai told the meeting of the Committee for consideration of China's third periodic report on the implementation of the convention. The Chinese government submitted the third report to the U.N. Secretary General last May. "The Chinese report is a good report indeed," said Cypriot rapporteur Andreas Mavrommatis, commenting on Qiao's speech, "It follows all the guidelines." The Chinese ambassador said that since it ratified the convention in 1988 China has earnestly fulfilled all its obligations and has made fresh efforts to improve its justice system to achieve in full the goals of the convention. In 1999, the National People's Congress adopted the amendments to the Chinese Constitution, which include a new provision that China shall practice the principle of governing the country according to law and build a socialist country ruled by law, Qiao said. "The addition of such a clause is of great significance to effectively protecting citizens' rights," Qiao pointed out. In 1996 and 1997, China amended its 1979 version of the Criminal Procedure Law and Criminal Law respectively, reaffirming principles such as "offenders shall be convicted and punished according to law" and "no person shall be presumed guilty before being judged by a People's Court according to law." "All these amendments and additions offer an effective guarantee for the prevention and sanction of acts of torture and for the promotion of criminal justice," Qiao said. In order to stop judicial officers from taking advantage of their functions and powers, Qiao said, Chinese executive and judicial organs have set up a series of regulations, rules and mechanisms to prohibit extorting confessions by torture. Qiao also told the committee that in order to instruct its staff, the Chinese judicial departments have compiled manuals, which include not only Chinese laws and regulations, but also relevant international ones such as the Convention Against Torture, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has vigorously strengthened "Get to Know the Law" campaign among citizens with a view to raising their awareness of the legal system and the rule of law, Qiao said. In 1998, 193 suspects were convicted in China of extorting confessions by torture, extracting testimony by violence or physically abusing persons held in custody. In 1999 the number of such convicts dropped to 173, Qiao added.
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