E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6 page 14 45. The methods of torture alleged include, among others: beatings with sticks and batons; use of electric shock batons; cigarette burns; hooding/blindfolding; guard-instructed or permitted beatings by fellow prisoners; use of handcuffs or ankle fetters for extended periods (including in solitary confinement or secure holding areas); submersion in pits of water or sewage; exposure to conditions of extreme heat or cold; being forced to maintain uncomfortable positions, such as sitting, squatting, lying down, or standing for long periods of time, sometimes with objects held under arms; deprivation of sleep, food or water; prolonged solitary confinement; denial of medical treatment and medication; hard labour; and suspension from overhead fixtures with handcuffs. In several cases, the techniques employed have been given particular terminologies, such as the “tiger bench”, where one is forced to sit motionless on a tiny stool a few centimetres off the ground; “reversing an airplane”, where one is forced to bend over while holding legs straight, feet close together and arms lifted high; or “exhausting an eagle”, where one is forced to stand on a tall stool and subjected to beatings until exhaustion. Several of these forms of torture have been corroborated by studies carried out by Chinese academics.51 On the basis of the information he received during his mission, the Special Rapporteur confirms that many of these methods of torture have been used in China. Efforts to combat torture 46. In recent years, the issue of torture has become a subject of public concern and debate within China, particularly after several prominent wrongful-conviction cases came to light in 2005.52 The growing willingness of officials and scholars to acknowledge China’s torture problem is a significant step forward. Chinese scholars and journalists are increasingly publishing detailed critiques on the practice of torture in China and related problems in the criminal justice system, including weak investigations, lack of professionalism in the police, and confessions extorted by torture.53 Chinese officials and analysts have characterized the torture problem as “widespread” in basic level organs; “deeply entrenched”, a “stubborn illness”, and a “malignant tumour” that “is difficult to stop” in practice, with forced confessions characterized as “common in many places in China because the police are often under great pressure from above to solve criminal cases”.54 47. The Government’s willingness to acknowledge the pervasiveness of torture was confirmed when the Supreme People’s Procuratorate published The Crime of Tortured Confession (Xingxun Bigong Zui) in late 1997, including China’s first public official statistics on criminal cases of tortured confession - reporting an average of 364 cases per year between 1979 and 1989, upward of 400 cases per year for most years in the 1990s, and the admission that 241 persons had been tortured to death over the two-year period 1993-1994.55 48. Following on from its recognition of the problem, the Government has undertaken a number of measures to tackle torture, in particular the SPC, the SPP and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). In August 2003, the Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang, issued a set of unified regulations on the standardization of law enforcement procedures for public security institutions entitled “Regulations on the Procedures for Handling Administrative Cases”, including procedures defining police powers in respect of time limits for confiscation of property, legal means for gathering evidence, time limits on investigation and examination of suspects, etc. In 2004, the Ministry issued regulations prohibiting the use of torture and threats to gain confessions and initiated a nationwide campaign to improve policemen’s criminal investigation capacity. In the same year, the SPP launched a nationwide campaign to crack