Human Rights Watch report reveals secret detentions in China

According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, released on Tuesday, it revealed that the Chinese government uses a secretive detention system called "shuanggui" to obtain confessions from Communist Party members suspected of corruption.

According to the report, which cites 11 cases of individuals who died while in shuanggui custody, dozens of former Chinese officials in recent years have been denied sleep, food and water and subject to severe beatings.

The report also say that the shuanggui system "functions beyond the reach of China's criminal justice system" and gives a commission within the Chinese Communist Party "the authority to summon any of the Communist Party's 88 million members to account for allegedly ill-gotten gains."

"Those summoned are deprived of liberty for days, weeks, or months, during which time they are repeatedly interrogated and often tortured."

According to the report, the practice dates back to 1990.

The Human Rights Watch, a non-profit group's report was based in part on interviews with four former shuanggui detainees as well as analysis of court verdicts and 35 detailed cases sourced from Chinese media reports.

According to the report, all of the suspects featured in the report were found guilty of corruption.