The country's efforts to probe human rights infringement crimes committed by government officials have paid off so far.

A total of 6,953 officials suspected of abuse and dereliction of duty have been investigated in the first nine months of the year, up 2.6 per cent on the same period last year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced on Tuesday.

Among them, 1,780 officials involved in 1,456 cases of abuse of power or negligence were investigated between June and September since the SPP launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on such cases.

The crackdown focuses on illegal detainments and searches, obtaining evidence and prosecuting crimes through illegal means, election fraud, and mistreating prisoners, as well as negligence of duty that leads to severe life and economic losses.

It is good to see the country's top procuratorate authorities putting such an emphasis on probing human rights infringement crimes.

The principle of "respect for and protection of human rights" has been written into the Constitution to protect the Chinese people's legitimate rights and interests better. The country is moving to practise it.

This year there has been a number of serious incidents endangering people's safety and even their lives, such as a stampede in Beijing's suburban Miyun County, a fire in a department store in Northeast China's Jilin Province, and the lethal milk powder case in East China's Anhui Province.

All cases were thoroughly investigated. Negligent officials have been held responsible and punished for this damage.

Officials and other public employees are being urged to be more vigilant in performing their duties.

But a yearlong special inspection campaign is certainly not a lasting solution for this issue.

A mechanism that combines education, institutional measures and supervision should be established to curb misconduct and create a better environment for human rights protection in the long run.

And only when each and every government official and public employee bears the responsibility of safeguarding people's legitimate rights in mind and incorporates this principle into their daily work, can we call it a total success.

(China Daily October 28, 2004)