China proposes a change in its criminal code that would allow authorities to detain suspects for up to six months in a secret location. Such a measure would increase the risk of torture, a Human Rights Watch spokesman says.
By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Beijing—
A proposed change in the Chinese criminal code that would allow authorities to detain suspects for up to six months in a secret location is a dangerous step backward for the country, activists charged Saturday.
The change would effectively enshrine what has become a common practice for silencing dissidents, many of whom have disappeared for months without formal charges being filed. Under the change, the suspects can be held without notice to their family members or lawyers.
The change would effectively enshrine what has become a common practice for silencing dissidents, many of whom have disappeared for months without formal charges being filed. Under the change, the suspects can be held without notice to their family members or lawyers.
The proposed change in the law was disclosed earlier in the week in the respected Legal Daily.
"This new amendment will legalize 'forced disappearance,'" Beijing attorney Liu Xiaoyuan tweeted Saturday. Liu was briefly detained himself around the same time as his friend and client Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist whose disappearance earlier this year made international headlines.
Under current law, a person suspected of a crime but not formally charged could be put under house arrest for six months.
Read more at The Los Angeles Times
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