BEIJING, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture at the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement Friday after two weeks in China.
One section of Nowak's eight-page news release covered "Situation of torture and ill-treatment," a chilling catalog of types of human cruelty that have been and continue to be documented by international human rights organizations monitoring the Chinese. The statement said "methods of torture alleged include, among others: beatings; use of electric shock batons; cigarette burns; hooding/blindfolding; guard-instructed or permitted beatings by fellow prisoners; use of handcuffs or ankle fetters for extended periods (including in solitary confinement or secure holding areas); submersion in pits of water or sewage; exposure to conditions of extreme heat or cold; being forced to maintain uncomfortable positions, such as sitting squatting, lying down, or standing for long periods of time, sometimes with objects held under arms; deprivation of sleep, food or water; prolonged solitary confinement; denial of medical treatment and medication; hard labor; and suspension from overhead fixtures from handcuffs.
"In several cases, the techniques employed have been given particular terminologies, such as the 'tiger bench,' where one is force to sit motionless on a tiny stool centimeters (inches) off the ground; 'reversing an airplane,' where one is forced to bend over while holding legs straight, feet close together and arms lifted high; or 'exhausting an eagle,' where one is forced to stand on a tall stool and subjected to beatings until exhausted," it continued.
On the basis of the information received during his mission, "the Special Rapporteur confirms that many of these methods of torture have been used in China."
Nowak said he could not make a detailed determination on the current scale of abuse, but "the practice of torture, though on the decline, remains widespread in China."
Nowak's report emphasized the need for China to deepen its legal reforms.
"There is a need for much more structural reform: the whole criminal system, criminal procedure, criminal law, needs to be brought in line with the internationally accepted minimum standards of fair trial," Nowak said.
"The crime of torture under Chinese criminal law does not fully comply with the definition of in the United Nations' convention on torture; in other words torture in China is defined in much more restrictive terms, primarily physical torture that actually leads to physical injuries," he added.
Nowak noted: "Whereas many of the forms that we that encountered were psychological forms or physical torture that doesn't leave any kind of scars." He mentioned cases where prisoners are forced "to stand, or sit, or lie for a prolonged period of time in a stressed position that might cause severe pain or suffering but it doesn't leave direct marks or physical injuries falling under this definition.
"There are major pre-conditions in the criminal procedure that prevent torture which are missing -- there's no presumption of innocence; there's no habeas corpus proceedings so that a court actually decides about detention and reviews the detention. Detainees have no right to remain silent," he said.
Nowak mentioned China's lack of an effective complaint system. "There are formal complaint systems in all prisons and detention facilities I visited, but people are not making use of it."
In the special rapporteur's opinion, prosecutors were not officials best suited for supervising the police and prison guards "because at the same time they are also prosecuting authorities and share similar aims."
The two-week investigative visit by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was hampered by elements of China's security apparatus.
Nowak told reporters in Beijing: "There were serious incidents of obstructing my mission by the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Public Security.
"There was frequent surveillance of interviews I had outside prisons with victims and family members by intelligence agents who tried to listen to our private conversations, and we also had many reports that victims and family members were actually prevented from meeting me by various means -- putting them under house arrest, preventing them physically from coming to me, intimidation," he said.
The Special Rapporteur said he raised the issue in an early meeting with the foreign affairs minister and credited the department for intervening on the U.N.'s behalf. "This type of intensive surveillance later was reduced. It was never fully gone, but I could carry out my meetings in a much more open atmosphere later," Nowak noted.
"I noticed a palpable level of fear and self-censorship of those detainees I interviewed," he said.
Nowak added he'd approached a considerable of people, including those whose names and cases had been brought to his attention, who refused to speak with him for reasons he said were "probably out of fear."
Others who had been subjected to torture in many cases asked for absolute confidentiality. Nowak said, "I will not be able to include their reports as an annex to my report to the U.N., which is of course public."
Nowak said China's "size, diversity, the relatively short period of the mission, obstructions and also self-censorship and fear have an important impact on my findings," he said.
