Beijing: China on Saturday refuted Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticism over deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet, amid tense stand off in the region over a spate of suicides by Buddhist monks and anti-regime protests. The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), denied HRW criticism that "police dominate criminal justice system, which relies disproportionately on defendants' confessions."
"Weak courts and tight limits on the rights of the defence mean that forced confessions under torture remain prevalent and miscarriages of justice frequent," HRW said.
The Daily said HRW statement "seriously distorted" the truth of China's human rights conditions as a whole and its description of the country's judicial reforms is "particularly biased and untrue."
"It is known that China's criminal justice system is not dominated by police organs, but consists of investigation organs led by the police organs, people's procuratorates and people's courts," said the article.
The rejoinder came as China grappled with continuing protests by Tibetan in Sichuan province. Sixteen monks and nuns attempted self immolations in the recent months calling for return of Dalai Lama.
China said two protestors were killed early this week when demonstrators clashed with police. The daily said under Chinese law, criminal prosecution proposals raised by police must be reviewed by procuratorial authorities before a decision on whether to bring criminal cases to court can be made by the latter.
China's criminal justice system is not dominated by police organs, but operates based on the work of all three parties - people's courts, people's procuratorates, and police - who play their own assigned roles and restrain from each other, the article said.
"The rights and role of defence lawyers in the handling of criminal cases has been strengthened, and the phenomenon of excessive reliance on defendants' confessions is diminishing," it said.
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