Assessment Report on the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)
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Xinhua, July 14, 2011
Contents
Preface
I. Overall Implementation
II. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
III. Civil and Political Rights
IV. Guarantee of the Rights and Interests of Ethnic Minorities, Women, Children, Elderly People and the Disabled
V. Human Rights Education for the Public
VI. Performing International Human Rights Duties, and Conducting Exchanges and Cooperation in the Field of International Human Rights
III. Civil and Political Rights
Over the past two years, China has been taking effective measures to enhance democracy and the rule of law, actively and steadily advancing the reform of the political system. Civil and political rights have been guaranteed more effectively and the goals about civil and political rights set in the Action Plan in this regard have been achieved.
(1) Rights of the person
China's judicial organs have issued guidance documents regarding the criminal evidence system to protect the rights of the person in accordance with the law. In June 2010 the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Regulations on Some Issues Concerning the Exclusion of Illegal Evidence in Criminal Cases. It is clearly stipulated in the Regulations that confessions and witness testimony obtained by illegal means such as torture should not be taken as evidence to support a verdict.
Measures on forbidding illegal detention by law enforcement personnel have been implemented. In April 2010 related departments jointly promulgated the Ordinance on Discipline for the People's Police of Public Security Organs to prohibit illegal deprivation or restriction of others' freedom of the person. Procuratorial organs have strengthened the legal supervision of criminal investigation, criminal trial and the execution of sentences. In 2009 and 2010, procuratorial organs filed and investigated cases involving 1,002 government functionaries who had taken advantage of their positions and powers to conduct illegal detention, revenge and frame-ups, and disruption of elections and other crimes that infringe upon citizens' rights of the person and democratic rights. In the last two years, people's courts at all levels have held hearings for 18,600 cases of illegal detention, including those committed by government functionaries who used their positions and powers.
The state further strengthened its control and prudent application of death penalty. In February 2011 the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) discussed and adopted Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. The amendment abolished death penalty for 13 types of economic and non-violent crimes, such as negotiable instruments fraud. The reduction accounted for nearly one fifth of the total number of death penalty crimes. The amended Criminal Law laid down restrictive stipulations on the application of death penalty to people 75 years old and above. In June 2010 the related departments jointly issued Regulations on Some Issues Concerning the Examination and Judgment of Evidence in Death Penalty Cases, which adopts stricter standards in the examination and judgment of evidence for death penalty cases. The people's courts stick to the principle of public trial for all death penalty cases of second instance to guarantee the defendants' right of appeal.
The law enforcement system has been continuously improved. The State Council issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Building of a Government Ruled by Law, which sets strict regulations to ensure that law enforcement by administrative organs is impartial and civilized. The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security promulgated the Regulations on the Interrogation of Criminal Suspects during the Examination of Arrest Request to further ensure integrity in handling criminal cases and guarantee the legitimate rights of criminal suspects. The Ministry of Public Security has formulated detailed rules for law enforcement and specific regulations regarding the main links and steps for the handling of cases. In addition, the Ministry of Public Security has issued over 30 regulatory documents, including Some Regulations on the Management of Property Involved in Cases, Guiding Opinions on Establishing and Improving the System of Law Enforcement Supervisors, and Guiding Opinions on Further Regulating and Strengthening the Informationization of Law Enforcement by Public Security Organs, which have improved the systems concerning links and posts of law enforcement.
(2) Rights of detainees
Laws and regulations to guarantee detainees' rights have been further improved. In May 2009 the Ministry of Public Security promulgated the Ten Provisions on Preventing and Cracking Down on Bullies in Detention Houses, Notice on the Concentration of Female Detainees for Management in Detention Houses, and other regulatory documents. These documents improved the system of categorized detention and management of detainees, the system of transitional management of new detainees and informing them of their legitimate rights, and the system allowing detainees to report abuse to the police. In December 2009 the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Health jointly issued the Notice on Effectively Strengthening and Improving Medical and Health Work in Places Under the Surveillance and Control of Public Security Organs to consolidate the building of medical institutions in these places. The Construction Standards for Prisons, which came into effect in December 2010, further regulates the management of prisons and the construction of facilities in prisons. An open system of supervision and law enforcement has been basically established. Detention houses have set up reception rooms and complaint boxes, and publicized the names of police officers and systems and procedures for supervision and law enforcement. So far, over 1,500 detention houses have been opened to the public and receive public supervision. The Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and other organs have issued the Opinions on Strengthening and Regulating the Execution of Sentences Outside Prison. The system of public announcement and hearing before ruling on penalty reduction and parole is set out clearly in the Opinions, increasing transparency in the trial of such cases. In 2009 and 2010 people's courts at all levels reduced the penalties for over 1.005 million people, and released 68,000 others on parole in accordance with the law.
To prevent the extortion of confessions by torture and the infliction of corporal punishment, abuse and insult on detainees, the Ministry of Public Security stipulates that, except for special cases, all interrogation of detainees must be conducted in the interrogation rooms of detention houses. Every interrogation room must have a metal mesh as separation between detainees and interrogators, and two doors - one for the detainee and one for the interrogator - to avoid physical contact between them. Technological means, including simultaneous audio and video recording, are employed in interrogation rooms to prevent such abuses as the extortion of confessions by torture. Physical examination of detainees before and after an interrogation and when they leave and return to the detention house is conducted.
(3) The right to impartial trials
Litigants' right to impartial trials has been guaranteed. The Supreme People's Court formulated Some Regulations on the Audio and Video Recording of Court Trials, which stipulates that litigants may consult and copy the audio and video records of their own court trials with the approval of the people's court. So far, courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shandong practice simultaneous audio and video recording of their trials. In September 2010 the Supreme People's Court promulgated the Guiding Opinions on Sentencing by the People's Courts (for trial implementation), and issued jointly with related departments the Opinions on Some Issues Concerning the Regulation of Sentence Procedures (for trial implementation). Since October 2010 courts at all levels throughout the country have been implementing the regulatory reform of sentencing on a trial basis. They have regulated the use of discretionary power in criminal cases, and unified the sentencing standards for 15 common crimes. Cases of these 15 crimes now account for about 90 percent of the total number of criminal cases handled by grassroots courts.
Court trials are fully publicized. In the past two years, to guarantee citizens' right of access to information about court trials, the Supreme People's Court formulated the Six Regulations on Judicial Openness, and Some Regulations on Subjecting the People's Courts to the Supervision by News Media and Public Opinion. People's courts at all levels throughout the country have established case reception halls and publicized the information about the opening of court sessions and judicial aid; set up lawsuit information desks and opened up related hotlines; installed a network information inquiry system of court trials and information management system of law-enforcement cases to facilitate litigants' access to relevant information. At present, most higher people's courts, 97 intermediate people's courts and 472 grassroots people's courts release court rulings and decisions on the Internet.
The system of people's jury has been improved. In the past two years, the Supreme People's Court has formulated the Regulations on Some Issues Concerning People's Jurors' Participation in Court Trials and Some Opinions on Further Strengthening and Advancing the Work of People's Juries. In 2009 and 2010 people's jurors participated in the trial of 1.544 million cases, accounting for 32.44 percent of cases handled with common procedure by grassroots courts. Courts at all levels have expanded the scope of selecting people's jurors. The number of people's jurors throughout the country is approximately 80,000.
Lawyers' professional rights have been further guaranteed. Since 2009 related departments have been promoting the revision and abolition of regulations and regulatory documents that are inconsistent with the Lawyers Law. Measures for the Administration of the Practicing Licenses of Lawyers and Law Firms, Rules on the Annual Assessment of Lawyers' Practice of Law (for trial implementation), and other regulations and codes of professional conduct have been promulgated. The Ministry of Justice is now working with related departments on drafting the Regulations on Guaranteeing Lawyers' Professional Rights in Criminal Litigation, placing the emphasis on solving lawyers' difficulties in meeting criminal suspects, in reviewing the files of persons in custody, and in conducting investigations and collecting evidence.
The state compensation system has been improved. In April 2010 the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress discussed and approved the Decision on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on State Compensation. The Decision further smoothes the channels for claiming state compensation, improves the compensation procedures, clarifies the scope and standards of compensation, and straightens out the compensation management and payment mechanism. To ensure the effective implementation of the State Compensation Law, related departments have formulated and revised relevant administrative laws and regulations, and judicial interpretations. In the last two years people's courts at all levels have adjudicated 2,950 cases of claiming state compensation, among which the decision to compensate was made in 805 cases, involving a total amount of 71.709 million yuan. In March 2009 the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued Some Opinions on Carrying Out Relief Work for Crime Victims. In addition, people's courts have expanded the scope of judicial aid and approved the reduction, deferral or exemption of litigation fees in 547,000 cases.
(4) Freedom of religious belief
Normal religious activities are protected by law. In the past two years the State Administration for Religious Affairs promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Tibetan Buddhist Temples, and the Decision on Revising the Rules for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Religious Activities of Foreigners Within the Territory of the People's Republic of China. It jointly issued the Opinions on Properly Solving Social Security Issues Concerning Religious Personnel with related departments, and formulated the Regulations of the State Administration for Religious Affairs on Procedures for Handling Administrative Reconsideration Cases and other regulations and systems. The state supports the improvement of the working and teaching conditions of national religious organizations, and some religious colleges and institutes. The new building of the Chinese Academy of Taoism and the Taoist Association of China had been basically completed by the end of 2010. The state provides financial support for believers in Islam to make pilgrimages, and for the building of religious colleges, institutes and societies such as Sichuan Catholic Seminary and Central-South Catholic Seminary, as well as the training of their religious personnel. The state has invested nearly 600 million yuan in the preservation and maintenance of major religious temples, including the Samye, Trandruk and Tashilhunpo monasteries in Tibet, and Ili's Shaanxi Grand Mosque and Kashgar's Id Kah Mosque in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
(5) The right to know
The state makes active efforts to keep the public informed of government affairs, and takes effective measures to guarantee citizens' right to know. On the basis of the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information, and the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Implementing the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information, the State Council, in October 2010, issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Building of a Government Ruled by Law. Thus, the system of keeping the public informed of government affairs took initial shape.
By the end of 2010 some 75 departments under the central government had adopted the practice of publicizing their budgets; 18 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government had begun to publicize their public financial and government fund budgets; 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government had begun to publicize their budgetary performance every month or quarter. A government affairs service system connecting provinces, cities, counties, townships and villages has taken initial shape. A total of 2,842 government affairs service centers and 25,000 township and neighborhood administrative service centers have been set up in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government.
In June 2010 the State Council passed the Regulations on Natural Disaster Relief, which contains specific regulations on issues concerning the disclosure of information about natural disaster relief work. It is stipulated in the Regulations that when a natural disaster takes place and meets the conditions to activate the emergency plan for natural disaster relief, the central government should inform the public of its measures against the disaster as well as what precautions they should take, and that the government should inform the public of the source, quantity and use of state relief funds and materials, and public donations. The mechanism of a joint meeting for determining the liability in major production accidents has been established to conduct regular special inspections on the investigation and handling of suspected cover-ups of production accidents.
The government news release system and the spokesperson system have been improved. The spokesperson systems for committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and for governments at county level have been established. In 2010 the CPC Central Committee promulgated the Opinions on Establishing the Spokesperson System for Party Committees, to vigorously promote the setting up of the spokesperson system in related departments of the Party Central Committee and Party committees in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. At present, 13 departments and units of the Party Central Committee and Party committees of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have established the spokesperson system. The news release work of Party committees is becoming institutionalized and standardized. In the past two years all ministries, commissions and departments, and provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government held a total of 3,522 press conferences.
(6) The right to participate
Citizens' right to participate has been effectively guaranteed. In March 2010 the National People's Congress adopted the decision to revise the Election Law to stipulate that deputies to the people's congresses should be elected in the same proportion to the populations of urban and rural areas. The revisions broadened the representativeness of the people's congresses, and improved the regulations concerning election organs and procedures, better demonstrating the equality among all people, regions and ethnic groups. In 2009 and 2010, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) filed over 10,000 proposals, of which over 90 percent have been replied to and handled. The CPPCC organized 15 inspection groups and 30 investigation groups, submitted inspection and investigation reports to the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and received 27,333 reports on social conditions and public opinions, and 75,119 petitions from the public. It also convened meetings among members of its Standing Committee to discuss political and government affairs, and hosted consultative symposiums, seminars and consultation meetings, actively making proposals for the social and economic development of the country.
The system of people's self-governance at grassroots level has been improved. In October 2010 the NPC Standing Committee passed the newly-revised Organic Law on the Villagers' Committees to enhance the level of villagers' self-governance and democratic management. So far, 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government have published their own electoral measures for village committees, and eight provinces have formulated their rules on making village affairs more transparent; about 85 percent of the villages have set up the system of villagers' council or villagers' congress, and over 90 percent of the villages have established organs to supervise the transparency of village affairs. The state has promulgated the Opinions on Strengthening and Improving the Work of Building Urban Neighborhood Committees, which puts forth clear requirements for the further standardization of democratic neighborhood electoral procedures and the steady expansion of the coverage of direct elections of neighborhood committee members. In 2010 the election of urban neighborhood committee members was being practiced nationwide.
The transparency of enterprise affairs has been further enhanced to protect workers' rights and interests. In 2010 related state departments jointly issued the Opinions on Making Enterprise Affairs More Transparent and Practicing Democratic Management to reinforce guidance for work in this regard in the reorganization, restructuring, closedown and bankruptcy of state-owned enterprises. By the end of September 2010, among all enterprises and public institutions with trade unions, 2.113 million had established a separate system of making enterprise affairs public, an increase of 20.6 percent over the previous year, and 2.249 million have set up a separate system of workers' conferences, an increase of 22.3 percent over the previous year.
The state encourages mass organizations to participate in social management and public services to protect the people's legitimate rights and interests. By the end of 2010 the All-China Federation of Trade Unions participated in the formulation and revision of laws and regulations having a direct bearing on the rights and interests of workers and trade unions, including the Social Insurance Law and the Work-related Injury Insurance Regulations. It also actively pushed forward the revision of the Trade Union Law. The All-China Women's Federation made great efforts to promote women's representation in villagers' council and villagers' congress. Its active participation in the inspection of the enforcement of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women organized by the NPC Standing Committee gave impetus to the formulation and revision of the rules for the implementation of this law in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. Youth League committees at all levels carried out an activity under the title "Youth League Members Meeting with NPC Deputies and CPPCC Members," established the NPC Deputy Mentor Groups for Teenage Affairs and the Working Groups of Guardians of Rights and Interests of Teenagers, and held activities for the Youth League to listen to the opinions of its members, so as to represent and safeguard the rights and interests of teenagers.
The construction and management of social organizations have been strengthened to enhance their function in serving society. The revision of the Regulations on the Management of Foundations, Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Organizations, and Interim Regulations on the Registration and Management of Private Non-enterprise Entities has been incorporated into the legislative work plan of the State Council. Social organizations raise over 10 billion yuan every year for poverty reduction and relief, and disaster relief and prevention. Social organizations, trade associations in particular, are playing an increasingly important role in regulating market order, developing industry self-discipline, establishing industry standards and mediating trade disputes. At present, China's over 60,000 trade associations keep in close contact with over 20 million members, including private industrial and commercial units; over 40,000 academic organizations keep in close contact with over five million experts and scholars; and special economic associations in the rural areas keep in close contact with over ten million households. Meanwhile, social organizations have provided over ten million full-time and part-time jobs.
(7) The right to be heard
Citizens' freedom of speech has been fully guaranteed. In recent years, the Internet has become a new channel for citizens to exercise their right to be heard. By the end of 2010 China's netizen population had reached 457 million, and the Internet penetration rate had reached 34.3 percent, higher than the world average. China boasts 5.52 million websites, millions of bulletin board systems (BBS) and 295 million blog users. Statistical sampling shows that Chinese netizens issue over three million statements a day on the Internet, and over 66 percent of Chinese netizens often issue statements of views and claims freely on the Internet. Chinese leaders often get on the Internet to learn about public sentiment, and communicate with the netizens online. Soliciting views via the Internet has become a common practice of governments at all levels. The proposals collected from the Internet amount to several million every year.
Press and publishing undertakings have been further developed. In the past two years the State Council has completed the revision of the Regulations on the Administration of Publication and the Regulations on the Administration of Audio and Video Publications; the General Administration of Press and Publications has promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Press Cards and the Measures for the Administration of Correspondent Bureaus of Newspapers and Periodicals to protect the legitimate rights and interests of news media and reporters; the printed sheets for books, periodicals and newspapers totaled 270.114 billion, with 330,000 titles of books and 2,056 newspapers.
(8) The right to oversee
Citizens' right of democratic supervision has been further guaranteed. The National People's Congress and its Standing Committee fully exercise the function and power to supervise the implementation of the Constitution and laws and comprehensively promote the protection and realization of the people's rights. In the past two years the NPC Standing Committee has heard and examined 20 special work reports made by the central government, Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate. It conducted inspections on the enforcement of nine laws, including the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women. The Standing Committee carried out special investigations and surveys on the implementation of some major public investment projects as well as on important issues concerning the formulation of China's 12th Five-year Plan. It held special consultations on work reports on the state final accounts, national food security and deepening of reform in the medical and health care system. The Standing Committee also made a resolution on coping with climate change. It filed and reviewed 3,000 regulatory documents, including administrative regulations, local regulations and judicial interpretations. The democratic supervision mechanism of the CPPCC has been improved, and democratic supervision has become increasingly effective.
The channels for people to make complaints in the form of letters and visits have been broadened. The State Bureau for Letters and Calls has established a nationwide complaint information system featuring interconnection, interworking and resource sharing, and promoted and regulated various channels for making complaints, such as the Internet, hotlines, Green Post, and video conferences. The system of soliciting suggestions from the people has been gradually popularized across the country. Party and government leaders read letters from the people and receive visits by them on a regular basis. The system in which Party and government leaders, deputies to Party congresses and people's congresses, and CPPCC members take the initiative to contact people who have made complaints through letters and visits is being improved step by step.
