Inside China Today

Quazi prison set up at Communist Party School in Wuhan

It has been revealed that a large number of Falun Gong practitioners and petitioners were detained in “Legal Education Classes” set up in Chinese Communist Party Schools around Wuhan city in Hubei Province ahead of the August Beijing Olympics. One such class was in the Jiang-an district Party School and one local petitioner says that these “Legal Education Classes” are in fact private prisons of the local government to illegally restrict the personal freedom of citizens. She says many people remain in detention despite the Olympics Games having finished.
Wuhan resident Yan Hanmei who petitioned in Beijing says she was detained at the Jiang-an class after being intercepted by government officials in Beijing. She says there were four other petitioners who were detained at the same time as her. Yan says the Legal Education Class is holding quite a number of people, some are victims of force removals and others are entrepreneurs. It is understood that these classes also detain other petitioners and Falun Gong practitioners.

The existence of such classes have long been known, with many in the legal and human rights fraternities labelling them as “black prisons”.

Yan says families of the detained have no idea where they are and once inside, their freedom is taken and they’re prevented from leaving. She says she needs periodic medical treatment for her illness and she was only released after staging a hunger strike. She described the poor standard of meals served at these quazi prisons and that anyone who confronts the watchmen will get a beating.

Another victim of forced removal Hua Demao says two of his family had previously been detained in the black prison for petitioning. He says Party Schools are meant to develop national leaders and are not permitted to detain people. Hua says these detentions are illegal, and no documentations are produced to justify them. He says detainees who’s personal liberties are taken away have done nothing wrong.

Some petitioners believe the existence of such black prisons serve a multitude of purposes for the local government. Firstly, they are able to block the avenues for petitioners and cover up criminal evidence. Second, such prisons can escape the scrutiny and commentary by unsuspecting media, especially foreign media. Thirdly, these illegal detentions outside the normal prison system can maintain the so called image of local governments and lastly they can be used as retribution against rights advocates who dare to reveal criminal activities of local officials.

The above news is brought to you by Lu Fang, Wen Hong and Chris Thomas for Inside China Today on the SOH Radio Network