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COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE BEGINS REVIEW OF REPORTS OF CHINA, INCLUDING HONG KONG AND MACAO SPECIAL ADMINSTRATIVE REGIONS

Meeting Summaries

The Committee against Torture this morning began its consideration of the fourth periodic reports of China, including the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, on efforts to give effect to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Introducing the report of China, Li Baodong, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, highlighted that, since 2005, the Ministry of Public Security had amended its procedural regulations involving security cases, among others, formulating regulations for the length of detention in criminal cases. In addition, the Supreme People's Procuratorate had promulgated the Regulations and Standards for Filing Criminal Cases of Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement and measures for prisons and detention facilities and the Ministry of Justice had issued the 2006-2010 Guidelines for People's Prison Police. Since 2006, the Ministry of Public Security had enhanced its nationwide system of full video coverage of interrogation of murder cases and those involving underworld organizations. Extended detention, in particular, was a hotbed of torture. In 2003, special nationwide efforts had been made to clear up and correct such cases, with the establishment of standing mechanisms in that regard. The issue had been dealt with effectively, witnessing a drastic decline from 24,921 persons subject to extended detention in 2003 to 85 persons in 2007.

Introducing the report of Hong Kong, James O'Neil, Deputy Solicitor-General of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that, with the passage of the Independent Police Complaints Council Ordinance in July 2008, the independent body that oversaw complaints against the police had been placed on a statutory basis. With regard to search of detainees, the Committee's concerns in this area had been addressed in the new Guidelines on Searching of Detained Persons that had been introduced and applied by the Police since 1 July 2008. They stipulated more stringent requirements in respect of the scope of searches that might be carried out on detainees, the procedure to be adopted and the keeping of records of searches conducted.

Jorge Costa Oliveira, Director of the International Law Office of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, said that Macao Special Administrative Region law provided for non-refoulement for asylum-seekers who were under the threat of torture. A commission for refugees had been set up, and if a refugee were under risk of being tortured if returned to his country, the Commission would review his case. The UN Refugee Agency was entitled to fully participate in the process of assessing those asylum claims. Macao Special Administrative Regime had also promulgated a new Law against Trafficking in 2008, which established comprehensive provisions against trafficking and provided for rehabilitation of victims.

Felice Gaer, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the reports of China and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, noted what seemed to be a serious information gap in the delegation's replies, in particular with regard to the discrepancies between legislative protections against torture and their implementation on the ground. She was disturbed by a lack of data on police actions against Tibetans, including the whereabouts of 817 Tibetans who had disappeared following the protests in Llhasa this year, and the response that no information could be provided on many cases owing to the State Secrets Law. On Hong Kong, what was being done to reduce the extremely overcrowded prisons there?

Nora Sveaass, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the reports of China and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, asked a number of questions on training for law enforcement and medical personnel on the Convention, including if there were new procedures for registering allegations of torture and if staff were trained on the Istanbul Protocol. Other concerns included protections for human rights defenders; continuing reports of illegal detentions; and what reparations had been made to victims of torture. On Hong Kong, she was particularly concerned about the situation of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and asked about systems for addressing victims of trafficking. On Macao, it was a matter of concern that persons under 16 could be sentenced to solitary confinement for up to one month. She also questioned the response that there had been no complaints by inmates against prison officials, which put into question the existence of a reliable and impartial complaints system.

The delegation of China included some 30 other representatives from China and its two Special Administrative Regions. From the Mainland, representatives were present from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the State Bureau for Letters and Calls; the Supreme People's Procuratorate; the Ministry of Public Security; the State Ethnic Affairs Commission; the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress; the Supreme People's Court; the Ministry of Justice; and the Ministry of Public Security. From Hong Kong, the delegation included representatives from the Solicitor General's Office; the Security Department; and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Department. From Macao, representatives from the Social Welfare Bureau, the Security Forces Coordination Office, the International Law Office, and the Prison Affairs Department took part.

The delegation will return to the Committee at 10 a.m. on Monday, 10 November, to provide its responses to the questions raised today.

China is among the 145 States parties to the Convention and as such it must present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will hear the answers of Kazakhstan to the questions posed by Experts on Thursday, 6 November.


Reports of China and Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions

The fourth periodic report of China (CAT/C/CHN/4) says that, in order to protect social order, safeguard public security, protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, and standardize and ensure that public security organs and the people’s police carry out their security administration duties according to the law, on 28 August 2005, the National People's Congress passed the Law on Administrative Penalties for Public Security. This law gives public security organs and the people’s police the necessary powers to carry out their security administration duties, whilst at the same time imposing stricter regulation in respect of how police powers are used. In addition, it establishes a special regulation covering the supervision of law-enforcement, strengthens standards and supervision in regard to the actions of the people’s police in carrying out the law, and lays down provisions that should be followed and acts that are prohibited when public security organs and the people’s police are dealing with cases involving social order. It also clearly defines legal responsibility pertaining in cases where these provisions have been violated, in order to prevent citizens’ legitimate rights and interests from being harmed through inappropriate use or even downright misuse of these powers. For instance, it stipulates: “Persons who commit acts which offend against the administration of public order and who should be punished by administrative detention in accordance with this law shall not be so punished if one of the following situations obtains: they have reached age 14 but have not yet reached age 16; if they have already reached age 16 but have not yet reached age 18 and this is their first offence against administration of public order; if they are aged 70 or above; or if they are pregnant or are breastfeeding an infant of less than one year old of their own." Among others, the use of torture to extort a confession and the collection of evidence through such methods as threatening, enticing or cheating are strictly forbidden and evidence collected by illegal means is not to be used as the basis for punishment.

According to the fourth periodic report submitted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (CAT/C/HKG/4), the Complaints Against Police Office investigates complaints about the conduct and behaviour of members of the police force. The Office’s investigations are monitored and reviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Council. The Council is an independent civilian body comprising non-official members appointed by the Chief Executive from a wide spectrum of the community and includes Members of the Legislative Council and the Ombudsman or her representative. In line with the Committee's 2000 concluding observations, Hong Kong is taking steps to convert the Council into a statutory body and is drafting legislation to that purpose. Inter alia, this will empower the Council to oblige the Complaints Against Police Office to submit for examination statements and videotapes taken during investigations of complaints. Consultations conducted in March 2002 indicated that this proposal enjoyed public support. There are effective checks and balances to ensure that complaints are handled thoroughly, fairly and impartially. The Office prepares detailed investigation reports on complaints received. These are then submitted to the Council, which rigorously examines them. Where Council members have doubts about a particular investigation, they may invite the complainants, complainees, and witnesses to interviews. The Council can also ask the Complaints Office to submit for its reference documents or information relevant to a complaint. In discharging their duties, members of the Council may observe the Office’s investigations in person, on either a surprise or a scheduled basis.

The fourth periodic report for the Macao Special Administrative Region (CAT/C/MAC/4) sets out statistics for complaints about police violence in the period 2000 to 2004, including complaints of homicide committed in police quarters or in a correctional facility, rape or other crimes against sexual freedom/self-determination, offences to physical integrity, extortion, breaking and entering and threats. A total of 10 complaints were lodged in 2000, 8 in 2002, 6 in 2002, 16 in 2003 and 14 in 2004. For the same period, there were two denunciations of the commission of crimes of torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment received by the Procuratorate in 2002 and one in 2001, which were investigated and filed. Of the 11 denunciations of commission of the crime of torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment by civil servants received by the Commission Against Corruption, an entity that has functions that are characteristic of an Ombudsman, for the same period, either further investigation was not instructed after preliminary enquiry; the case was filed due to lack of evidence and/or non-collaboration of the complainant; or the case was filed owing to the instigation of proceedings directly with the entity responsible.

Presentation of Reports

LI BAODONG, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that China had all along stood firm to oppose torture. Since China had ratified the Convention in 1988, China had made unswerving efforts to improve its work in legislative, law enforcement and judicial areas, so as to ban, prevent and punish torture of all forms more effectively.

The present report had been completed after extensively soliciting opinions from State and Government departments and the related non governmental organizations. It described in detail China's new measures and new progress in implementing the Convention since the submission of its third periodic report in 1999. It also showed that the Chinese Government had carefully considered and adopted the suggestions put forward by the Committee in its concluding observations to that report, Mr. Li stressed.

In recent years, while making continued efforts to develop the economy and raise people's living standards, China remained committed to promoting democratic legal construction, establishing the concept of the rule of law, and safeguarding and advancing various human rights, with a view to building a more harmonious society, Mr. Li said. When China's Constitution had been amended, in 2004, the principle for "respect for and protection of human rights" had been added. The Guidelines of China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National and Economic Development (2006-2011), issued in March 2006, had reaffirmed that principle and, for the first time, had set forth the clear objective of promoting all-around development of human rights. In that context, legislative, administrative and judicial organs at all levels were continuing to adopt effective measures to reform and improve relevant mechanisms, regulate law enforcement and judicial behaviours, and to reinforce supervision and control to ensure fair law enforcement of judicial acts.

In recent years, China had made progress in banning and preventing torture. With regard to legislation, Mr. Li highlighted two examples. To better prevent and ban torture in public security administration cases, the Law on Administrative Punishments for Public Order and Security had been adopted on 28 August 2005 by the National People's Congress. The Law stipulated in explicit terms that in dealing with public order and security cases and in imposing administrative punishments, the public security organs had to adhere to the basic principles of respect for and guarantee of human rights, protection of citizens' dignity, and openness and impartiality. The Law also raised the level of regulation, control and supervision of law enforcement acts taken by public security organs, and strengthened citizens' legitimate rights, such as providing clear provisions that "any proof gathered by illegal means shall not be the basis for punishment, such as making an interrogation by torture or extorting a confession from the interrogated, or threatening, enticing or cheating the interrogated [person]".

The Law on Administrative Punishments also established in national law the exclusionary rule of illegal evidence, which explicitly prohibited punishments based only on the statements of violators of the public security administration and no other evidence, Mr. Li continued. Furthermore, it restricted the length of interrogation after the summons, which might not last more than eight hours and, where the circumstances were complicated, the interrogation time could not exceed 24 hours. In particular, the Law had a chapter exclusively devoted to law enforcement supervision, detailing the basic standards for the behaviour of policemen in handling cases and the general rules for human rights protections, including the prohibition against torture.

In addition, in October 2007, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress had adopted the amended Law on Lawyers, which, following the Committee's suggestions, emphasized the principle of human rights protection, and enhanced the coordination and unity between the effective fight against crime and the full protection of human rights. The Law had clear provisions on the lawyer's right to meet with criminal suspects during investigation, to exchange views with criminal suspects and defendants, and on the immunity of lawyers, Mr. Li said.

In addition to legislative measures, relevant departments of Government had made focused efforts to prevent and punish torture, Mr. Li observed. The key to prevention of torture lay in higher professionalism of law enforcement personnel. Since 2005, a nationwide campaign had been conducted within law enforcement and legislative systems to promote the concept of the rule of law and protection of human rights with fairness and justice as its core values. The level of awareness and capacity of law enforcement officials had been raised, and reinforced efforts had been made by the judicial and penitentiary staff to offer professional training, and an important part of its textbooks included the Convention against Torture and other United Nations human rights protection instruments.

Moreover, Mr. Li highlighted that, since 2005, the Ministry of Public Security had amended its procedural regulations involving security cases, among others, formulating regulations for the length of detention in criminal cases; the Supreme People's Procuratorate had promulgated the Regulations and Standards for Filing Criminal Cases of Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement and measures for prisons and detention facilities; and the Ministry of Justice had issued the 2006-2010 Guidelines for People's Prison Police.

Since 2006, the Ministry of Public Security had enhanced its nationwide system of full video coverage of interrogation of murder cases and those involving underworld organizations. The Supreme People's Court had also promoted nationwide second trial of cases involving the death sentence, and would gradually adopt full video coverage of interrogation. At present, there were 12,000 people from procuratorate organs at different levels working in the prisons and detention facilities, and 8,800 of them were on a fairly permanent and regular basis. The appointment system was practiced in many prisons, through which prisoners and detainees had the right to have appointed face-to-face meetings with procurators to reflect problems and raise complaints.

Citing statistics on cases brought, Mr. Li said that, from 2005 to 2007, 137 public security policemen had received administrative and disciplinary punishment because of extorting confessions by torture and 48 because of mistreatment of detainees. Moreover, from 2006 to 2007, China's procuratorial organs had focused on public servants infringing on human rights and democratic rights by abusing their powers, including 160 cases involving 258 people accused of extorting confessions by torture, mistreatment of detainees, and collection of evidence by violent means.

Extended detention was a hotbed of torture, Mr. Li observed. Before 2003, due to the failure of some local law enforcement and judicial officials to handle their cases strictly in accordance with the law and owing to incomplete supervisory mechanisms, there had been quite a few such cases. In 2003, special nationwide efforts had been made to clear up and correct such cases, with the establishment of standing mechanisms in that regard. The issue had been dealt with effectively, witnessing a drastic decline from 24,921 persons subject to extended detention in 2003 to 85 persons in 2007.

JAMES O'NEIL, Deputy Solicitor-General of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, began by noting that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region benefited not only from the human rights protection in the common law, but also from the extensive protection of human rights in the Basic Law, under the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and other legislative measures.

With the passage of the Independent Police Complaints Council Ordinance in July 2008, the independent body that oversaw complaints against the police had been placed on a statutory basis, Mr. O'Neil said. That ordinance set out the functions, powers and the operation of the Complaints Council as well as placing a statutory obligation on the police to comply with its requirements. It was intended to bring the Council into operation under the Statute in the first half of 2009.

With regard to search of detainees, the Committee's concerns in this area had been addressed in the new Guidelines on Searching of Detained Persons that had been introduced and applied by the Police since 1 July 2008. They stipulated more stringent requirements in respect of the scope of searches that might be carried out on detainees, the procedure to be adopted and the keeping of records of searches conducted. They were also monitoring the implementation of the Guidelines to ensure that frontline officers gave due regard to the privacy and dignity of detainees when conducting searches.

JORGE COSTA OLIVEIRA, Director of the International Law Office of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, said the respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms was the cornerstone of the Macao legal system, and an important priority for Macao's policies. Subjecting persons to torture or other cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment was absolutely prohibited in Macao. In addition, such conduct was also considered to be an aggravating circumstance in a number of other crimes.

The Macao Special Administrative Region Authorities, in the area of creation of legislation or review of existing legislation, were well aware of the need to ensure human rights and prohibit torture, Mr. Costa Oliveira said, and continued to work to ensure that all legislation was in harmonization with those provisions.

Mr. Costa Oliveira noted that training for police officers, prison guards and other law enforcement officials was mandatory. The Commission against Corruption had the competence to hear complaints by citizens of infringements of their rights by members of the law enforcement services.

With regard to prisoners, Macao's legal framework for depriving persons of liberty was based on the assumption that such persons retained their basic human dignity. Prisoners' contact with the outside world was also promoted, through the facilitation of their contacts with family.

Macao Special Administrative Region law also provided for non-refoulement for asylum-seekers who were under the threat of torture. A commission for refugees had been set up. If a refugee was under risk of being tortured if returned to his country, the Commission would review his case. UNHCR was entitled to fully participate in the process of assessing asylum claims, Mr. Costa Oliveira said.

Another issue of concern to Macao Special Administrative Regime was trafficking, and a new Law against Trafficking, promulgated in 2008, established comprehensive provisions against trafficking and provided for rehabilitation of victims.

Questions Raised by Committee Experts on Mainland China

FELICE GAER, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the reports of China and Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, noted what seemed to be a serious information gap in the replies received from China to the Committee's questions, in particular with regard to the discrepancies between legislative protections against torture and their implementation on the ground, and was disturbed that these questions were sometimes dismissed as "groundless" or "beyond the scope of the Convention". It was also stated in the delegation's written documents that the Committee had no right to raise individual cases before the Committee in the context of its review. That was not the case. The Committee did so in all of its reviews.

Ms. Gaer made a plea not just for specific details on laws, but for details on how those laws were implemented. She emphasized the dearth of statistics on things like numbers of detainees, the punishments meted out to them, the location of detainees, inter-prisoner violence, deaths in custody, and other related issues, as requested, in its report. According to her count, out of 36 questions put by Experts, on 25 of those China had not provided the statistics or information requested, merely citing the relevant law.

Ms. Gaer noted with concern that also absent had been data on incidents involving ethnic minorities, in particular with regard to the protests that had taken place in Tibet earlier this year and the police actions there. The Committee had asked for a list of those detained following those events, the number of convictions, and the penalties imposed. While the Government did cite some statistics, that some 900 had been arrested and 42 had been convicted, it had not provided the information that Committee had requested. Yesterday, press reports said 55 people had been convicted. She was also concerned by information from non governmental organizations that the whereabouts of some 817 Tibetans who had disappeared following the protests were still unaccounted for.

In response to questions on reports of widespread and serious violations of the Convention, the Chinese Government had replied that no information could be provided on those cases owing to the State Secrets Law, which appeared to be an obstacle to the implementation of the Convention. Ms. Gaer also wondered if the lack of information on the situation of the Tibetans who had been detained fell under that law's scope. Could the delegation explain how the determination if cases fell under the State Secrets Law, which stripped individuals of protections under the Convention, was in accordance with China's obligations under the Convention?

Other concerns included the right of individuals to challenge their conditions of detention. In that connection, Ms. Gaer raised the case of, Zeng Jinyan, living under house detention with her daughter owing to the fact that her husband, Hu Jia, who had recently won the Sakharov human rights prize, was in jail for subversive activities. What recourse did she have for challenging the basis for her detention.

On asylum issues, Ms. Gaer was particularly concerned about the situation on China's border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. She had heard that UNHCR staff were not allowed access to that border region. It was a matter for consternation that China reported that there had been no cases involving article 3 of the Convention (prohibition against refoulement of person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger). She also asked for statistics on asylum-seekers, refugees, and the number of expulsions.

Comment would also be appreciated, Ms. Gaer said, on the reports of attacks on lawyers, restrictions on their access to their clients, and intimidation against the 16 lawyers who had offered their services to defendants in the first trial in Llhasa, Tibet, in March 2008, causing them to withdraw their offer.

Following up on issues raised by Experts in writing on the whereabouts of two religious figures, Ms. Gaer wanted to know if any details could be furnished on the situation of Bishop Su Zhimin, who according to reports was being detained. In addition, could there be any information provided on Genden Choekyi Nyima, who had disappeared for over 10 years now.

NORA SVEAASS, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of China and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, referring to the issue of training for law enforcement and medical personnel on the Convention asked several questions, including if such training had raised the number of allegations of torture; if there were new procedures for registering allegations of torture; whether there was follow-up training for staff; if training were monitored in a systematic and continuous way; and if there had been sanctions for those who did not follow the procedures and policies outlined in the training sessions? Specifically with regard to training of medical personnel, were staff trained on the Istanbul Protocol for determining whether torture had occurred?

Ms. Sveaass would appreciate comment on reports that human rights non governmental organizations had been banned from distributing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that two members of a human rights NGO had been banned from travelling to receive human rights training.

Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur against Torture, in his most recent report, had noted that the practice of torture remained widespread in China, with 33 per cent of cases of torture having taken place in detention centres, and almost 20 per cent in police stations.

Ms. Sveaass welcomed the good news that the number of illegal detentions had gone down. However, there continued to be reports from human rights defenders and others that such illegal detentions continued, in particular in various forms such as house arrest, and administrative detentions that did not provide sufficient guarantees.

Ms. Sveaass enumerated a number of allegations that had been brought to the Committee's attention of torture, forced nakedness, rape, and other serious cases of ill-treatment. Those cases all had to be urgently reviewed. Other cases involved punishments for those who tried to claim their rights before the courts for cases of forced evictions and others, and who were intimidated or else relegated to a "Black Jail".

Turning to victim issues, there had been cases where persons had been convicted of extracting confessions by torture, Ms. Sveaass noted. What kind of compensations and reparations had been made to the victims, including rehabilitation and psychiatric care, she asked.

Serious allegations had been made that connected the high numbers of transplants of organs and the severe persecution of members of the Falun Gong sect, and Ms. Sveaass asked for further information on that issue.

Finally, with regard to the Uighurs, an ethnic group of millions of people, Ms. Sveaass said there had been numerous reports of extrajudicial killings and torture in the region where they lived. She asked for information on what sort of an investigation was being carried out in that regard.

Other Committee Experts then raised a number of issues and asked questions related to, among others, how members of the Public Prosecutor's Office were elected and whether they had to be party members; forced disappearances, which were a form of torture; apparent toleration for widespread domestic violence; forced abortions; the use of the term "aggravated torture" in the report, which did not appear to be helpful; and whether there was a complete ban on corporal punishment of children, including in the family.

Other issues of concern were the fact that many cases in which torture had been found to have been committed to extract a confession and the person was vindicated, they were still subject to prison sentences, including severe sentences of incarceration for many years; summary trials; and the statement that no statistics could be reported on how many executions of death penalty sentences had been carried out.

An Expert was concerned that the report appeared to focus on torture for the extraction of confessions, whereas torture, and the Convention, had a much broader scope. A similar concern was the statement in the replies that forced disappearance was beyond the scope of the Convention. That was not so. Those who were subjected to forced disappearance were undergoing a form of torture.

An Expert noted that combating torture in China would require more than laws and programmes, but a change in social attitudes. In that regard, such a change had taken place with regard to the issue of persons with disabilities. China was a country in transition. It should take this opportunity to change from a culture that did not accept individual complaints to one that recognized and protected such rights.


Questions Raised by Experts on Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions

Ms. Gaer, the Committee Expert serving as rapporteur for the reports of China and Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, asked if, as requested, the definition of torture in the law of Hong Kong had been brought in line with the Convention. Also, what was the procedure for determining asylum status in Hong Kong and for ensuring that no one was expelled from the territory in violation of article 3 (non-refoulement)?

What was being done to reduce the extremely overcrowded prisons in Hong Kong. In addition, Ms. Gaer asked for an explanation of the exceptionally high percentage of women in the prison population – almost 40 per cent – and asked what charges they were being incarcerated under.

On a positive note, Ms. Gaer congratulated Hong Kong for its first trafficking conviction this year and asked for further information in this area.

Ms. Sveaass, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the reports China and Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, asked if the 1951 Convention on Refugees would be extended to Hong Kong. She was particularly concerned about the situation of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, and asked for information on a specific case of a minor who had been in detention at the airport for a long time. She also asked about systems for addressing victims of trafficking.

On Macao, Ms. Sveaass was concerned that persons under 16 could be sentenced to solitary confinement for up to one month. She also questioned the response that there had been no complaints by inmates against prison officials, which put into question the existence of a reliable and impartial complaints system.

Other Experts were concerned that complaints against the police were not properly followed up in Hong Kong; a lack of prosecutions of police officials for torture, owing to "a lack of sufficient evidence" and what evidentiary standards applied; reports of ill-treatment and abuse, including sexual abuse, of asylum-seekers in Hong Kong; and high rates of domestic violence, without apparent redress for women in Hong Kong. In Macao, Experts were concerned that NGOs had reported an increase in violence against women in recent years.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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