CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 page 7 ethnicity, age, geographical region and type and location of place of deprivation of liberty, including data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment, detention conditions, abuses by public officials, administrative detention, death penalty cases, and violence against women, ethnic and religious minorities. 3. Harassment of defence lawyers 18. The Committee is concerned about information received according to which article 306 of the Penal Code, along with article 39 of the Criminal Procedure Law, allowing prosecutors to arrest lawyers on grounds of “perjury” or “false testimony”, has been used to intimidate some defence lawyers. The Committee also notes with great concern reported harassment of lawyers, such as Teng Biao and Gao Zhisheng, who have tried to offer their services to petitioners, human rights defenders and other dissidents, and reports that this harassment was conducted by unaccountable personnel alleged to be hired by State authorities (art. 2). The State party should abolish any legal provisions which undermine the independence of lawyers and should investigate all attacks against lawyers and petitioners, with a view to prosecution as appropriate. The State party should take immediate action to investigate acts of intimidation and other ways of impeding the independent work of lawyers. 4. Harassment and violence against human rights defenders and petitioners 19. The Committee expresses its concern at information on a pattern of harassment and violence against human rights defenders, such as Hu Jia. Such actions severely hamper the capacity of civil-society monitoring groups to function, and do not encourage information to be shared, investigations to occur and cases to be brought to the authorities. Despite the State party’s assurance that no unofficial personnel have been hired by public authorities to harass lawyers or petitioners, the Committee is concerned at the persistent reports on attempts to curb the activities of human rights activists, such as Li Heping. This includes violence by unofficial personnel allegedly engaged by public authorities to harass lawyers and petitioners, the use of different forms of administrative detention, such as “residential surveillance”, re-education through labour and secret places of detention. The Committee is concerned by allegations that unofficial personnel have not been held accountable for such behaviour (arts. 12 and 16). The State party should take all necessary steps to ensure that all persons, including those monitoring human rights, are protected from any intimidation or violence as a result of their activities and exercise of human rights guarantees, and to ensure the prompt, impartial and effective investigation of such acts. The State party should abolish the use of unofficial personnel to harass human rights defenders, including lawyers and petitioners. Lack of investigations 20. The Committee is deeply concerned by the lack of an effective mechanism for investigating allegations of torture as required by the Convention. As the Committee articulated