China's Public Security Ministry vowed on Tuesday to prevent the use of torture and coercion to extract confessions by strengthening evaluation on police's performance.

Ke Liangdong, director of the Legal Affairs Department under the Ministry of Public Security, said at a press conference that any public security bureau found to be using torture will not pass their annual performance review.

The chiefs of the bureaus found to be abusing their power can be removed from their posts, Ke said.

The ban on the use of torture is covered by the performance assessment regulations the ministry issued in 2001, according to which a police bureau's performance in dealing with criminal, public security and administrative cases and state compensation cases will be evaluated.

"Police bureaus and police officers at different levels may feel pressure under the assessment system, but this pressure will help them justly enforce the law," said Ke.

Source: Xinhua