"The authorities have violated numerous aspect of China's own criminal procedure law," Mr. Cohen said.
The government is now considering revising its criminal procedure law to effectively legalize secret detentions, the scholars say.
This month, there was much debate during the National People's Congress over proposed revisions to the criminal procedure law.
The government is currently considering revising its criminal procedure law in a manner that human rights lawyers say would effectively legalize secret detentions.
"The Chinese have blatantly violated their own criminal procedure law," said Jerome Cohen, a lawyer in New York who is advising Mr. Fong's family.
He studies English for four hours each week in between classes on the declaration of independence, the United States constitution and criminal procedure law.
The state's criminal procedure law allows for renewed prosecution of assault cases when injuries received in the assault later cause the victim's death.
Amnesty urged the Chinese government to change its criminal procedure law to impose an explicit ban on the use of confessions obtained through torture or ill treatment.
This month, Mr. Gewirtz was visited by Chen Guangzhong, a Chinese scholar on criminal law and a main architect of the widely applauded 1996 Chinese criminal procedure law guaranteeing many defendants' rights.
Qatar praised the legal framework for the protection of human rights and freedoms, including, inter alia, its criminal code and criminal procedure law, which provided legal guarantees for the implementation of those rights.
"The department was not notified by the court of the disposition of those cases or the issuance of seal orders, as is required by New York State criminal procedure law," the statement said.
