By Tendar Tsering
DHARAMSHALA, August, 31: In a move that can jeopardize the security of over a billion people, the Chinese government is contemplating changes to its criminal code legalising secret detention up to six months without formal charges.
The proposed changes, as part of a broader revision of the country’s criminal procedure code were disclosed last week in the state-run Legal Daily.
The changes give Chinese authorities a free hand to arrest and hold suspects under “residential surveillance” in an undisclosed location for up to six months without any formal charges or notice to the family or lawyer in cases involving terrorism, crimes endangering national security, or major corruption.
Although forced disappearances and extra judicial detentions are a regular occurrence in China, the proposal to legalise such state transgression is seen by many as a step backward, increasing the risk of torture and false charges.
“This new amendment will legalise ‘forced disappearance,'” tweeted Liu Xiaoyuan, a Beijing based attorney who was also briefly detained around the same time his friend and client Ai Weiwei was detained for two and half months.
Arbitrary detentions have been commonplace in Tibetan areas with Chinese security personnel holding Tibetans suspected of anti-China sentiments in undisclosed locations for many months.
The three Tibetan monks from Kirti monastery, eastern Tibet who were recently given lengthy jails terms were also held incommunicado since their arrests earlier this year.
“If you are taking somebody elsewhere than a lawfully supervised place of detention without notice, it greatly increases the risk of torture,” said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch.
