Freedom of Religion or Belief in full – A blog by CSW
中国的刑事司法体系庞大而复杂，存在多种拘押形式、不同的逮捕类型，以及无数由当局用来延迟甚至搁置法律程序的机会——近年来这种操作愈加频繁——在案件尚未进入审判阶段之前，嫌疑人便可能经历长期羁押。
毫无疑问，这种制度恰好服务于中国共产党的目的。一个难以理解的系统更容易被操纵。它让被拘留者、嫌疑人、他们的律师和家属难以了解案件状况，甚至不知道所面临的具体指控；它也使得维权人士和记者更难及时跟进案件发展，最终使任何中共打算关押的人几乎不可能为自己洗脱罪名。
本文旨在揭示中国司法程序的关键步骤，并阐明当局如何利用模糊法律条款和《刑事诉讼法》中众多漏洞，加剧对被任意拘押者的精神与身体折磨。
Continue reading “在中国庞大复杂的法律体系中，无辜者难以自证清白”
The Chinese criminal justice system is complex and expansive. There are multiple forms of detention, multiple types of arrest, and countless opportunities for the authorities to delay and defer proceedings – as they have done with increasing frequency in recent years – before a case even makes it to trial.
This, of course, suits the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A system that is difficult to navigate is easy to manipulate. It makes it harder for detainees, suspects, their lawyers and family members to know where they stand or even the charges they may be facing; it becomes more challenging for activists and journalists to report on and respond to crucial developments in a case, and ultimately nigh impossible for anyone the CCP is set on imprisoning to clear their name.
This blog aims to shed light on the key steps in the Chinese judicial process, and how they can be subverted as the authorities take advantage of vague language and myriad loopholes in the country’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) to prolong the suffering of those they have arbitrarily detained and imprisoned.
Continue reading “In China’s sprawling, complex legal system, it’s easy to trap the innocent”
El 15 de mayo de 2022, el pastor evangélico-protestante Efrén Antonio Vílchez López fue golpeado y detenido al salir de la funeraria donde trabajaba en San Rafael del Sur, municipio a 50 km al suroeste de la Capital Managua.
No se le informó de los cargos que se le imputaban, y su familia no supo su paradero durante tres días. Permaneció recluido en la Comisaría de la Policía Nacional de San Rafael del Sur durante más de dos semanas y luego fue trasladado al Sistema Penitenciario Nacional Jorge Navarro, conocido como “La Modelo”.
Durante su detención, las autoridades no le proporcionaron al pastor Vílchez López, quien padece diabetes e hipertensión, la insulina diaria que necesitaba, lo que puso en peligro su vida y lo obligó a ser trasladado a una clínica para recibir urgentemente tratamiento médico.
Continue reading “El pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López es una de las cientos de voces independientes que el gobierno nicaragüense se apresura a silenciar. “
On 15 May 2022 Protestant Christian Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López was beaten and detained as he was leaving the funeral home where he worked in San Rafael del Sur, a town and municipality 50km south-west of the Nicaraguan capital Managua.
He was not told on what charges he was being arrested, and his family were kept unaware of his whereabouts for three days. He was held at the San Rafael del Sur National Police Station for over two weeks, and then transferred to the notorious Jorge Navarro National Penitentiary System known as ‘La Modelo’.
While he was in detention the authorities did not provide Pastor Vílchez López, who is diabetic and hypertensive, with his required daily insulin, which ultimately proved life-threatening and resulted in him being sent to a clinic for urgent medical treatment.
Continue reading “Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López is one of hundreds of independent voices the Nicaraguan government is desperate to silence”
At 6am on 10 August 2024, fifteen police officers wearing ski masks and carrying AK-47s arrested 49-year-old Carmen María Sáenz Martínez at her home in Lomas de Santo Tomas in Matagalpa City, Nicaragua.
Two hours later police in two patrol cars detained Carmen’s colleague Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, age 58, at the Guadalupana Farm in Samulali in the San Ramón Municipality.
Both women worked with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Matagalpa, formerly led by the now exiled Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, who spent nearly a year and a half in prison before he was expelled to the Vatican in January 2024. Lesbia had worked with the diocese’s rural and urban credit project since 2006, and Carmen as a justice promoter in marriage annulment cases since 2018.
Their families have not heard from them since.
Continue reading “Where are they? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda are prisoners of a regime solely interested in its own survival”