CHINA IS considering amendments to its criminal code that would allow police to secretly detain suspects in big terrorism, state security and corruption cases in secret locations for up to six months.
The changes in the "residential surveillance" or house arrest laws, reported this week in the official Legal Dailynewspaper, would effectively legalise the forced disappearance of dissidents, because a detainee's family would not need to be notified during that time.
Police would need permission from a prosecutor or public security agency to detain people in a “specified location” in such cases when they believe holding them at home could “obstruct the investigation”, the report said.
Any amendments to the law will require the rubber stamp of approval by the National People’s Congress when it meets for its annual parliamentary session in March.
However, the forced disappearance of dissidents by state security already happens in China and there are fears the new rules could simply give legitimacy to the practice, and make it harder for foreign governments to say that Chinese human rights abuses are “illegal”.
Prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng disappeared in April 2010, after a short time out following a previous incarceration, and he has not been seen or heard from since.
Other activists are often held for days, weeks or months in secret locations before being released without charge. The situation is particularly acute in the current environment as the government cracks down on dissent ahead of a change of leadership next year. China is also worried that the wave of revolutions deposing authoritarian governments in North Africa and the Middle East could spread its way.
The prominent artist Ai Weiwei was “disappeared” by police earlier this year and was only released after three months’ detention at a secret location on tax evasion charges. He is barred from leaving Beijing for a year.