A detention center in Yuncheng city, Shanxi province, Feb 18, 2015. [Photo/IC]

In December, a detainee at a local detention center in Gan'gu county, Northwest China's Gansu province, was reportedly beaten to death by other detainees because he didn't wipe his nose. The local People's Procuratorate later said the guards at the detention center were guilty of a serious dereliction of duty as the detainee was under their protection. The Beijing News says:

It is both absurd and lamentable that the Gansu detainee lost his life just because he did not wipe his nose, in a place where justice is done and the law is enforced. His death is more than an in-prison scandal or a "serious dereliction of duty", as it involves the failure to safeguard his right to life even in detention.

In the aforementioned case, policemen on duty are suspected of "illegally employing some detainees to manage others", which is a policy of appeasement that allows bullies to get whenever they want.

That there are prison bullies with a little power, who manage to rule their little communities and harm those who disobey them, has a lot to do with them being the tools of some prison guards. This is no doubt judicial wrong-doing, not the so-called practice of letting prisoners govern their communities.

Maintaining order in prison is the responsibility of the police authorities, which should not be outsourced to prisoners, as stated in the country's regulations on policing.

If the detainee's death proves to be related to power outsourcing, all the police officials concerned should be held criminally accountable according to relevant laws.

There is good news, though, as the local authorities reacted to the scandal faster than expected, and the police officers suspected of wrongdoing are already being investigated. But that is not all. More efficient security management in detention centers and prisons, as well as stricter supervision of the prison system, are still needed to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.