A human rights organisation has accused Chinese authorities of continuing to use torture and other forms of ill-treatment against people in detention, including beatings and denial of medical care.
The Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) published a report on 16 September examining the cases of 209 prisoners who alleged that they had been tortured or mistreated while detained in China between 2016 and 2025.
The report said prisoners of conscience were particularly affected, despite Chinese laws prohibiting torture and the use of violence to obtain confessions.
Around one in five of those examined said they had been beaten, while 15 per cent said torture had been used to force them to confess. A further 35 per cent reported being denied adequate medical treatment. The report said 16 prisoners died in detention following such deprivation of care.
One case highlighted by AFP involves Yin Dengzhen, a 58-year-old former vegetable seller who is serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
Yin had repeatedly sought to expose what she believed was corruption by local officials. Her daughter, Xia Beibei, told AFP that her mother has lymphoma and became so unwell while awaiting sentencing in Hubei province that she was hospitalised after her weight fell to just over 35 kilograms (80 pounds).
According to Xia, Yin was unable to eat or walk normally but was refused release on medical grounds. After her conviction, authorities reportedly said that a medical examination had found her to be "in good health" and that she could therefore be transferred to a women's prison in Wuhan.
Xia said she was particularly concerned that officials had allegedly concealed the seriousness of her mother's condition.
"My mother was critically ill and possibly facing death at any moment," she said, according to AFP.
Xia said her mother had become deeply pessimistic in the months before her sentencing and believed that authorities intended for her to die in prison. She communicated with her daughter through a lawyer.
The CHRD report documented allegations of other forms of mistreatment, including sleep deprivation, withholding food and water, exposure to freezing temperatures, electric shocks, confinement in iron cages and being suspended by the wrists.
Cases were recorded in every Chinese province and special administrative region except Macau, according to the organisation.
Chinese law provides prison sentences of up to three years for torture and the use of violence to obtain confessions, with heavier penalties where abuse results in injury or death.
China is also a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture. However, human rights organisations have repeatedly accused the authorities of failing to properly investigate and punish alleged abuses.
The CHRD said its report, titled "Swept Under the Rug: Systemic Failures to End Torture in the People's Republic of China", found no evidence of prosecutions or disciplinary action against those responsible for the alleged torture in the cases it examined.
"Torture persists because Chinese authorities typically refuse to investigate and prosecute allegations made by prisoners of conscience," the report said, adding that complaints can sometimes result in further punishment.
The Chinese government did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Chinese authorities have historically rejected allegations of torture made by the United Nations, human rights organisations and individuals. However, in 2025, China's top prosecutor made a rare acknowledgement that torture and unlawful detention occur in the country and said action would be taken against unlawful practices by law enforcement officials.
Despite this, the CHRD said Beijing had become increasingly resistant to allegations of torture and international efforts to hold authorities accountable.
The organisation argued that the failure to investigate allegations properly weakens China's legal system and allows reports of torture to continue.
This is a rewritten version of the article published by UCA News.
