Calls to rein in street inspectors over booklet on beatings

Calls for greater oversight over the mainland's notorious urban-management units have grown after an instruction booklet teaching the street inspectors how to beat disobedient people without leaving physical marks was posted on the internet by an unknown party.

The 2006 booklet, which appeared on popular internet discussion forum Tianya.cn over the past few days, offered 'tips and useful techniques' on how to manhandle 'troublemakers' without leaving any signs of physical abuse.

The urban-management officers, hired by city or township governments to keep streets clean and free of street vendors, are not part of the police force and are not supposed to use violence. But because of lack of supervision and chaotic management, the officers regularly use abusive force on people who refuse to obey their orders. Their thuggish behaviour has led to several widely reported scandals in which innocent people were physically abused or even killed by urban-management officers over trivial disputes.

The booklet posted online teaches the officers tips such as 'not to draw blood on the face or leave visible injuries on the body of the people you deal with. Do not let anyone see you. Carry out your hit quickly.'

In a statement, Beijing municipal government's department of urban management, which commissioned the book, said it was meant as an internal handbook and it had never authorised its publication.

An employee at the publishing house affiliated to the National School of Administration confirmed that they published the book in 2006, but she refused to say if they were authorised to do so.