China: Unaccountable “Chengguan” Forces Fuel Public Resentment

(Hong Kong, May 23, 2012) – China’s “chengguan,” the para-police agency tasked with enforcing non-criminal urban administrative regulations, is in some circumstances a threat to, rather than a guarantor of, public safety due to the agency’s lack of effective official supervision, training, and discipline, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.The 76-page report, “Beat Him, Take Everything Away,” documents abuses by the chengguan Urban Management Law Enforcement (城管执法) forces, including assaults on suspected administrative law violators, some of which lead to serious injury or death, illegal detention, and unlawful forceful confiscation of property.