Rights activists say proposed changes to Chinese criminal law would effectively legitimise the disappearances used against high-profile dissidents. The official Legal Daily newspaper reported this week that amendments proposed to China's criminal procedure law would allow police to detain suspects in major state security and corruption cases outside of detention centers. Their families would not be notified.
Joshua Rosenzweig, a rights researcher in Hong Kong, says the move would make legal disappearances like that of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Liu was taken away to a secret location for six months before being formally arrested.