China asks U.S. marshals
to treat detainees ‘nicely’

30 fishing crewmen are held
as potential witnesses to murder

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Staff and news reports

Chinese officials have requested in writing that the United States improve the handling of 30 crewmen from the fishing boat Full Means No. 2 who are being held as witnesses into the slayings of their captain and first mate, an official said yesterday.

Liang Zen Guan, an official at the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, said the U.S. Marshals Service promised to reply to the letter, but no response had been received as of yesterday afternoon.

Liang said the letter requested the crew be treated "nicely."

"We want the U.S. side to treat our people on a humanitarian basis," he said. "They should not be handcuffed or put in restraints. They are witnesses, not suspects."

Crewmen told U.S. investigators that the ship's cook stabbed their captain, Chen Sung-she of Taiwan, and first mate, Li Da Feng of China, on March 14. A federal grand jury indicted Shi Lei, 21, yesterday for allegedly killing the two men, then hijacking the ship.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will decide whether to seek the death penalty, U.S. Attorney Edward H. Kubo Jr. said.

The indictment also accused Shi of performing acts of violence against fellow crew members that were likely to endanger the safe navigation of the vessel, Kubo said in a statement.

The U.S. Marshals Service has said that the crew members are placed in handcuffs and restraints only when they are in court or being transported.

The witnesses are being held at the Federal Detention Center. Their depositions will be videotaped for testimony at Shi's trial.

Unless a person is charged with something, he or she should not be detained, said Jon Van Dyke, an international law professor at the University of Hawaii. However, they can be held since they are at risk of fleeing, he said.

"There is precedence in detaining crucial witnesses," Van Dyke said.

At a court appearance last week, a federal marshal said the handcuffs and leg restraints were necessary because there were so many detainees.

U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang told the detainees this week that they are being held because of their immigration status.

Whether the United States has jurisdiction to prosecute Shi has also been raised.

The vessel is registered in Seychelles and owned by a Taiwanese company. The suspect is Chinese, and the alleged murders happened in international waters.

The flag state, the country where the ship is registered, has primary responsibility over the ship and crew if the incident happened in high seas, said Van Dyke. However, if the ship voluntarily comes into U.S. waters, it is subject to U.S. jurisdiction, Van Dyke said.

"I've been a little bewildered, but it's at least unusual, for the U.S. to assert jurisdiction," he said.