China condemns confessions extracted by torture

BEIJING - China will crack down on the police practice of forcing confessions through torture, state media said yesterday, following the high-profile case of a man jailed for 11 years wrongly accused of murdering his wife.

Prosecutors must ask suspects if they were forced to confess during interrogations by police and must examine police records, Xinhua news agency said.

"If the torture is severe, police will be investigated and held legally responsible," it said.

Last month She Xianglin was freed after 11 years in jail after his wife turned up alive. He said he was tortured into admitting the crime.

Human rights groups have long criticised Chinese police for forcing confessions and beating and torturing detainees, but She's case, which was widely reported, also sparked outrage from within China over police brutality.

Since the case became public, She has asked for $US500,000 ($NZ716,537) in compensation for torture, confinement and economic loss, and China has launched a pilot project allowing interrogations to take place in front of video cameras and lawyers.

"Although strictly forbidden by law, forced confession is common in many places in China because the police are often under great pressure from above to solve criminal cases," Xinhua quoted a law professor who declined to be named as saying.

- REUTERS