China has agreed to allow a fact-finding mission by a top UN official mandated with investigating allegations of torture, the UN human rights agency said.
Manfred Nowak, the UN Human Rights Commission's special investigator on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, will visit China from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 to meet with government officials and get a firsthand look at Chinese detention centers.
"There are all kinds of allegations ranging from Falun Gong people to dissidents about the treatment in re-education through labor camps," Nowak said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "But these are only allegations, and I want to verify or falsify them as much as possible."
Nowak said he was pleased China had for the first time "finally accepted a visit, after years of negotiations," and said Beijing had not stipulated any conditions for his trip.
"I am very happy that the government actually fully accepted my terms of reference, which means that I'm able when I'm there to visit any place of detention and to visit any detainee in private," Nowak said.
Nowak said he also would examine "in general, the way people are treated in prisons after they are convicted and in particular, those sentenced to death."
Nowak will include his findings in a report to be submitted at next year's meeting of the commission, the UN's top rights watchdog. Nowak, a Vienna law professor, is one of several experts appointed by the 53-nation body.
While China outlawed torture in 1996, activists and lawyers say it is widely practiced in the country. But China's parliament has recently enacted new rules limiting police interrogations to 12 hours in a new effort to limit abuses after a series of highly publicized complaints.
The change came amid an unusual discussion by China's state media of the widespread use of torture and coercion by police, who are under pressure to crack cases with little professional training, after a false murder conviction was overturned in April. She Xianglin (佘祥林), who was released after 11 years in prison, said he was tortured into confessing.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS