China’s highest judicial body is seeking "greater independence" of courts from politics and invites colleagues "at all levels" to eliminate the practice of confessions obtained under duress. Analysts skeptical: "Empty words, there is no real desire to change." Hundreds of cases of authority abuse of dissidents and human rights activists in China every year.

Beijing ( AsiaNews) - The Chinese People's Supreme Court has stated that "a confession obtained through torture" is a practice "that should be removed from the national judicial system . Courts must be able to decide without the interference of local governments". The decision is contained in the new Court guidelines, decided and made public after four days of closed-door meetings.

The text reads: "extracting confessions through torture - such as the use of cold, hunger, drying, scorching, fatigue and other illegal methods to obtain confessions from accused - must be weeded out." The invitation is also published on the Court's official microblog directed at courts "at every level" throughout the country.

At the same time more stringent rules for the judgments regarding the death sentence have also been defined, which must be pronounced only after "adequate proof" has been provided, the Court also invites colleagues to entrust such cases to "more experienced judges. Evidence should be evaluated. The traditional practice that favors the prevalence of witnesses over evidence needs to be changed in favor of the examination and the use of circumstantial evidence . "

The question of the use of torture has long been debated in Chinese society. Although the government has repeatedly responded to charges laid by international organizations that cases of torture "are rare ", it still will not allow any inspector to enter prisons, despite the hundreds of complaints of ill-treatment by prison authorities submitted by lawyers and dissidents each year.

The extra- judicial abuses to obtain confessions also increased with the new powers granted by the government of Hu Jintao under the dreaded Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection. The body is the "watchdog" of the party, a sort of body above the law that has the power to detain without court order any person suspected of violations of any kind. In recent months the trial against six CCP officials who tortured to death a state manager suspected of corruption caused widespread scandal in China.

According to the lawyer Si Weijiang , the reforms announced by the Supreme Court will be put into practice "with difficulty . The judicial system needs a basic restructuring if it is to be truly independent . Vague and moderated guidelines are not enough. Nothing can change until the power stays in the hands of the same group of officials . "

 

 

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• prison
• torture
• supreme
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