China intensifies search for fugitives across the globe with its Operation Fox Hunt. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese experts and authorities see the recent extradition of a suspected criminal from Latin America a recognition of the country's growth in terms of human rights, the Global Times reported.
Huang Haiyong, who has been accused of smuggling crude soybean oil into the country, was repatriated on Sunday after exhausting all possible legal solution via Peruvian and Inter-American courts according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
Huang has been involved in an eight-year legal drama against his extradition from Peru since he was captured by the International Police in 2008.
The case was taken as high as the Constitutional Court of Peru and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, GAC revealed, adding that it was the first time that the said human rights court handled an extradition case involving China.
GAC also emphasized that the case "marks the country's first extradition of a criminal suspect from Latin America," the article wrote.
Though regarded successful, the lengthy extradition process took a number of twists and turns.
"Huang Haiyong created a number of obstacles to evade legal punishment, including claims that he could face the death penalty and risk torture upon extradition," GAC shared.
Many of Huang's arguments were sided by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights before the case was ultimately submitter before the Inter-American Court, researcher Liu Huawen, from the Institute of International Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), noted.
Nonetheless, the court found out that the process would not give Huang "a real, foreseeable and personal risk" of torture.
According to a 2011 amendment to the Chinese Criminal Law, smugglers of ordinary merchandise, such as crude soybean oil, is not punishable by death penalty.
Liu remarked that "China's progress in rule of law and human rights laid the foundation upon which the Inter-American Court rendered its judgment."
The recent extradition is part of the country's "Fox Hunt" global campaign, which aims to capture fugitives. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security revealed that the endeavor has already witnessed the return of 857 fugitives between April and December last year.
