55 torture.139 In his 2010 report on the follow-up to the visit to China, the former Special Rapporteur observed with concern that the intimidation, repression and harassment of lawyers who take on ‘sensitive’ cases continue140 and that several lawyers have been detained and convicted on arbitrary grounds.141 He also pointed out that two of the many factors contributing to the continuing practice of torture in China are 1) the absence of a legal culture based on the presumption of innocence, including the absence of an effective right to remain silent142 and ii) the institutional weakness and lack of Independence of the judiciary.143 162. Finally, the CAT underscored the absence of comprehensive or disaggregated data on 1) complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement personnel, and ii) detention conditions and the health of imprisoned persons.144 The CAT was deeply concerned by the way in which the 1988 Law on the Preservation of State Secrets in the People’s Republic of China is used, as it undermines the availability of information about torture, criminal justice and related issues.145 163. On its part, in 2011 Human Rights Watch published a thematic report on the practice of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in China that examined the objectives established in China’s first National Human Rights Action Plan. In that report, it observed that the practice of torture continues to be an “endemic problem […] and widespread."146 164. In the observations it presented to the CAT in 2008, Amnesty International commented that the Chinese authorities have failed to bring definitions under Chinese law into line with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It does not provide a catchall category of personnel and thus potentially excludes from prosecution individuals 139 UN, Committee against Torture, Concluding observations, China. CAT/C/CHN/CO/4, December 12, 2008, paragraph 16, available at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G08/457/10/PDF/G0845710.pdf?OpenElement 140 UN, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Follow-up to the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur. China. A/HRC/13/39/Add.6, February 26, 2010, paragraph 21, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.39.Add%206_EFS.pdf 141 UN, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Follow-up to the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur. China. A/HRC/13/39/Add.6, February 26, 2010, paragraph 21, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.39.Add%206_EFS.pdf 142 UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Mission to China. E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6, March 10, 2006, paragraph 73, available at: http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G06/117/50/PDF/G0611750.pdf?OpenElement 143 UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Mission to China. E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6, March 10, 2006, paragraph 75, available at: http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G06/117/50/PDF/G0611750.pdf?OpenElement 144 UN, Committee against Torture, Concluding observations, China. CAT/C/CHN/CO/4, December 12, 2008, paragraph 17, available at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G08/457/10/PDF/G0845710.pdf?OpenElement 145 UN, Committee against Torture, Concluding observations, China. CAT/C/CHN/CO/4, December 12, 2008, paragraph 16, available at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G08/457/10/PDF/G0845710.pdf?OpenElement 146 Human Rights Watch, Promises Unfulfilled: an assessment of China’s National Human Rights Action Plan, 2011, pp. 15 and 17, available at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/china0111webwcover.pdf