Human Rights Watch says 43 Uighur men disappeared after being detained by Chinese security forces in the wake of protests.

The Chinese government should immediately account for all detainees in its custody and allow independent investigations into the July 2009 protests in Urumqi and their aftermath, Human Rights Watch said in a new report on enforced “disappearances” released today.
The 44-page report, “‘We Are Afraid to Even Look for Them’: Enforced Disappearances in the Wake of [...]

HRW: Xinjian trials deny justice

The trials of 21 defendants accused of participating in the violent July 2009 protests in Urumqi did not meet minimum international standards of due process and fair trials, Human Rights Watch said.

Annual Report of the UN Committee against Torture – Terrorism related issues

Read the 380 pages report here.
Consideration of reports submitted by state parties under article 19 CAT.
On China
p.27: The Committee appreciates the information on the importance given by the State party to anti-terrorist work and the information on their attempts to strengthen anti-terrorism legislation and other relevant measures, including international cooperation against terrorism. Notwithstanding this information, [...]

China Says It Disrupted Bomb Plot in Xinjiang

The announcement, from the Public Security Ministry, said the authorities had arrested six people who had established three bomb-making workshops and assembled about 20 explosive devices in a town 430 miles outside the Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi. Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, questioned whether the police had uncovered hard evidence or were merely [...]

Academic Articles and opinions worth reading

Jens David Ohlin (Cornell Law School) has posted The Torture Lawyers (Harvard International Law Journal, Forthcoming) on SSRN.
Laurence R. Helfer (Duke Univ. – Law) and Emilie Hafner-Burton have a new piece on “Opting Out: Derogations from Human Rights Treaties in National Emergencies“
Peter Margulies (Roger Williams University School of Law) has posted The Wages of Playing [...]

China: New Law on People’s Armed Police Passed

On August 27, 2009, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress passed the Law on the People’s Armed Police, in seven chapters comprising 38 articles. It was promulgated and in force on that same date. The chapters cover general provisions, tasks and official duties, obligations and rights, safeguards, supervision and inspection, legal liability, and [...]

China scales back censorship plans

The Register reports that China’s minister of industry, information and technology said Green Dam Filtering software would be compulsory for all computers in schools and public internet cafes, but not for individual PCs.

China Police Say 2.75 Million Surveillance Cameras Installed Nationwide, System To Expand

China’s police say they have installed 2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003 and are expanding the system into the largely neglected countryside.
The cameras are the most visible components of police surveillance and notification systems installed around the country, mainly in urban areas, according to a news release posted Monday on the Public Security Ministry’s Web [...]

China authorities to charge 83 in Xianjang riots

[JURIST] Authorities in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday announced charges of murder, intentional injury, arson, and robbery against 83 people accused of participating in violent demonstrations in the capital city of Urumqi in early July. Xinjiang Prosecutor Utiku’er Abudrehman said that 718 people, both Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uighur, are currently detained [...]

US Congressman Delahunt calls on Gates to allow UN investigators access to Guantanamo; asks for explanation of current detainee visitation policy

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, sent on July 23 and obtained by The Lift, the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, finds the decision to exclude UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion an protection of human rights while countering terrorism Martin Scheinin [...]