{"id":154842,"date":"2013-04-21T18:17:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T01:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=154842"},"modified":"2013-04-21T18:47:57","modified_gmt":"2013-04-22T01:47:57","slug":"forced-confessions-draw-fresh-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/04\/forced-confessions-draw-fresh-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Forced Confessions Draw Fresh Scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"
In 2003, Zhang Gaoping and his nephew Zhang Hui confessed to the rape and murder of Wang Dong, a 17-year-old girl the two had picked up while passing through Zhejiang province. Both were incarcerated until late last month, when they were acquitted based on evidence that their confessions were forced<\/a><\/strong>. People’s Daily reports:<\/p>\n […]The\u00a0pair\u00a0were\u00a0acquitted\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0Zhejiang\u00a0Provincial\u00a0High\u00a0People\u2019s\u00a0Court\u00a0on\u00a0March 26. The\u00a0court\u00a0said\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0possible\u00a0that\u00a0police\u00a0used\u00a0illegal\u00a0methods\u00a0to\u00a0accumulate\u00a0evidence when\u00a0investigating\u00a0the\u00a0case\u00a010\u00a0years\u00a0ago.<\/p>\n The\u00a0court\u00a0reversed\u00a0its\u00a02004\u00a0ruling\u00a0that\u00a0included\u00a0a\u00a0death\u00a0sentence\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0two-year reprieve\u00a0for\u00a0Zhang\u00a0Hui\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a015-year\u00a0prison\u00a0term\u00a0for\u00a0his\u00a0uncle,\u00a0Zhang\u00a0Gaoping,\u00a0for raping\u00a0and\u00a0murdering\u00a0a\u00a0woman\u00a0in\u00a0Hangzhou,\u00a0Zhejiang\u00a0province,\u00a0as\u00a0there\u00a0was\u00a0new evidence\u00a0showing\u00a0the\u00a0possibility\u00a0of\u00a0another\u00a0suspect.\u00a0Evidence\u00a0presented\u00a0during\u00a0the previous\u00a0trial\u00a0was\u00a0not\u00a0enough\u00a0to\u00a0support\u00a0the\u00a0conviction.<\/p>\n […]Both\u00a0men\u00a0claimed\u00a0they\u00a0were\u00a0forced into confess[ion] after\u00a0a\u00a0long\u00a0interrogation.<\/p>\n In\u00a0an\u00a0interview\u00a0with\u00a0China\u00a0Central\u00a0Television,\u00a0Zhang\u00a0Gaoping\u00a0said\u00a0the\u00a0interrogation lasted\u00a0for\u00a0seven\u00a0consecutive\u00a0days\u00a0with\u00a0no\u00a0sleep\u00a0and\u00a0little\u00a0food,\u00a0and\u00a0added\u00a0that\u00a0he\u00a0was forced\u00a0to\u00a0stay\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0squatting\u00a0posture\u00a0for\u00a0a\u00a0long\u00a0period\u00a0of\u00a0time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A Xinhua report providing\u00a0details of the night the two freighters picked up Wang Dong<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>also notes that the two were forced into confession:<\/p>\n <\/strong>On the night of May 18, 2003, Zhang Gaoping and his nephew Zhang Hui gave 17-year-old Wang Dong a free ride when they were transporting freight to Shanghai.<\/p>\n They dropped the girl off in the city of Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province at 1:50 a.m. the next morning and continued on their way to Shanghai.<\/p>\n Wang’s naked body was discovered later that day. The two men became the principal suspects in her death and were detained on May 23, as they were the last people to have seen Wang alive. However, police could not find any physical evidence to charge Zhang and his nephew with the crime.<\/p>\n […]Zhang Gaoping said they were forced to confess to the crime under great pressure and torture from police and their fellow inmates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Using forced confessions to implicate accused criminals dates back to China’s imperial past<\/a>, but recent measures have been made to curb the practice – \u00a0in 2010 the Supreme People’s Court passed regulations banning torture-drawn confessions<\/a>. In 2011, a Hong Kong University study found a 95 percent confession rate<\/a> in China, hinting that torture was still widely-used in extracting confessions. In late 2012 the ban on forced confessions was reiterated<\/a>\u00a0after the\u00a0Criminal Procedure Law was amended to enhance suspects’ rights in non-political cases<\/a>. In an in-depth report detailing the Zhangs sentencing, interrogation, road to appeal, and release, the Washington Post notes the rare government acceptance of fault in this case – as expressed in the official media acknowledgment of forced confession and also the apologetic behavior of justice officials as the men were released – and how it can be seen as a product of political infighting<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that this case is coming out now,\u201d said Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cIt\u2019s part of an effort by the pro-legal reforms faction to overcome the resistance of the security apparatus.\u201d<\/p>\n […]Justice officials who were in court when the men were released apologized and bowed to them. Later, through a court spokesman, officials acknowledged to reporters that their conviction appears to have been based on confessions that were coerced with violence and threats.<\/p>\n […]On the day he was released, standing before the justice system that wronged him, Zhang said: \u201cToday you are judges and prosecutors, but your descendants won\u2019t necessarily be the same. If there is no change in institutions and laws, your descendants could be wrongfully accused and teeter on the brink of the death penalty like us. Please remember that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For more on legal reform<\/a> and\u00a0forced confession<\/a>, see prior CDT coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2003, Zhang Gaoping and his nephew Zhang Hui confessed to the rape and murder of Wang Dong, a 17-year-old girl the two had picked up while passing through Zhejiang province. Both were incarcerated until late last month, when they were acquitted based on evidence that their confessions were forced. People’s Daily reports: […]The\u00a0pair\u00a0were\u00a0acquitted\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0Zhejiang\u00a0Provincial\u00a0High\u00a0People\u2019s\u00a0Court\u00a0on\u00a0March 26. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":985,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[34,10,14744,14745,14746,100],"tags":[14763,4902,836,1858,4847,14574,619],"class_list":["post-154842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-law","category-level-2-article","category-level-3-article","category-level-4-article","category-politics","tag-criminal-procedure-law","tag-forced-confessions","tag-legal-reform","tag-murder","tag-prisoners-rights","tag-rape","tag-torture","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n