China to hold police accountable for erroneous cases, for life

BEIJING - Chinese police will establish an accountability system for officers in light of high profile cases, according to a policy paper issued recently.

The paper, which focused on public security reform, vowed to improve law enforcement responsibility; the correction system; and establish life-long accountability for erroneous cases.

It added that, to ensure accountability, investigators should take responsibility for the cases they investigate.

In addition, it called for changes to the way in which police handled cases, to prevent miscarriages of justice and the use of torture to secure confessions.

One high profile wrongful conviction -- and execution -- was that of teenager Huugjilt in Inner Mongolia. Huugjilt, who was found guilty of rape and murder in 1996, was finally declared innocent last December, over a decade after he was wrongfully convicted.

The real killer was sentenced to death last week.

An official with the Ministry of Public Security, who declined to be named, admitted that although the quality and level of law enforcement had improved, many problems still existed.

"Law enforcement is not strict, not standardized, not just. The trading of power for money and bending the law for personal gain seriously undermines police credibility," the official said.

The paper also said an administrative system that differed from the one applied to civil servants will be built for the police. Police officers' benefits will be higher than that of civilian public servants and slightly below members of the armed forces.