Police chief or deputy chief should resign if any prisoner under his jurisdiction dies in prison without adequate reasons in central China’s Henan Province, according to a new regulation of the provincial public security bureau.

Police officers directly involved in torture or forcing confessions shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law, the new rule said.

The new rule was issued this week after a criminal suspect allegedly died of forced confession in Lushan County, Pingdingshan city of Henan Province in February, police officers said. (China Daily)

You may have noticed that the press accounts of “mysterious” custodial deaths in China have increased in frequency lately. Each explanation seems more absurd than the last and include these now instant classics: death by playing “hide and seek,” death by drinking hot water, and death by ingesting pesticide.

There are two problems: first, the underlying crime of course (i.e. murder), and second, the cover-up. It’s the second issue that should concern the local and provincial governments, since these murders were committed by police and prison guards; the only way to stop that is to prosecute aggressively and provide better training.

The cover-ups involve officials who are in positions of authority, people who would rather hide the truth and cover their asses than allow the justice system to function properly. In doing so, not only are many murders essentially being condoned, but the public’s faith in the criminal justice system is eroded. In other words, this kind of thing damages the Rule of Law.

The more bizarre the explanation of a death that is given to the public, the more Rule of Law suffers. Why was the neo-Chinglish term “Suihide” coined? Because when a law enforcement official claims, with a straight face, that a suspect in custody died while playing hide and seek, what else can you do but mock?

Actually, you can do a lot. The “Suihide” case is famous, for the most part, because online activists successfully pressured the local government to take a fresh look at the case. Ultimately the death was “discovered” to be the result of a fatal beating. I don’t like the online mob pressuring officials like this, but one has to admit that justice was served in that case due to Net activists and concerned citizens.

How do you solve this problem? Henan is going to try to fix it via accountability. If the guy at the top will also take the fall, perhaps that official will, to the extent possible, not participate in further coverups.

Worth a try, but the long-term fix requires independence. What is needed is a judiciary that is not influenced by local politicians and more professional prosecutors and other law enforcement officials.

Beijing would like to exert control, but federalism problems are persistent in China. If I had a magic wand, I would create a small, dedicated national law enforcement body whose job it was to investigate and prosecute these incidents. Americans familiar with what the FBI and US Attorneys did in the 1960s with respect to racial violence and cover-ups by small town sheriffs and judges understand where I’m coming from on this. You can also watch the movie Mississippi Burning, which documented this history quite well.

Public perception of Rule of Law is heavily influenced by what happens in the criminal justice system. These cases are infamous and extraordinarily damaging to our faith in the system. This new measure in Henan is a good start since it acknowledges the problem. A lot more needs to be done.