The Chinese Government enacted in January
1997 major revisions to the Criminal Procedure Law, which governs China's criminal justice
system. While the new law provides for increased human rights protections in several areas
of this system, further reforms are urgently needed to meet international standards for
the treatment of detainees and for a fair trial.
The 1997 revisions clearly indicate that international
pressure is effective in bringing positive change to China. The new law demonstrates,
according to the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, "that China has begun to
reorient its criminal justice system away from a dominant preoccupation with social
control toward greater concern for the protection of defendants' rights."
Your letter can help maintain the momentum for reform of
China's criminal justice system and strengthen human rights protections for the people of
China and Tibet.
Enter your name and address, and a sample letter will be
automatically generated. You can then copy it into your word processor to send
by post or fax. The cost to mail a letter from the United States to China is $0.60.
