Graft buster says officials’ interrogations should be recorded
Comments from Wang Qishan come as global rights group attacks China’s system of holding corruption suspects without charge
The Communist Party’s anti-graft organs should videotape all interrogations, top graft-buster Wang Qishan has said, according to state media.
Wang’s comments came at a time when the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and its local branches are under increased scrutiny, as their power to interrogate and detain is not guaranteed or regulated by law.
“Power without containment is dangerous,” Wang said during a trip to Jiangsu province that ended on Tuesday, CCTV reported. He said anti-graft authorities should videotape all interrogations, as well as clarify the rules on handling seized property.
The report on Wang came as a global rights group called on the mainland to stop holding party members without charge, releasing a report criticising the system on the unofficial four-year anniversary of the graft crackdown by President Xi Jinping.
The practice known as shuanggui, which the party uses to get confessions from corruption suspects, perpetuated rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Tuesday in Hong Kong. Such detentions are a key part of Xi’s anti-graft campaign, which began on December 6, 2012 with the investigation of Li Chuncheng, a top official in Sichuan province.
The reliance on extrajudicial “disappearances” by Xi and Wang undercut the government’s pledge to strengthen the rule of law, the rights group said.