Courts across the country have cleared up 1,967 cases concerning
illegally extended custody, which were filed before the end of this
July, officials from the Supreme People's Court said Sunday.
They announced that a total of 4,060 suspects had been kept in
custody beyond the permitted time period.
There are widespread concerns about extended custody around
China because the illegal protraction of detention is a major
violation of the basic human rights of suspects in criminal
cases.
In China, suspects and those accused in criminal cases are
usually held in detention facilities until the court makes its
final judgment.
The legal period of custody of criminal suspects ranges from 14
days to six-and-a-half months between the arrest and the trial,
according to China's Criminal Procedure Law.
However, despite the strict limit provided by criminal
procedures on the term of custody and the use of mandatory forces,
protracted custody still occurs at times.
Among all the criminal suspects that have been discovered to be
detained for excessive periods, the number of suspects held up by
the courts ranks highest, according to Chen Zhendong, an official
with the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
In July, the Supreme People's Court issued a notice to order all
courts to clear up situations involving extended custody by the end
of this November.
Supreme Court President Xiao Yang said at a national courts
conference in August: "Trials of long-standing cases should all be
concluded before this November, especially criminal cases. Suspects
in criminal cases who are being held in extended custody and cannot
be found guilty should be released.''
In addition to the nation's judicial circles, China's public
security and prosecution bodies have also started to increase
efforts in fighting against such illegal actions.
The three State departments jointly issued a notice on November
12 to co-ordinate their operation in rectifying and preventing
protracted custody.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced last week that it
had discovered 16 more people being detained beyond the allowed
period, after it had exposed and resolved a total of 359 cases of
unlawfully extended custody by July 22.
(China Daily December 1, 2003)