U.N. Investigator: China Abuse Widespread

[rodeodance]

....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/china_un_torture;_ylt=AnZRr4JYkYQxKlt9aam_D_ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
U.N. Investigator: China Abuse Widespread

By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago

BEIJING - The first U.N. torture investigator to visit China said Friday that abuse was still widespread and authorities subjected detainees to electric shocks, beatings and sleep deprivation. He also accused the government of obstructing his work.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Human Rights Commission's special investigator on torture, told reporters at the end of his trip that certain groups have been particular targets of torture: political dissidents, human rights activists, practitioners of
Falun Gong, unofficial church groups and Tibetan and Uighur minorities.

Nowak's visit, which began Nov. 21, capped a decade-long effort by the U.N. to send an investigator to look into claims of torture and mistreatment by Chinese authorities. Beijing has repeatedly agreed to allow the visits and then postponed them.

When asked about the prevalence of torture, which was outlawed in 1996, Nowak replied: "I consider it on the decline but still widespread."

Nowak visited detention centers in Beijing, Tibet and the Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang, and held talks with top Chinese prosecutors and justice officials.

[Stockholm]

1. "But mom, everyone is doing it..."

n/t

[Benhurst]

2. Hey, these sound like people we can deal with!

:puke: