In November 2005 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak, visited China and Tibet. This is the first time the SR on Torture has been able to visit China and Tibet, after successive efforts failed due to Chinese opposition.
The People's Republic of China ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT) in October 1988 and outlawed certain forms of torture in 1997. Nonetheless, today torture continues to be used extensively in Tibet's network of prisons and labor camps with the full knowledge of the PRC's leadership.
In an initial press statement in Beijing on 3 December 2005, Dr Manfred Nowak noted:
- that the overall conclusion of his visit was "that the practice of torture, though on the decline - particularly in urban areas - remains widespread in China". While Dr Nowak noted that despite areas of improvement in the Chinese legal system, there remain significant and serious concerns as to the actual implementation of the rule of law, the use of the death penalty for wide-ranging and vaguely defined offences, and the continued targeting and mistreatment of Tibetans.
- that in his interviews with detainees, "the Special Rapporteur observed a palpable level of fear and self-censorship, which he had not experienced in the course of his previous missions".
- that relating to the issue of torture in Tibet, he and his predecessors had received "serious allegations" of a "consistent and systematic pattern of torture related to ethnic minorities, particularly Tibetans and Uighurs..." and in great detail described specific torture techniques. He also distinguished between the creation of legal mechanisms and their actual implementation, hinting that levels of torture in Tibet were much greater than those reported.
- that there existed in China "conceptual or ideological constraints to the effective implementation of the prohibition of torture", citing the need for a culture of tolerance in societies with a successful human rights culture and highlighting the Chinese government's practice of Re-education through Labour as leading to a "culture of fear".
The Special Rapporteur will deliver his full report on his visit to China at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva in March 2006. ICT is calling on the Special Rapporteur to use this report to urge the Chinese government to take explicit and measurable actions to end the use of torture in Tibet.
You can find the full text of the Special Rapporteur's statement in Beijing here.
