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SCIO briefing on implementation of National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020)

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Southern Metropolis Daily:

The National Human Rights Action Plan has proposed refining the system of pleas for leniency. What can be done to ensure that defendants' confessions are made voluntarily and that their punishments are accepted willingly? Thank you.

Li Xiao:

Thank you for your question. The system of pleas for leniency was included in the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018. I will answer your questions from four aspects. First, in terms of legislation, the personnel in charge of cases should perform the duties of disclosure, granting the right to information to all suspects and defendants. Second, we have established a duty system to ensure that defendants can make correct decisions with the help of a lawyer, either designated by legal aid agencies or entrusted by themselves. Third, at the trial stage, the courts should comprehensively review whether confessions were made voluntarily and punishments were accepted willingly. If the statements and actions were not made voluntarily by the defendants, the case should be transferred to the trial of ordinary procedure. Fourth, defendants are granted the right to go back on their word. We will ensure the voluntariness from these four aspects.

Regarding the long-term mechanism you mentioned, the newly added Chapter 27 of the judicial interpretation of China's revised Criminal Procedure Law released by the Supreme People's Court in February elaborates on the careful handling process of guilty-plea cases. Thank you.

Global Times:

In recent years, China has become increasingly active in multilateral human rights governance and raised proposals related to human rights on many occasions, especially at the UNHRC. Many Western media and think tanks have stated that China is redefining the concept of human rights which has long been defined by the West. I would like to know, how do you evaluate China's performance in global human rights governance? Thank you.

Li Xiaomei:

Thank you for your question and your interest in China's participation in the global human rights cause. As I mentioned before, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's legitimate rights in the United Nations. Peace, development and human rights are the three pillars of the U.N.'s work. China has always firmly supported multilateralism, safeguarded the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and participated in depth in the work of the UNHRC and the General Assembly Third Committee. China is one of only a few nations to have been elected as a member of the UNHRC five times. In the past few years, we have made a string of proposals based around international situations and domestic contexts, including a 2016 initiative to bolster public health capacity building to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In 2017, UNHRC adopted two resolutions on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights, and the right to food. Both the resolutions called for efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Incorporated in a number of the council's resolutions since then, the concept of "community with a shared future for mankind" has increasingly become a key component in the global discourse on human rights matters.

China has repeatedly put forward the proposal titled "The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights" at the UNHRC, which proposes including the idea of "promoting human rights through development" in the international human rights system. On May 28, a seminar on The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights was held by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), bringing together representatives from over 200 countries and organizations. In March, the UNHRC adopted a China-initiated resolution calling on all parties to strengthen win-win cooperation in the field of human rights, forge a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

When it comes to global human rights governance, China opposes egotism and bullying and supports fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation. Certain countries have adopted an expedient attitude toward multilateralist human rights groups and attempted to tweak international rules for their own interests, which is typical unilateralism. China proposes integrating the universality and particularity of human rights, respecting other countries' right to independently choose human rights development path and defending democratic and law-based international relations. In a manner of speaking, the human rights concepts China championed have constantly enriched the global discourse on human rights affairs, promoted the sound development of international human rights governance, and gained positive responses and wide support from the international community, especially developing countries. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

That is all for today's policy briefing. Thank you to all the speakers, and thank you to all of our friends from the media.

Translated and edited by Zhu Bochen, Wang Wei, Mi Xingang, Li Huiru, Duan Yaying, Zhang Rui, Wang Yiming, Wang Qian, Liu Jianing, Huang Shan, Yang Xi, Zhang Junmian, Xu Xiaoxuan, Yuan Fang, Qin Qi, Fan Junmei, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.