t the popular Falun Gong spiritual movement, the government has also employed every element of the state-controlled media to conduct a nationwide anti-Falun Gong propaganda (Amnesty International. “China, violations of human rights). The press however, has still continued to report on cases of corruption and abuse of power by some local officials. Actually, it is also estimated that several thousand, are detained in violation of international human rights instruments for peacefully expressing their political, religious, or social views (Amnesty International. “China, violations of human rights).Another current problem is torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. The law in China prohibits torture. However, police and other members of the security have employed torture and degrading treatment in dealing with detainees and prisoners (Amnesty International. “China, violations of human rights). Former detainees and the press reported credibly that officials have used electric shocks, prolonged periods of solitary confinement, incommunicado detention, beatings, shackles, and other forms of abuse against detained men and women (Amnesty International. “China, violations of human rights). Prominent dissident Liu Nianchun, who was released in December 1998, reported that guards used an electric stun gun on him (China Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1999). Persons detained pending trial were particularly at risk during pretrial detention, due to weaknesses in the legal system or lack of the implementation of the revised Criminal Procedure Law. In February a domestic publication reported that an engineer in Liaoning province, who was suspected of theft, suffered brain damage as a result of hours of beatings while in police custody. The police eventually determined that the engineer was innocent and released her. She later sued the local government. Chinese reporters who attended her trial sai...
