Detained lawyers, activists in China face serious risk of torture, says Amnesty International
Lawyers and activists held in Beijing’s crackdown on rights advocates in danger of abuse as authorities resort to forced confessions: Amnesty
The lawyers and activists detained in a recent nationwide crackdown on rights advocates are at “serious risk of torture and ill treatment”, Amnesty International said in a new report released today that highlighted torture and forced confessions on the mainland.
Meanwhile, rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders found after studying interviews and data from more than 2,300 cases that the government had systematically failed to prevent torture, hold torturers accountable and respect the rights of torture victims, according to its report released this week.
China’s record on torture is set to be formally scrutinised by the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva next week.
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Amnesty International’s report said 12 lawyers and activists were still being held on state security charges in “residential surveillance in a designated location” – a form of solitary detention that can last up to six months in an unknown location. As of last month, at least 248 had been taken away by police, detained or arrested in a crackdown that started in July, the group said.
Most have been released, but apart from those placed in “residential surveillance”, several remained in criminal detention or were unaccounted for.
With no contact with the outside world, detainees under “residential surveillance in a designated location” were “at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment”, the report said, adding that the authorities were increasingly using this form of detention.
