Use of Shackles Detainees sentenced to death are normally shackled. The extensive use of handcuffs and shackles on prisoners sentenced to death appears to be in violation of international standards. The use of such restraints was criticised by the Special Rapporteur on Torture following his November 2005 visit to China. He recommended the practice be abolished. In 2015, the UN Committee Against Torture, after its review of China, stated that it “regrets the lack of information with regard to the regulation and due process rights concerning the use of restraints”. The Committee recommended that China “should avoid the use of restraints as much as possible or apply them, only if strictly regulated, as a measure of last resort, when less intrusive alternatives for control have failed and for the shortest possible time”. The rationale for the use of physical restraints seems to be that prisoners facing execution are deemed at risk of self-harm or suicide. The 1991 Notice on Instruments of Restraint in the Criminal Detention Centre states that the Ministry of Public Security shall define common standards for the use of instruments of restraint. In particular, handcuffs cannot exceed 0.5 kilos in weight and shackles cannot exceed 5 kilos. These instruments can be used only to stop or deter criminals from committing acts of violence, trying to escape, committing suicide or disrupting the supervisory and control system. For example, they can be used when the police are supervising detainees sentenced to death at the first instance, or whose capital punishment has been confirmed after review on appeal as well as other cases not specified. The 1990 Detention Centre Regulations do not provide the necessary guarantees for the protection of detainees when adopting measures of restraint. There are no specific provisions requiring detainees to be visited by a doctor prior to the adoption of measures of restraint. Persons sentenced to death are often held in cells with remand prisoners who can be expected to help them with eating and other functions. Family members of prisoners sentenced to death have also raised concerns about the overuse of shackles, questioned whether prisoners need their hands and feet cuffed at all times and how much pain and suffering is caused. In one case, the mother of a man sentenced to death said that when she met her son his feet were shackled so tightly that he had to wrap something around them to enable him to walk. She thought it was inhumane to constantly keep prisoners in shackles and that they should be allowed at least a certain degree of movement. Nian Bin, who was sentenced to death and held in detention for eight years before being exonerated, described being held in handcuffs at all times, with his hands attached to his feet by a chain. He said that in order to eat he would lower his face to a bowl like a dog and other inmates, who were not shackled, would brush his teeth, help him to dress and help him go to the toilet. He said that the pain he felt from being constantly shackled kept him awake at night. Meeting with Family In the current 1990 Detention Centre Regulations there is no reference to the particular needs of those facing execution to be in regular contact with lawyers and family members. Prisoners facing execution are seen as dangerous. The 2019 SPC Provisions, effective from 1 September 2019, require the courts 53