China: UN investigator says torture remains widespread

Torture by authorities remains widespread in China, although it appears to be becoming less prevalent in big cities, the United Nations said today after a groundbreaking visit by a special investigator.

“Torture, though on decline particularly in urban areas, remains widespread in China,” the world body said in a statement released at the end of a trip by Manfred Nowak, the UN Human Rights Commission’s special investigator on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.