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| German Parliament to condemn China's Laogai system |
At the end of 2005 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a motion condemning the People¡¯s Republic of China (¡°PRC¡±) Reform through Labor system. The German National Parliament, Bundestag, will also severely condemn the PRC¡¯s Laogai prison system. An alliance of the Liberal Democratic Party (¡°FDP¡±), the Christian Democratic Party (¡°CDU¡±), the Social Democratic Party (¡°SPD¡±) and the Green Party have ¨C after discussions in the Bundestag¡¯s Human Rights Committee - submitted a joint motion to the Bundestag¡¯s General Assembly. The Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary group spokesman, Herr Tocar, said, ¡°In my view the parliamentary group has reached a consensus that this will be a strongly worded motion, which will be voted on and likely passed in early May.
An all party alliance in the German alliance submitted the motion comparing China's current penal system with the former Soviet Gulag labor camp system. The Liberal party FDP was the earliest advocate of the bill. The party's parliamentary spokesman said the motion asserts two major points; "First, the prison system is the tool of the Chinese regime for the purposes of political transformation and brainwashing. Dissidents are being arrested as if they are common criminals. Second, prisoners are detained in extremely poor, unsanitary conditions. In some prisons, inmates are beaten by guards and forced to labor up to seven days a week, for long hours each day in very poor conditions. "
Prison gulags are a prime source of foreign currency
This discussion of the motion was sparked by information from human rights activist Harry Wu, the founder and Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation (LRF) in Washington, D.C., and Director Tienchi Liao. China has at least several million prisoners kept in more than 1,000 camps. The prisoners are detained in harsh conditions and prolonged forced unpaid work. Liao said, "Today, in China's prisons, prisoners are forced to labor. These prisons and detention centers are not just regular prisons; they are farms, mills, coal mines, metal plants. Prisoners work long hours sometimes between 10-14 hours a day, and since they are not paid the profit is innumerable. So one can imagine the Chinese government does not intend to improve or eliminate the system of re-education through labor. " After 1994, the Chinese government stopped using the term Laogai, (reform through labor). However, the dominant ideology and function of prisoner as labor sources has not changed. Moreover, free labor has become a tool for the creation of economic wealth, with many prisons making huge profits for the government, especially in the export sector.
After the motion was submitted to German parliament the German government called for dialogue with China to discuss the prison issues. German companies do business in China and want to ensure that their products are not made by prison labor. However, the Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary group spokesman said the motion seeks to reinforce the Germany-China relationship, and to offer help. "There are many Chinese people who want to see another face of China. We hope to strengthen the people's power. But first, we must sincerely face the problem and deal with the problem. With some important issues it is very difficult to deal with the Chinese government."
International Awareness
Tienchi Liao believes that Germany's focus on this issue shows China that the international community is concerned about China's human rights record. "The impact is gradual, I think that if the international community is more concerned about this inhumane prison system, and exerts pressure on the Chinese government some improvements can be made. For example, initiate the first step toward the humane treatment of prisoners. If a person is sentenced to five years in prison that is punishment enough; the government has no right to deprive him of his basic human rights."
China's labor system has been increasingly criticized. According to the reeducation through labor system, called Laojiao, the public security officers can detain people without judicial proceedings for up to three years. Although the National People's Congress has put the Laojiao system on its agenda for possible reform, critics and human rights organizations remain skeptical pointing out that even if some changes are adopted, it is still a far cry from totally abolishing the system. Thus far, the Chinese government continues to deny that it exports prison labor products.
| | Monday, March 19, 2007 | | Our URL: http://www.observechina.net |
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