Supreme court rules out confession through torture
Print Edition
The Supreme People’s Court has told judges in China to exclude evidence and testimonies obtained through torture or other illegal methods.
According to a court document on setting up and improving a mechanism to prevent wrong judgments in criminal cases, illegal evidence and defendant testimony obtained through torture or methods such as forcing the accused to suffer from extreme temperatures, hunger and fatigue must be ruled out.
“Evidence must be valued. The traditional concept and practice of a testimony being the most paramount should be changed, and more attention should be paid to examining and using material evidence,” the document says.
There has been widespread concern over the methods used by some law enforcement officers in their attempts to wrap up cases quickly by obtaining testimony or confessions by force.
In a 2010 case, Zhao Zuohai, a villager in the central Henan Province, aroused national sympathy when it was discovered he had spent 10 years in prison for murdering a man who was actually alive.
Zhao was acquitted and released from prison after the supposedly murdered victim showed up alive. Three former police officers were arrested for allegedly torturing Zhao into confessing to a crime that had never taken place.
The document says courts should strictly follow legal procedures and responsibilities during a case, and they are forbidden to take part in investigations by police and prosecuting organs.
Cases that might involve wrong judgments should be counterchecked, and rulings that have been determined to be improper must be corrected in a timely manner.
“People’s courts must stick to exercising their jurisdiction lawfully and independently ... They should not make any judgments against the law under the pressure of public opinion or involved parties’ appeals, or in the name of ‘maintaining social stability.’”
The document, made public yesterday, echoes a high-profile reform plan approved earlier this month which promised to improve human rights by reducing the number of death sentences, preventing confessions through torture, and other measures.
Capital punishment should be handed down by seasoned judges and must be ruled out if evidence is not sufficient, the document stresses.
A court should rule a defendant innocent in accordance with the law if the evidence is not enough for conviction. And if evidence is adequate to prove guilt, but not enough for judges to determine the sentence, the court should rule in favor of the defendant.
The document also went into great details in stipulating court procedures and the validity of testimonies and evidence, such as interrogation locations and the authentication of fingerprints, blood stains and hairs.
The document follows a set of rules jointly issued in 2010 by five bodies — the SPC, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the ministries of public security, state security and justice.
The rules stipulate that facts and evidence used to convict must be indubitable and sufficient, and evidence in doubt or obtained illegally must be excluded.
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