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China's procuratorates will phase in the practice of audiotape and videotape interrogation of suspects in job-related crimes, China's Procurator-General Jia Chunwang said Saturday in his report to the ongoing annual parliament session.
"It shows China has begun to use high technology to collect criminal evidences," said Fan Chongyi, director of the center on the research of procedural law with the China University of Political Science and Law.
He said audio and video materials, which developed countries started to use as evidences in litigation in the 1970s, help to cement validity of confessions of suspects and also prevent inquisition by torture.
According to a decision of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the job of audiotaping and videotaping interrogation process will be introduced in the following three phases:
The first phase starts from March 1, 2006, procuratorates across the country began to audiotape the whole course of interrogation of suspects in job-related crimes; the Supreme People's Procuratorate, provincial procuratorates and some municipal procuratorates in the eastern areas began to videotape the whole course of interrogation of suspects in bribery cases and key job-related crimes.
In the second phase, some municipal procuratorates in central and western regions and county procuratorates in the eastern region will audiotape and videotape the whole course of interrogation of suspects in bribery cases and key job-related crimes.
In the third phase, the whole course of interrogation of suspects in job-related crimes will be audiotaped and videotaped in all Chinese procuratorates from Oct. 1, 2007.
Che Chunbin, a deputy to the Tenth National People's Congress ( NPC), said the new practice reflects the spirit of China's Constitution to respect and guarantee human rights.
At the ongoing NPC annual session, NPC deputies have proposed introducing the practice in police interrogation of suspects.
"The entire process of police interrogation in cases that may result in death penalties should be videotaped to prevent police inquisition by torture," said NPC deputy Yu Min in a proposal to the NPC.
The means of torture is "terrible" in some cases, which led to very serious consequences, said Yu.
The case of She Xianglin, a wrongly convicted man released after more than 10 years in jail, aroused keen public attention last year. She, a former security guard in central China's Hubei Province, was convicted of murdering his wife in 1994. But his wife had actually fled home due to disappointment with her marriage.
His wife reappeared in 2005 and cleared him of the charge. The Jingshan County Public Security Bureau, which handled the case, gave 450,000 yuan (US$56,000) to She in compensation for his mental suffering and economic losses.
This and other similar cases lead people to the thinking that the inquisition by torture is involved in police interrogation.
"It's apparently not enough to merely ask judicial staff to change their mindset," said Yu Min. "Necessary measures are also needed."
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2006)
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