China orders end of arrest quotas

China's public security minister has urged the country's police to respect human rights and stop using arrest quotas as a measure of their performance.

State media said Zhou Yongkang told officers to refrain from actions that offend public morality, cause outrage, or violate human rights.

Chinese officials have previously denied the existence of arrest quotas, but human rights groups have argued that quotas are widespread.

Rights activists say that officers arrest groups such as drug addicts, HIV/Aids sufferers, or migrant workers because they are considered easy targets to fill police quotas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service