Inside China Today

Inside China Today – Sunday 16th May

An interview with a former prison guard reveals the frightening extent of corruption and brutality in China's prisons (Prince Roy/flickr)

- Former prison officer reveals disturbing prison system

- More on lawyers Tang Jitian and Liu Wei

- Farmers take to railroad track in protest of land grabs

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Former prison officer reveals disturbing prison system

Mr Hu use to be a prison officer. He also served the CCP as a teacher and Party cadre. Once he became disenchanted with the shady and corrupt practices of China’s prison system, he resigned from all CCP affiliated organisations.

On May 8th Mr Hu spoke to SOH radio, giving us a glimpse into the dark side of China’s prison system. What he told us revealed systematic corruption and the flagrant abuse of human rights in many of China’s prisons. When he first joined the CCP, Hu developed an immediate dislike of the organisation. He spoke to us about this (recording):
“When I was in college studying a degree, my father suggested I join the CCP. I didn’t take his advice. Back then the Party propaganda went like this: ‘The majority of Party members are good. Only a small number, a handful of Party members are not good.’ However, I noticed that in places where I studied and lived bad cadres outnumbered good ones. It was quite disappointing. I wasn’t going to apply for Party membership. Afterwards, when I worked in the prison system, I often heard sarcastic comments from prisoners, like: “From what we can tell, police officers are even worse than us prisoners!””

Mr Hu told SOH that anyone with a hint of humanity would struggle to work in China’s penal system. He said (recording):
“All I saw was bribery, corruption, and beatings. It was outrageous. I don’t think this is a place where humans can stay. I need freedom. I don’t want to spend all my time trying to figure out the subtle hints in the body language of officials. One of my former colleagues still works at the propaganda department, putting a favourable spin on everything to police trainees. The last time I called him, I asked if he was pleased with his work. He said he was going crazy. He knows it’s all a blatant lie, and everyone else knows it’s a lie. Yet, he has to gloss over contradictions and make speeches to police officers. In other words, they fool themselves and lie to each other. So, I’m fed up with it, and don’t want to be a part of it. I decided to quit.”

Prison officers actually have the power to reduce prison terms. But some officers take advantage of this power; Mr Hu described one case (recording):
“They go out to deceive inmates’ families. For example, someone is in a labour camp. The officer tells his wife that he wants her ‘to understand the situation,’ a not so subtle hint that she should sleep with the officer in exchange for her husband’s reduced labour term.”

Mr Hu believes the flawed training system actually breeds unfit and violent cadets. Training regimes are lax and many underqualified and unfit cadets become officers (recording):
“Some graduated from high school and didn’t enrol in college [after failing the entrance exams]. Some finished military service and returned to their hometowns. Those with connections first became workers. After two or three years, he’s qualified to take exams to become a police officer. I once supervised the exams. It was completely out of control. Some students had parents who worked in law enforcement and never spent time studying. They copied each other’s answers during the exam. We didn’t dare stop them, because their parents were chiefs of departments. Officers who supervised the exam had to leave and smoke in the hallway. When I taught at such a school the students even dared to fight with me. After they passed the exam and became prison guards [while in China they still belong to the police system and wear police uniforms], they are most vicious when beating inmates. So vicious, that some inmates were beaten to death. Some inmates had mental breakdowns.”

Some prison guards were actually former soldiers. After returning from the military they bring unprecedented brutality to the prisons (recording):
“If you want to find anyone more vicious, it has to be soldiers. Sometimes, prison guards are angry at inmates, but even they don’t go too far with the beatings. Often soldiers are called in. These young soldiers, only 17, 18, or maybe 19 years old, don’t have any sympathy. They treat it like a boxing exercise. They simply lift the inmate off the ground and tie them to a tree using thick metal wire, and start rounds and rounds of punching.”

Mr Hu believes it was worth giving up his secure job in the prison system in exchange for freedom and human decency.

Fu Ming and Li Ming of the SOH Radio Network

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More on lawyers Tang Jitian and Liu Wei

The case of two Beijing lawyers facing the suspension of their practicing certificates continues to unfold in China. The case is receiving world-wide attention, and many foreign news agencies are closely following what unfolds in Beijing.

Tang Jitian and Liu Wei were notified by phone that a formal decision had been made about the cancellation of their certificates. The phone call was made by Chen Yinghai of the Law and Politics Branch at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice on May 7th.

When interviewed over the telephone, Ms. Liu confirmed (recording):
“A decision has been handed down, but I was not formally notified. He asked me to go get the notice.”

Ms. Liu said, instead of handing her the decision at the Municipal Bureau of Justice, she was asked to collect it from a law firm. She said it was peculiar and “unacceptable” that normal protocol was ignored.
Ms Liu said, (recording):
“In fact, I do not have any legal connection with that practice any more. For mysterious motives, they told me to go to that practice to receive the decision, which I could not accept. Therefore I do not know the outcome yet.”

Ms. Liu believes the authorities’ were trying to avoid certain issues.
She said, (recording):
“According to the standard, I should fetch it from the [Municipal Bureau of Justice]. But today the convention was not followed. They wanted to avoid something.”
As for Tang Jitian, sources say his mobile phone has not been able to receive signals from overseas since his license was cancelled.

Calls to Chen Yinghui at the Law and Politics Branch of the Beijing Bureau of Justice, and Xiao Lizhu, the head of the Lawyer Control Department, were not answered.

On the 27th of April 2009, two Beijing lawyers Tang Jitian and Liu Wei, acted as the legal defense of Falun Gong practitioner Yang Ming, from Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. During the court proceedings, the presiding judge prevented Yang Ming from making his defense. Yang’s lawyers’ arguments were interrupted more than ten times. After their right to defend their client was deprived several times, the two lawyers withdrew from the courtroom in protest of the court’s illegal hearing. As a result, the Justice Bureau cancelled their practicing certificates for “disturbing the order of the court’

Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice, deeply rooted in Chinese history and traditions, whose adherents live by the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. It has been banned in China since July 20, 1999. Since then, adherents have been persecuted and illegally sent to detention centres, brainwashing camps, and forced labour camps. According to Amnesty International, torture and ill-treatment of Falun Gong adherents is prevalent during high profile political campaigns… Reports continue of deaths of detained practitioners following torture and extreme ill-treatment.”

Li Yifei and Xin Yi of SOH Radio Network.

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Farmers take to railroad track in protest of land grabs

400 farmers have taken to lying on a railroad track in protest of government land grabs. On April 29th, farmers from Changchun Village of Fujin in Heilongjiang Province lay on a stretch of railway for nine and a half hours. Dozens of tractors were also used to block a major highway. Armed police later arrived at the scene and dispersed the protestors with tear gas. A dozen farmers suffered injuries with two severely injured.

Locals’ estimate over 2000 armed police were dispatched to Fujin City. Central avenue and Oriental Plaza were held under tight control. One local told reporters (recording):
“There are traffic police on patrol every day, and there are also police and official vehicles from the Public Security Bureau on patrol. We don’t know if they carry guns, but there are many of them.”

The head of Changchun village, Ms Ling told reporters the farmers began blocking the railroads on the 29th. They managed to stop the number 4133 train from Jiamusi to Qianjin at 3pm.

Ling told us (recording):
“It’s been blocked for nine and a half hours. There were over 400 villagers and the police used tear gas on the crowd. About ten farmers were injured, two of them severely, and another two hospitalized. They had injuries all over their bodies. Some police were injured as well, but we don’t know how many.”

Ling said the authorities had seized over 40 square kilometres of land for state projects. For the next 14 years, the original owners of the land will only have the right to lease the land from the new owners. She told reporters about their demands (recording):
“Many people have come from the province, and some from the city. We just negotiated with them, telling them they must give the land back, as that’s what we want. The 40 square kilometres of land we have title to weren’t clearly appropriated. We did not mention money, what we want is land, not money.”

The farmers now reportedly own just 13 square kilometres of land, and the rest ‘belongs’ to the Fujin Agricultural Development Company. Farmers can only lease the land on an annual basis. It now appears they’re being forced to lease their own land, and that the company has become the landlord.

This situation actually stretches back to 2007, where government officials actually admitted the 40 square kilometres of land was acquired illegally through land seizures. Despite this, the authorities are still refusing to return the land to the farmers. The current protest is a result of this dispute. The protest itself has proven quite effective in achieving its aim. It seems even the Chinese Communist regime has been disturbed by the successful blocking of a train.

Tian Xi and Xin Yi of SOH Radio Network

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