Beijing, May 28 (IANS) A top leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has urged the police and the judiciary to protect human rights while fighting crime in China.

Zhou Yongkang, secretary of the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs of the CPC's Central Committee, said equal importance should be attached to punishing crimes and protecting human rights, Global Times reported Sunday.

Zhou made the call at a symposium here Friday. He said all convictions must be backed by evidence and all evidence must be proven authentic through legal procedures.

China's current criminal procedure law was enacted in 1979 and first amended in 1996.