China to enact new secret detention law

The first additions to China’s criminal procedure law since 1996 would allow police to detain suspects secretly and outside the formal detention system for up to six months, the Financial Times reported. Dissidents and foreign businesspeople will be subject to greater likelihood of secret detention if accused of crimes related to terrorism, national security or major bribery. The law is expected to pass the National People’s Congress today. Nicholas Bequelin at Human Rights Watch notes this law “has major implications for foreign businesspeople who fall foul of powerful interest groups.” The Chinese government has touted the legal revisions as a step forward for human rights, pointing out the provisions strengthen procedural protections for ordinary suspects. However, the new law would legalize incommunicado detentions similar to those American citizen Xue Feng and dissident-artist Ai Weiwei underwent, which barred legal counsel and subjected them to torture.