By Li Huizi
LIAOYUAN, Jilin Province, Feb. 8 (Chinese media) -- From
March to September last year, 48-year-old Li Guizhi visited the detention house
of the Liaoyuan City in northwestern Jilin Province five times, asking detainees
whether they had been tortured.
Her question list also included: "Do you know you
have the right to ask lawyers?", "Do you have enough food every day?", "Are you
taken to see a doctor when you are not well?".
Li, a community director of the Nankang Street of the
Longshan District of Liaoyuan, was in her spare time a public inspector of
detention houses. It means she could randomly select time to visit local jails
and randomly choose detainees to talk to.
She was also entitled to inspect the jails' condition
and examine the jails' records so as to ensure that custody procedures were in
line with the law and detainees were not treated inhumanely.
As the first pilot city of the detention inspection
system in China, Liaoyuan had 20 public inspectors like Li. They were doctors,
teachers, entrepreneurs, civil servants or community workers. Meanwhile, they
were either local legislators, political advisors or "people's supervisors", a
voluntary post to oversee jurisdiction. They were recommended to be selected as
public inspectors thanks to their legislation or public working experience.
These inspectors who had received legal training
would put forward proposals for improvements after each tour of the detention
house which, therefore, would be obliged to ameliorate its living or working
conditions accordingly.
This year, the pilot program continued to be unfolded
in Jinzhong of northern Shanxi Province and Zhang Jiagang of eastern Jiangsu
Province. More cities would be added to the list.
The Research Center of Litigation System and Judicial
Reform under the Beijing-based Renmin University of China was the organizer of
the program in China.
Sponsored by the European Union, the program was part
of a package of cooperation agreements in political, legal, cultural and
economic fields. Legal cooperation between China and Europe covers areas such as
the death penalty, anti-torture and professional training of judges and
prosecutors.
Chen Weidong, a professor with the Renmin University
who was in charge of the program, told Chinese media that treatment of detainees, to
some extent, reflected the level of protection of the public's rights and
interests.
"Through the introduction of public supervision,
which is more independent, to oversee the detention place exercising its power,
the system is conducive to ensuring that prisoners are treated in accordance
with the law," he said.
China signed the United Nations Convention against
Torture in Dec. 1986 which ensured that torture was a criminal offence. "Parties
must promptly investigate any allegation of torture, and victims of torture must
have an enforceable right to compensation," it said.
In addition, the UN passed in 2002 the Optional
Protocol to the Convention, which encourages the establishment of an
international inspection system for places of detention.
Currently, more than 20 countries, mainly European
nations, have set up the system. Many other developed countries, including the
United States, have not established such a system.
According to the Chinese law, law makers and
political advisors were entitled to patrol detention places, reflecting
parliament's and political advisory bodies' supervision over administrative
organs.
Over the past few years, Chinese procuratorates had
set up the "people's supervisor" system, in a bid to prevent injustice amid law
execution. Most procuratorates of the country had selected people's supervisors.
However, the Supreme People's Procuratorate
statistics show Chinese procuratorates punished 930 government workers in 2006
who illegally took people into custody and extorted confessions by torture.
Chen said in the past, supervision was mainly
institutional, such as recording and videotaping, and asking lawyers to be
present, when interrogating suspects.
"Public supervision, which we currently advocate,
enables the public to gain a close and independent observance of the detention
places, the result of which is more convincing and can help improve China's
image in protecting human rights," he added.
Chen said the inspection system examined many
factors, ranging from living conditions of detention places to the fulfillment
of various legal rights and interests.
"It neither depends on high-tech equipment nor is
confined to the number of legal workers or the time of working, so it can be
promoted in any region with any economic situation," he added.
However, a survey about the pilot program, conducted
by the Renmin University, showed that detectives generally opposed to the
system, saying inspection activities in detention places would "disturb their
working plans and easily allow detainees refuse to confess".
Many lawyers believed the "independent" inspection
should be worthy of the name, which means detention house staff should be absent
when inspectors talked to detainees. It could alleviate detainees' pressure.
TO BE PROMOTED
NATIONWIDE
As a main propeller of the program in Liaoyuan, Wang
Wensheng, the chief procurator of the Liaoyuan People's Procuratorate, admitted,
"All reform will face resistance, risks and blame."
Chen said local officials' open-mindedness and
achievements of local judicial reform was considered as key factors in selecting
pilot cities. Liaoyuan was an outstanding example.
The first phase of the program, which started as
early as 2006,ended last year. The second phase, with Jinzhong and Zhang Jiagang
cities added to the list, aimed to find out if the system would be feasible in
the country's hinterland and economically prosperous regions.
The project team hoped the system, which was
considered as an innovation of China's judicial reform, could be promoted
nationwide, but no timetable could be set at the moment. The project was
scheduled to end in 2012.
Cheng Lei, a member of the project group and a post
doctorate with the law institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
said, "Hopefully, the system can be extended to other parts of the country
through legislation. Provincial legislation is easier, such as a law on
detention place inspection system in northwestern Jilin Province."
Li Guizhi, the Liaoyuan public inspector, said she
felt a great honor when becoming an inspector.
"Such voluntary work, without any payment, should
convey a message to the world that China's efforts against torture is in line
with international practice," she said.
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