Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP): As of October 1st, Chinese police officers will be held accountable for the death of people detained in prison or under interrogation.  The new "Regulation on Continuing Interrogation" was announced yesterday on the website of the Ministry of Public Security and aims at "protecting the legal rights of detainees".  Police will be accountable also for prisoners who commit suicide.

The news coincided with an appeal made by the family of Wang Dawei, a government bureaucrat who died under custody.  Prosecution officials claim that Wang ran into a wall and died just before going on trial.

Torture and violence against prisoners are very common in China.  Last year in Guangzhou, Sun Zhigang, aged 27, was beaten to death while under custody.  When it comes to religious prisoners, the list of victims becomes very long.  According to Falun Gong, at least 884 of its members have died in prison due to torture, poisoning, beatings, and "falls" from the top floors of police buildings.  Torture and violence are a daily matter also for Tibetan monks.  Last year, it took an extensive international campaign to bring officials in Beijing to free Phuntsog Nyidrol, a 37-year old Tibetan monk, guilty of having composed chants for the Dalai Lama, and who was beaten for "not having repented".

There is also a chapter on Christians in the chronicles of torture and violence.  Catholics have not forgotten the Bishop of Baoding (Hebei), Joseph Fan Xueyan, whom many would like to see canonized as a new martyr of China.  In 1992, after months of detention, he was returned dead by police: his body was closed in a plastic bag and showed evident signs of torture.  Among Protestants, there are the evangelical groups of the Church of South China, who have suffered torture on various occasions and whose founder, Gong Shengliang, is still in prison.  The regulations, approved by the Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang, could be the sign of a turning point and give some relief to religious communities.  The regulations set out the conditions for detention in police stations and even the length of time for interrogations.

Under the existing law, which dates back to 1995, police are required to release suspects after 24 hours of interrogation.  If they want to hold a suspect longer, they must initiate a criminal detention period, which can last for 14 to 37 days.  These rules have hardly ever been respected when it comes to Christians.  The record for longest detention – some 7 years – is held by two Catholic bishops of Baoding: Monsignor James Su Zhimin, 72-year-old ordinary, and Francis An Shuxin, 54-year-old auxiliary, arrested and "desaparecidos" since 1997.  The accusations against them and their place of detention are unknown.

In enacting the new Regulations, the Minister said "the lack of detailed regulations has led to abuse of power, such as prolonged detention and incidents where suspects reportedly committed suicide during detention".  The regulations provides for greater care in the treatment of detainees: pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, youth under the age of 16 and people over the age of 70 cannot undergo more than 4 hours of interrogation at a time and cannot be kept in detention rooms. 

According to the new directives, police who violate the regulations are to be fired and further disciplined.

Song Mengqing, a lawyer based in Henan province, called the new regulation "a step forward.  To limit the power of the powerful institution is a protection of civil rights."  But he also pointed out that it is unclear how the regulations would be implemented.  According to a  Chinese priest contacted by AsiaNews: "In China there are many regulations but they are not upheld.  Free the imprisoned bishops and then there will be time for talk."