Philosophy Now Forum

.


China announces plans to boost secret detention powers







.........








By Chris Buckley

BEIJING | Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:41am EDT

(Reuters) - China wants to cement in law police powers to hold dissidents and other suspects of state security crimes in secret locations without telling their families, under draft legislation released on Tuesday that has been decried by rights advocates.

The critics said the proposed amendments to China's Criminal Procedure Code could embolden authorities to go further with the kind of shadowy detentions that swept up human rights lawyers, veteran protesters and the prominent artist-dissident, Ai Weiwei, earlier this year.

"If this was already law, then people like me, Ai Weiwei and many others could have been detained with even fewer problems and obstacles and with a firmer legal basis," said Jiang Tianyong, a lawyer in Beijing.

Jiang was detained for two months without any contact with his family earlier this year, when the government cracked down on dissent over fears that unrest in the Arab world could spill into China.

"This would be a big step backwards, but I wouldn't discount the strong possibility of it becoming law," added Jiang. "More people would face the risk of being disappeared."

Ai Weiwei, whose detention sparked an international outcry, said in a commentary published on Sunday that "the worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system."

Crime suspects and defendants detained under "residential surveillance" should usually be held in their own homes, says the proposed law released by China's National People's Congress, the Communist Party-controlled parliament. But politically sensitive crimes can be treated differently.

"Those suspected of committing state security crimes, terrorist crimes and major bribery crimes" can be held at locations outside usual detention centers, says the draft released on the parliament's website (http://www.npc.gov.cn).

Likewise, the families of ordinary suspects and defendants held under "residential surveillance" should be notified of their status within 24 hours. But in state security and other sensitive cases, police do not have to tell the families "if notification could hinder investigations," says the draft.

In China, "state security crimes" include subversion and other charges often used to punish dissidents who challenge the ruling Communist Party.

China's police already have broad powers to hold people, and the party-controlled courts rarely challenge how those powers are exercised. But critics said the amendment would add an extra veneer of legitimacy to arbitrary powers.

"This is in complete contravention of international standards. One of the key principles of international human rights law is deprivation of freedom can only take place if it has been decided by the court," said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher on China for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in New York.

The Chinese government appeared to be bristling at the uproar triggered by its secretive detention of Ai Weiwei and other dissidents, said Bequelin, who was interviewed before the full draft of the proposed amendments was issued.

"The response is not to be more respectful of the law, but simply to change the law and remove the protections that were there," he said.

China's parliament said citizens were welcome to comment until the end of September on the proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code before lawmakers take them up. The country's state-run news agency said the rules on residential surveillance were enlightened.

The draft amendment "will further help protect human rights, and conforms rather than contradicts international conventions," the Xinhua news agency said, citing several Chinese legal scholars.

The clauses authorizing police not to tell families where detainees are held "are an exception, and will not become regular," Song Yinghui, a law professor at Beijing Normal University told Xinhua.

But independent Chinese rights advocates said the amendment would mark a big setback for legal rights if it passed into law under parliamentary approval.

In principle, residential surveillance is a more humane kind of detention, allowing suspects and defendants to stay with their families, said Li Fangping, a Beijing lawyer who has defended dissidents and protesters.

In practice, he and other critics said, it is used as a pretext to spirit detainees away to informal detention sites, including hotels, without telling their families or lawyers.

"If you can hold someone somewhere without effective means of oversight, without allowing detainees to see lawyers, then their rights guarantees face dreadful prospects," said Li.

Some lawyers said the proposed amendment was likely to become law, despite the controversy that has spilled onto China's Internet; others said the amendment could be diluted or even dropped. All were unsure when the parliament would next consider the amendments.

"This is going to be controversial, because it marks an excessive expansion of police powers," said Li. "I don't know if opposing this can work, but we'll certainly try."





On second thought...better check ALL your shit.



If it says CHINA you may be on the wrong team.


Just sayin.





.

Would that include 'Made in America'?

.


I would say, look for the union label, no matter what country you reside in.



When you support Organized Labor you support a living wage, fair & tax paying companies and hope for a better future for all of us.


.

I don't think there are any 'union labels' over here Bill? What do you suggest?

In our own best interest, we should unilaterally abolish all tariffs and other trade legislation, invite China and any other country to manipulate their exchange rates and dump as many products as they want on the American market, even though it may put our own manufacturers out of business and workers out of jobs, and invite them to refuse to buy any of our products at any price, and then be sure to send them Xmas cards, birthday cards and thank-you cards.

Not noticed your manufacturers queuing up to produce goods in China and shutting down your factories?

They can't afford our products as they are union built although this may change soon but I doubt it as China is in big shit as its dependent upon the American market and the trade debt its allowed the US to build up.

It could be a good idea if China floats on the ForEx markets but I think they'll do what we all did and not do this until they feel secure that the speculators can't run them.

.



Bob, I think there may be a future for you in the GOP or perhaps in the main stream media area.

I think you got the message. Your future looks bright!



.

I thought bob was being sarcastic Bill? As such I'd have thought he was agreeing with you or are you a GOPer?

I wasn't being sarcastic at all, I was dead serious, and I will be more than happy to elucidate if necessary.

.


I thought he was being sarcastic too.


That was hilarious. Whether bobevenson was intending to be or not.



.

Hilarious only to the hoi polloi.

.



Good stuff.


Thank you for posting.


.

Okay, I'll bite, as I can see why you may have meant some of it but very unsure why you think China should not join the ForEx market, nor why not being able to sell your products to them is a good thing?

.




By the Numbers: Republican Leadership Sits on Legislation to Rein in China Currency Manipulation


This is a cross-post from the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats:

Currency manipulation costs the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs, yet the Republicans fail to act.



Last fall the House passed legislation to crack down on China’s manipulation of its currency with overwhelming bipartisan support.



Earlier this year Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) introduced H.R. 639, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, to curtail continued Chinese currency manipulation. Despite bipartisan support in the House to crack down on China’s manipulation of its currency last fall, and the 189 bipartisan co-sponsors who support current legislation, the Republican leadership has refused to move forward on the measure this year.




China’s undervaluation of its currency artificially raises the price of U.S. exports to China and suppresses the price of Chinese imports into the United States. This manipulation closes opportunities for American business to sell their goods in China while flooding the U.S. market with cheap goods.





.

Why do you think China should join Nixons madness?

Bring back a Bretton Woods style of currency management and a gold standard and maybe they'll think of joining in.