China vows to prevent extortion of confession by torture

China will enforce preventive and remedial measures to prevent extortion of confession by torture and collecting evidence through illegal methods, a government action plan released on Monday said.

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2012-2015) published by China's State Council Information Office (SCIO) pledges that no one will be forced to prove himself or herself guilty.

The action plan said all rights of the person are guaranteed by law in lawsuits and law enforcement in China, and the people's procuratorates will pay greater heed to the self-defense of criminal suspects at the stage of approval for arrest.

Procurators themselves should interrogate suspects when there are clues or evidences that prove the possibility of such serious violations of law as extortion of confession and collecting evidence through the use of force, the action plan said.

If the criminal suspects request such an interrogation, the procurators should do so as required, it said.

The action plan said China will improve relevant mechanisms to facilitate the work of lawyers during criminal proceedings.

When defense lawyers proffer written materials and evidence maintaining that no crime has been committed, an arrest is unnecessary, or the suspect should not be detained, or there have been violations of law in the investigation, the procurators must examine them seriously. When necessary, procurators may consult lawyers in person, the plan said.

The procurators should state clearly in the arrest warrant whether they are going to accept the lawyer's opinions and evidences and their reasons for doing so, according to the plan.

The venues of law enforcement and case investigation by public security organs will be transformed according to defined standards step by step, and the Standards for Venues of Law Enforcement and Case Investigation of Public Security Organs will be implemented strictly, the plan said.

Case investigation areas must be separated physically from other areas, and the function rooms of the case investigation areas will be established in line with the procedures of case investigation, where permanent sound and video recording as well as video surveillance systems will be installed for real-time monitoring and control management over the whole course of law enforcement and investigation to prevent any violation of the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, it said. < The scope of application of the system of probationary suspension and community correction according to law will be expanded, appropriately reducing the application of imprisonment and clearly defining the scope of non-imprisonment, the plan said.

The state will improve the system of community-based correction, and enrich the contents of community-based correction, correction by education and measures to aid convicts in financial difficulties, it said.