Inmates' rights program to get a boost

In February 2010, Wang Yahui, a resident in Lushan county of Henan province, was taken into custody by local police for alleged burglary offenses. He died three days later in a detention center with his body full of bruises. Local police first attributed his death to his drinking hot water during his interrogation. However, four policemen were later found to have extorted confessions by torture.

In May 2011, Du Huiqian, a woman in Weinan city of Shaanxi province, was detained on suspicion of trafficking narcotics and put into a detention center. She died five days later in the center after a female police officer asked several inmates to silence the woman, who was said to have bothered other inmates. Investigation found out that Du was beaten to death. Three officers involved were arrested.

Improvement achieved

The incidents sparked a wave of criticism from the public and media, which compelled authorities to oversee the management of detention centers and take action to improve their image.

As of March, a total of 2,100 detention centers, or more than 70 percent of such facilities in China, have been open to regular public visits, Zhao Chunguang, director of the prison administration bureau at the Ministry of Public Security, told People's Daily in an earlier report.

All of Beijing's detention centers have been open for public visits as of March 2010, according to the Beijing police.

In January 2011, 69 police liaison officers from 47 embassies visited two detention centers in Beijing at the invitation of public security authorities.

"Before the opening measures, detention centers hardly thought about improving their transparency," said Fan Chongyi, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law. "Even for us law researchers, it was difficult to look into those centers. They were once a corner out of the public's sight."

"Now authorities actively invite us to visit their centers and ask for our opinions and suggestions. It is a huge step."

As of April, 845 detention centers across China had set up psychological consulting rooms and 1,122 police officers from 745 centers had gained certificate for psychological consulting.

The National Development and Reform Commission invested more than 9.3 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in the construction of detention centers' infrastructure in 2011 and planned to set aside 46.3 billion yuan to improve such centers' infrastructure during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15).

The standards for inmates' food have also largely improved since June 2009, when the public security and finance ministries required local authorities to improve inmates' dietetic conditions, the Public Security Ministry's Zhao said.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn