Situation during visit in 2005
(See E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6)
promptly investigated
by an independent.
authority with no
connection to the
authority investigating
or prosecuting the case
against the alleged
victim.
responsible for investigating and
prosecuting crimes committed by
State functionaries. The
Procurators are also mandated to
monitor the police and prisons
and exercise oversight functions.
In its dual function of
prosecution and monitoring the
SPP is not an independent
authority, as its primary interest
is vested in convicting suspects
as charged.
Steps taken in previous years
(See A/HRC/4/33/Add.2 and
A/HRC/7/3/Add.2)
Information received on steps taken
since December 2007/current situation
Chinese media, in most of the torture
cases documented by human rights
organizations, no effective
investigations are conducted. The
primary obstacle to the independent
investigation of torture allegations is
the classification of information
related to torture and abuse in
detention facilities under the state
secret system, such as information on
methods used for investigation of
important criminal cases and the
targets of investigations; information
on the places and circumstances of
custody of important detainees;
statistics on unusual deaths in prisons
and other detention facilities;
statistics on the number of detainees
sent to RTL; data on incidents of
police officers and other state
officials using torture, causing
injuries or disabilities to detainees;
information on investigations against
state officials, etc. For example,
information about the treatment of
persons detained or sentenced in
connection with the March 2008
demonstrations in Tibet and
information about investigations into
the deaths resulting from these events
are all classified.
A/HRC/10/44/Add.5
page 6
Recommendation
(E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6)