U.N. Officials Interview Chinese Inmates in Private

GENEVA — For the first time, United Nations human rights experts have had private interviews with inmates in China, including political prisoners, the U.N. said Tuesday.

The experts, Kapil Sibal of India and Louis Joinet of France, had interviews with about 30 inmates during an 11-day mission at the invitation of China, the third U.N. rights probe in as many years.

“What is significant is this is the first time a U.N. human rights team has been able to operate in this way in China, visiting prisons that have not been visited by foreigners before and interviewing in private prisoners of their own choosing,” said John Mills, U.N. human rights spokesman.

Chairman Sibal and deputy Joinet, a U.N. statement said, went to prisons in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and in Shanghai; a penitentiary for juvenile delinquents in Chengdu; a pretrial detention center and a “re-education through labor” administrative center for women in Shanghai; and custody cells in a Beijing tribunal.

The experts’ report is expected to be available early in 1998.