China 'running illegal prisons'

[Heidi]

Source: BBC

China is running a number of unlawful detention centres in which its citizens can be kept for months, according to campaign group Human Rights Watch.

It says these centres - known as black jails - are often in state-run hotels, nursing homes or psychiatric hospitals.

Among those detained are ordinary people who have travelled to Beijing to report local injustices.

The government has denied black jails are used, despite previous reports in state-run media on their existence.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8356095.stm

[fasttense]

1. I'm sure every one of those prisoners are busy making crap for Wal-Mart. n/t

[4dsc]

2. Why is this news??

China is just a dirty society..

[TheCML]

3. Im not sure what you mean by that.

But to me it came off incredibly racist. Their government is corrupt and oppressive, no doubt. But a "dirty society"? That's offensive. I suppose since you deemed this not newsworthy, that you believe we should just write off and ignore all human rights abuses in "dirty societies"?

[Heidi]

4. It's news, perhaps, because many people didn't or don't know about it.

And I object to your characterization of China as a "dirty society." A society is a voluntary association of individuals; there is nothing "dirty" about the Chinese people. It's the government that's a problem.

[notesdev]

5. Illegal?

China is its own damn country and makes its own laws. Who really thinks they can make a law that is binding on a sovereign nation? They are going to get disabused of that delusion right quick if they try to enforce whatever make-believe law they are referring to.

Guess what, people. Most of the world does not adhere to Western sensibilities and respect for the individual, and it's laughable to think that they would be anything other than amused at the suggestion that their behavior in their own country under their own laws is "illegal" by the standards of some self-righteous, standards-imposing Westerner.

[clear eye]

10. There are int'l laws regarding human rights.

Educate yourself.

[JonQ]

15. Not legally binding

unless that country chooses to make it so. I'm not holding my breath.

[Kolesar]

6. Sounds like a good place to invest

:sarcasm:

[Sancho]

7. Guantanamo is for sale...

maybe we could get a few bucks for it

[pattmarty]

8. Wait a minute. I don't think it's China who has the most per............

...........capita prisoners in jails. I can't quite think of the 3rd largest country that calls itself a democracy that has the largest prison population. What country can that be?

[LynnTheDem]

14. We're #1! We're #1!

We win!1!!!111!!

[Alcibiades]

9. We used to do this, too

Basically, if you were a black man in the south in the period from about 1900 to 1960, if you were from out of town and especially if you couldn't prove you had a job, you were liable to be imprisoned on bullshit charges and then rented out to local businessmen.

http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Another-Name-Re-Enslavement-Americans/dp/0385722702/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Since the civil rights era, these businesses have tried to find another source of cheap labor, and have mainly turned to undocumented workers to fill their "need" for slaves.

[TheMadMonk]

11. Used to? Taken a look at your prision system lately? nt

[Alcibiades]

16. You'll get no argument from me on that

But it's not as bad as it used to be, when folks were basically rounded up because southern businessmen wanted free labor.

[TheMadMonk]

18. I suspect it's every bit as bad as in the past.

Just a little more sophistry in the excuses for locking people up.

[Alcibiades]

19. You might want to click on the book in the link

I'll post it again:

http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Another-Name-Re-Enslavement-Americans/dp/0385722702/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I have not read it, but heard an interview with the author on NPR (I think it may have been Fresh Air). The practices it documents--which are not secret, but largely forgotten--are equaled today only by the likes of Sheriff Arpaio.

[clear eye]

12. Chinese petitioners held in illicit 'black jails', report claims

Source: The Guardian

Human Rights Watch says people seeking redress in Beijing for local injustices have been abducted, detained and abused
Tania Branigan in Beijing The Guardian, Thursday 12 November 2009

Large numbers of Chinese citizens – including children – have been held for days or months in unofficial "black jails" that appear to have emerged when a controversial detention system was abolished, according to a report published today by a human rights group.

...Foreign and domestic journalists, Chinese human rights organisations and Chinese scholars have collected details of several jails as well as speaking to those who have been held there.

But the Chinese government denies such sites exist...

Human Rights Watch interviewed 38 former detainees for the report, An Alleyway in Hell, but withheld all names for fear of reprisals. Interviewees reported physical violence by guards, extortion, threats and deprivation of food, sleep and medical care.

Tens of thousands of petitioners head to Beijing each year in a last-ditch attempt to solve problems in their home towns such as land grabs or corruption...

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/12/chinese-black-jails-human-rights

---

Details of mistreatment amounting to torture is reported.

[Ian David]

13. Thank god we can claim the moral high ground and do something about this.

:sarcasm:

[Brickbat]

17. Sure...they're called factories.