Laogai

A laogai (Chinese: 勞改, Pinyin: láo găi, abbreviation of laodong gaizao 勞動改造 which means “work and reform”, “reform by work”, is “rehabilitation by work”) is a camp of rehabilitation by work in Popular republic of China. It is the equivalent of what was called “Gulag” in the USSR.

Under Mao Zedong, the laogai was a network of concentration camps and forced labors for the enemies of the Chinese Communist party according to the “nine categories of vermin” (landowners, country rich, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, droitists or droitiers, soldiers and agents of the Guomindang, enemy agents capitalist and intellectuals during the Cultural revolution). Today still, several of these detention centres exist. One finds there the political opponents, dissidents, and student present at the time of the manifestations of the April 27th and June 4th on the Place Tian' anmen in 1989. One thus finds also in his camps, of the activists who recognize the pope, of the activists Tibetans and a big number of practitioners of the Falun Gong.

Payment of the laogai of the Chinese Communist party (extracted)

Handbook of reform of criminal procedure approved by the Office of the laogai of the ministry for Justice

“the essential task of our installations of the laogai is to punish and reform the criminals. To define their functions concretely, they fill their tasks in the three following fields:
to #punir the criminals and to keep them under monitoring.
#réhabiliter criminals.
#Faire to take part the criminals in work and the production, thus creating richness for the company.
Our installations of the laogai are at the same time services of the State and specialized companies. ”

Council Decision of State relating to rehabilitation by work

“the following categories people can be engaged to be educated by work:
the counter-revolutionaries and reactionaries anti-Socialists whose crimes are minors and are not the subject of a criminal continuation and who were returned administrations of the government, organizations, companies, schools and other units, and do not have any means of earning their living. ”

(According to selected Works of the payments of public safety of the Popular republic of China , p. 209, Beijing).

The laogai , between Gulag and Undertaken

Assessment

The system of the laogai is estimated at more than 1.000 camps through the various areas of the Popular republic of China. According to the Chinese government, it concerns currently more than 2 million individuals, but 4 and 6 million prisoners according to the Laogai Research Foundation ('' references ''). This organization, created by Hongda Harry Wu, Chinese former prisoner of the laogai , estimates at more than 50 million the number of Chinese prisoners who passed in these camps since the arrival of the Communists to the capacity in 1949 and 20 million men and women who died there (cold, summary hunger, disease, tiredness, executions, etc).

The Popular republic of China is often criticized not to respect the Human rights in the laogai .

Types of camps, production, produced

The Laogai Research Foundation counts 4.000 camps of work, detention centres and prisons having the character of camps laogai . This number is obtained by taking into account detention centres taking appearance of factories, farms and mines. Beijing recognized officially that the goods produced in these camps brought back on average 200 million euros per annum.

Starting from 1983, whereas Deng Xiaoping makes each laogai an autonomous economic entity, the director of camp became head of undertaking.

The products of the laogai various and are varied energy of the black to the Amiante, while passing by the automobile parts, chemicals (Engrais, black Poudre), cement, toys, agriculture (cotton, rice, etc), but also mining. The prisoners produce for export approximately 150 different articles. And " if quality is not satisfactory, the prisoner is battu". (Release of the 1/28/97)

Made in laogai

“The financial support of the Western firms, the encouragement of the governments to the commercial exchanges, the the World Bank which continues to finance great work with the Xinjiang very while knowing well that it finances also camps of work reinforce a penitentiary system related to the Chinese foreign trade. ” ( the Life , January 30th, 1997)

See too

  • Jean Pasqualini the only French having survived Laogai, it testified in a book published in 1974: Captive of Mao
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