Imposition of the Death Penalty and its Impact in China_ The Rights Practice_ April 2022 Torture, in its concluding observations of China in 2015 stated that it “regrets the lack of information with regard to the regulation and due process rights concerning the use of restraints”.5 9. Food in detention centres in China is of low quality and low nutritional value. Family members and friends can deposit funds for detainees to purchase better food and sanitary products but this is often denied prisoners in politically sensitive cases. It is not known if this is also the case for those facing the death penalty. Centres also do not accommodate the specific needs of detainees such as those with physical, learning and mental disabilities, healthcare and religious observance. 10. In the 1990 Regulations there is no reference to the particular needs of individuals facing execution to be in regular contact with lawyers and family members. The role of lawyers is also restricted and the lack of adequate funding for legal aid in death penalty cases discriminates against defendants of lower economic status. China cannot guarantee that an individual sentenced to death is provided with an effective defence, as set out in international law. 11. The Criminal Procedure Law of the PRC (2018), Article 39, sets out the rights to access a lawyer within 48 hours of being detained. 6 Defence lawyers have the right to meet and communicate with criminal suspects and defendants in custody, following the first police interrogation, in the initial investigation stage. A new Legal Aid Law, which came into effect on 1 January 2022, provides the right to a legal aid lawyer for suspects in criminal cases at the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) Review Stage of a death penalty case. 7 In practice, governmentappointed legal aid lawyers work ‘within the system’ and in line with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) priorities, rather than the defendant and legal aid is poorly funded. Defence lawyers who work ‘outside of the system’ and more independently often face obstacles meeting their clients and accessing their case files. 2) Impact of the death penalty on family members, including children of parents sentenced to death. 12. Relatives of individuals sentenced to death and executed have spoken about their suffering and the impact on their mental health. They have spent time and resources campaigning for lesser sentences and exoneration. In October 2021, Wu Chi-man, a Hong Kong man, with a history of mental health problems, was executed in mainland China having been sentenced to death in 2017 for drug trafficking. His parents had not been able to see their son for years until Chinese authorities informed them that they could meet, shortly before he was due to be executed. The family had appealed to both Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to give Wu Chi-man a lesser sentence, they felt he was a “good son” and deserved a “way out” and chance to “correct himself.”8 13. The mother of a man executed in 2008 continues to appeal to the courts on behalf of her child and believes he was wrongfully killed. She said she was not notified about her son’s execution before it happened, and neither were other family members or his lawyer. They were not allowed to meet with him shortly before he was executed. This lack of information increases the suffering of family members of those sentenced to death. In 2019, new provisions were introduced in China to ensure that individuals sentenced to death, their family members and lawyers are informed of the imminent execution but it is not known the extent to which courts are following these guidelines in practice (see section 4 below for more details). United Nations Committee Against Torture. “Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of China.” December 2015. https://bit.ly/3xTS22X 6 Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, 2018. Chinese official: http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/201811/05/content_2065631.htm Unofficial English translation, China Law Translate: https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/criminal-procedurelaw-2018/ 7 Legal Aid Law of the People’s Republic of China, 20 August 2021. Official Chinese: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/202108/20/content_5632494.htm; NPC Observer, “NPCSC Codifies Three-Child Policy, Expands Legal Aid & Updates Military Service Law and Physicians Law”, 24 August 2021. https://npcobserver.com/2021/08/24/npcsc-codifies-three-child-policy-expands-legal-aid-updates-militaryservice-law-and-physicians-law/ 8 Ho, Kelly. “China executes Hongkonger with history of mental illness over drug trafficking.” Hong Kong Free Press. 29 October 2021. https://hongkongfp.com/2021/10/29/china-executes-hongkonger-with-history-of-mental-illness-over-drug-trafficking/ 5 3