Ebook: China and International Human Rights

Harsh Punishments in the Context of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights






This book is designed to introduce law students, legal actors and human rights
activists, particularly frequent or potential participants in human rights dialogues
with China, to the process and reality of a newly confident China’s participation in
the international human rights system, albeit with inherent challenges. It has its
origins in my Ph.D. thesis, which was fi rst written between 2004 and 2006 at the
University of Durham, in the UK, and then revised in 2012 and 2013 during my visit
to the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, in Canada. My study of severe punishments
in China and their relation to China’s commitments under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ) is the result of long-term research,
over the course of which I have had several homes.