CAT/C/CHN/CO/5 (d) Hold police accountable for withholding, deleting or manipulating records of interrogations and for breaching the lawyer-client privilege; (e) Establish an independent and effective auditing system of the recordings with no institutional or hierarchical links with the investigators. Detention and prosecution based on broadly defined offences 36. While noting the delegation’s statement that “government acts of intimidation and reprisals against citizens do not exist in China”, the Committee remains concerned at consistent reports that human rights defenders and lawyers, petitioners, political dissidents and members of religious or ethnic minori ties continue to be charged, or threatened to be charged, with broadly defined offences as a form of intimidation. Such offences reportedly include “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”, “gathering a crowd to disturb social order” or more severe crimes against national security. In this respect, the Committee expresses particular concern at the broadly defined crimes grouped under the categories of “endangering national security” and “terrorism” in the Criminal Law and in the 2015 National Security Law, whose scope is further expanded in the definition provided in article 374 of the “Ministry of Public Security Provision on Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases”. In view of the above, the Committee regrets the State party’s failure to clarify the criteria used to qualify these crimes, in spite of the questions raised by the Committee (arts. 2 and 16). 37. The State party should: (a) Take the necessary legislative or other measures to adopt a more precise definition of terrorist acts and acts endangering national security, and ensure that all counter-terrorism and national security legislation, policies and practices are in full compliance with the Convention; (b) Refrain from prosecuting human rights defenders, lawyers, petitioners and others for their legitimate activities for broadly defined offences. Obstacles to the cooperation of civil society organizations with the Committee 38. The Committee is concerned at allegations that seven human rights defenders, who were planning to cooperate with the Committee in connection with the consideration of the fifth periodic report of the State party, were prevented from travelling or were detained on the grounds that their participation could “endanger national security”. 39. The Committee calls the State party to investigate the above-mentioned cases and report back to the Committee. Investigation of alleged crimes against ethnic minorities 40. Notwithstanding the delegation’s statement that “the allegations of unfair or cruel treatment to suspects or criminals from ethnic minority groups are groundless”, the Committee has received numerous reports from credible sources that document in detail cases of torture, deaths in custody, arbitrary detention and disappearances of Tibetans. In addition, allegations have been received about acts directed against Uyghurs and Mongolians. In view of this information, the Committee remains seriously concerned at the State party’s failure to provide information on 24 out of the 26 Tibetan cases mentioned in the list of issues (CAT/C/CHN/Q/5/Add.1, para. 27), despite the questions posed by the Committee during the dialogue (arts. 2, 11, 12 and 16). 11