After the Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 18th Central Committee, the regime promised to abolish its “re-education through labor” system and to initiate other related reforms. Citizen Power for China (aka Initiatives for China) cautiously welcomes the move and issues the following ten-point statement:
1. These promised reforms, if truly implemented, would be a progressive step for protecting citizens’ fundamental rights against the tide of relentless abuses by the regime’s state power.
2. Re-education through labor has acted as a powerful, abusive tool for Communist governmental bodies in restricting citizens’ individual freedoms without any legal basis. Since its establishment in 1957, the system has been used to silence citizens criticizing or opposing the political ideals or orders of the Communist regime. Political dissidents and other citizens were thrown into the system without having committed any crime, and this widespread abuse continued even through a 1980’s reform to confine it to target petty offenders. Re-education through labor became a human rights disaster as victims, including petitioners, protesters and demonstrators, and Falungong practitioners, accumulated to astronomic totals. After decades of intensifying pressure from the public and media, the Communist regime has finally acknowledged the severe consequences caused by this injustice. The regime’s step now towards the right direction is welcome, despite being much too late – but the step is better now rather than never.
3. Re-education through labor was abolished by a decades-long consistent and joint effort by many diverse social forces, including dissidents, rights defenders, opinion leaders, scholars, and judges and officials with sense of justice. This important victory for human rights is undeniably a demonstration of civil power, and we therefore cautiously hope that this result indicates movement toward civil society with freedom and democracy. We extend our sincere regards to those individuals who have devoted their time, wisdom and even their freedom and lives in fighting against the re-education through labor system.
4. We have good reason to fear that citizens’ freedoms will not improve after the abolishment of re-education through labor, especially given the arbitrariness and repressiveness of the Communist regime’s governance. The regime has purposefully excluded, from any mention in its Third Plenum Communiqué, its many still-existing extra-legal systems, procedures and practices used to deprive citizens’ freedom and rights, such as false diagnosis of mental illness, forced disappearance or confessions, black prisons, forced legal training class, forced transformation class and patriotic education class, “shuang-gui” (a double-penalty system, targeted for party members and having been de facto extended to government employees), house arrests, escorted tours, and police “tea sessions”. The continued existence and government’s unbounded use of these extra-legal practices without constitutional or legal limits show that the regime’s police state nature has not changed. The Communist regime continues to practice these tactics without hesitation to punish dissidents and deprive citizens of their basic rights.
5. We emphasize that there is no change to the flawed political system and practices under which the re-education through labor and other extra-legal systems are based. China remains a single-party state, with all administrative, judicial, and legislative powers firmly grasped in the hands of the Communist Party. Executive powers (including police power) have grown to completely eclipse the legislature and judiciary in the absence of any legal restriction. We must realize that the totalitarian thought on which re-education through labor is based remains deeply rooted in this party-state, as the Communist regime continues to freely use its power to control all walks of life and all circles of life. This political thought has not been reflected and examined in the Plenum Communiqué, but instead only repeatedly copied, inherited and reinforced in many areas.
6. The political logic on which the re-education through labor system relies is unchanged, with the regime stubbornly adhering to statism, reflected in the constitutions that have been forced onto the Chinese people since the regime took power. Under this logic individuals are merely tools for the state to realize its goals, with the state free to deprive citizens of their individual rights and freedoms in order to pursue those goals. This political logic had naturally produced re-education through labor, whose victims are often deprived of their freedom in the name of the state interest and social order without any legal due process, whether during the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957 or under so-called “stability maintenance” since the 1989 student democracy movement. Presently, the Plenum Communiqué follows the same statist logic subverting individual freedom and dignity in favor of unbridled state power, with the state itself always at the core of its goals.
7. Re-education through labor truly reflected the horrors of the Communist regime’s rule over China. Though the policy is abolished, the flawed politics and political system creating and administrating the policy remain. We therefore fear the return of re-education through labor in different forms and shapes, which if true, would put this reform at great risk. We propose that comprehensive reflections be commenced on the relationship between state powers and individuals in the course of reforming the state system. Individual dignity and freedom must be the foundation of a state’s power, and can only be achieved for China’s citizens through fundamentally reshaping government, checking and balancing powers, and implementing rule of law. Legislative authority must be respected, with individual freedoms only restricted by the exercise of relevant laws rather than the whim of an executive. An independent judiciary system must be guaranteed, with basic rights and freedoms established through an implemented Constitution.
8. We propose that power be earned through a multiple party system with free elections. Opposing political parties check and prevent any ruling party from abusing state power, and would guarantee citizens’ basic rights and freedoms in maintaining a constitutional democracy. Bans on newspapers and free press, and Internet activity must be lifted to allow civil society to thrive, manage its own affairs, and keep a watchful eye on state abuses.
9. We must remember the disastrous consequence to the dignity, freedom, life and property of Chinese citizens over the course of sixty years under re-education through labor. This dark episode cannot simply be forgotten, and Communists in power over the past six decades must bear its historical responsibility. We strongly urge the Communist regime to officially apologize to those victims and provide financial compensation. Furthermore, we call for legal recourse in establishing a special independent panel led by the judiciary to pursue justice and to punish those who abused their power (such as those officials in Ma Sanjia Labor Camp).
10. Citizen Power for China believes that anti-Constitutional rhetoric is fundamentally inconsistent with abolishment of re-education through labor, as Constitutional democracy is the most reliable safeguard for human rights against evil or unjust practices. To achieve this, China needs a peaceful democratic revolution in which Chinese citizens all share responsibility to participate.
Contact:
Jianli Yang
857-472-9039
yangjianli001@gmail.com
Lianchao Han
703-851-8334
lianchao@gmail.com
Jianying Wang
202-677-0209
josephdcwang@gmail.com