Petitioning, allowed by Chinese law, has become a barometer of civic harmony — one that can affect the careers of local officials.  Because the central government rewards or punishes officials based on their ability to maintain social stability, those officials are eager to catch petitioners before they can lodge their complaints.  The interception efforts have apparently been successful. In its official report on human rights released Monday, the Chinese government cited a 3 percent drop in petition filings as proof that things had improved. It was the fifth consecutive decrease, the report said.  Human rights groups said they were encouraged by the detention of Anyuanding’s executives, but suggested that the system had become so entrenched that the changes would have to come from on high.  “The fact is that the problem of black jails goes far beyond one company,” Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mail. “It involves a web of government officials, security forces, huge numbers of plainclothes thugs and dozens of facilities in Beijing alone.”  According to the reports on Anyuanding, the kidnapped petitioners were taken to abandoned guesthouses, dank basements or rural compounds, where their cellphones and identity cards were confiscated until officials from their hometowns could come to fetch them. Some prisoners reported waiting more than a month.  The decision by Beijing’s public security bureau to take on the matter is significant given its first response. Last week, after Caijing published its investigation, several unidentified police officers pressed the magazine to reveal its sources, saying the article threatened “stability and unity,” according to the editors.  But after Caijing publicized the incident, Beijing’s new police chief, Fu Zhenghua, personally apologized to the deputy editor and assured him that no one on the staff would be punished.  Shortly afterward, the Anyuanding executives were detained.  Xu Zhiyong, a public interest lawyer whose organization has investigated black jails, said that although it was too early to say whether the police investigation signaled a change in official policy, it showed the effect that the media could have when given some latitude.  “The Anyuanding affair is so sinister and damaging, it appears that the public security authorities were left with little choice but to intervene and investigate,” Mr. Xu said.  Jonathan Ansfield contributed reporting. Li Bibo contributed research.  A version of this article appears in print on September 28, 2010, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: China Investigates Company Linked to ‘Black Jails’. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
The authorities are investigating a security company that helps local officials illegally detain desperate citizens who come to the capital to file complaints against them.