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China's Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Wang Zhenchuan, has acknowledged that almost
every defendant wrongfully convicted of a crime in recent years was tortured
to extract a confession. China's official Xinhua news agency quotes Wang
Zhenchuan as saying that at least 30 people every year are wrongfully
convicted because of torture, and the actual number could be higher.
China's top prosecutors have been leading a campaign to crack down on
police who use illegal interrogation methods to get confessions of guilt from
suspected criminals. In March, Beijing introduced new guidelines that require
police to make audio and video recordings of all interrogations involving
major cases, such as murder and gang violence.
A special U.N. investigator has said torture is on the decline in China,
but remains widespread.
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