China's Supreme People's Procuratorate has established two hotlines to hear reports of job-related human rights violations, a major target of China's procuratorates from May 2004 to June 2005.

Human rights violations by government officials are defined by the procuratorate as dereliction of duty that causes serious life and property losses, illegal detention and search of people, extorting confessions and collecting evidence by violence, sabotaging elections and infringing on civil rights of citizens, and maltreating detainees.

Zhang Zhongfang, spokesman for the procuratorate, said reports from the public provide important clues to such cases.

China has been beefing up efforts in human rights protection. The amendments to the Constitution, adopted by China's top legislature in March this year, stipulate clearly that "the state respects and safeguards human rights."

The past months have witnessed a host of government officials punished or convicted for abusing their power to violate human rights, including officials responsible for rampant sales of shoddy milk powder for babies in Fuyang of Anhui Province and officials responsible for the stampede accident in Beijing's suburban Miyun County.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2004)