August 28-September 3
China
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that “serious human rights violations” have been committed in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region against the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities in the name of counter-terrorism. The office issued its report in the final hours of Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term as high commissioner, and more than three months after her visit to Xinjiang. The report recommends that the Chinese government promptly release all individuals arbitrarily imprisoned in Xinjiang and undertake a full legal review of its national security and counter-terrorism policies to ensure compliance with binding international human rights law. The Chinese government issued a lengthy response.
The Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and Ministry of Public Security jointly issued Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Criminal Procedures in Handling Cybercrime Cases. The document provides detailed provisions on determining the jurisdiction of cybercrime cases and collecting and reviewing evidence. It takes effect September 1, 2022.
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee is in session through September 2. It will review five bills including the Law Against Telecom and Online Fraud and revisions to the Counterespionage Law. The Standing Committee also released for public comment draft revisions to the Wild Animals Protection Law and the draft Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Conservation Law.
Police in Henan Province arrested 234 persons suspected of involvement in a rural banking scandal. The scam lured depositors with the false promise of high interest rates from obscure rural banks. When authorities began to investigate and froze the banks’ funds, depositors flocked to the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, to protest.
Prosecutors in Hebei Province announced they are pressing criminal charges against 28 persons in connection with the June 10 gang assault on four women at a Tangshan barbecue restaurant. Video of the attack went viral, and the initially slow police response drew public criticism and accusations of police entanglement with the gang. Hebei prosecutors said they are investigating 15 persons in public positions including eight police officials who were taken into custody for suspected abuse of power, corruption, and offering a “protection umbrella” for criminal gangs.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong's High Court upheld a warrant obtained by the national security police to search the contents of media tycoon Jimmy Lai's phones, which police seized when arresting him in August 2020. Lai’s lawyer had challenged the warrant, saying that the phones contained journalistic material which should be protected. Judge Wilson Chan said that press freedom “never translated into an absolute ban against the search and seizure” of journalistic materials. He allowed Lai’s phones to remain sealed until Sept. 6 while his lawyers appeal.
Journalist Bao Choy is appealing her conviction for making a false statement when she accessed public vehicle registration records for a documentary. Choy’s lawyer told the High Court that she genuinely believed the statements she made when applying for the records were accurate. She was fined HK $6,000. The documentary, which investigated a gang attack on subway passengers in Yuen Long during the 2019 protests, used information from the public records search to track down vehicles suspected of transporting assailants and weapons to the site of the attack.
Japan
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed Japan’s determination press for a permanent UN Security Council seat for Africa “to redress the historical injustice against Africa.” Speaking in Tunis, he also pledged Japan would invest $30 billion in Africa over the next three years and appoint a special envoy to the Horn of Africa.
A defendant who set fire to multiple buildings in a community of Korean residents was convicted of arson and sentenced to four year in prison. Experts said the case highlighted a gap in Japanese law with respect to hate crimes. Although the defendant told the court he "felt animosity toward Koreans," lawyers said there is no provision in law for considering a hateful motive when deciding punishment. Earlier this year, a human rights group asked the Ministry of Justice to take action against hate crimes, including creating guidelines for applying existing laws to such cases and establishing a comprehensive law to eliminate racial discrimination.
Koreas
A nominee for the Supreme Court, Oh Seok-joon, came out against the death penalty, saying it should be abolished by the legislature. The country has not carried out an execution since 1997 but retains capital punishment. Oh said the controversial National Security Act should be maintained. The 1948 law prohibits any activities to support, praise, or propagandize North Korean ideals. Oh still faces a parliamentary confirmation hearing.
Taiwan
Taiwan's Supreme Court exonerated a former fishing vessel caption of drug trafficking after he spent eight years behind bars. Chen Huo-cheng (陳火盛) was convicted by a district court in 2012 for smuggling six kilograms of heroin. In 2021, after repeated petitions and appeals, the high court determined that Chen had no knowledge of the drugs and overturned his conviction. Prosecutors appealed the not-guilty ruling, but the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. The Taiwan Innocence Project (TIP), which assisted Chen, issued a statement thanking the courts. The case is TIP’s 14th exoneration case achieved since its founding in 2012.