Human Rights Watch Denounces China’s Secret Jails 

2009-11-13 10:06

 

Chinese petitioner Zheng Dajing says a so-called "black jail" near Beijing's South Railway station was the site of his detention two years ago because of a housing complaint.

Zheng, one of tens of thousands of citizens who travel to Beijing to complain at government "petitions and appeals" offices, said the visit resulted in his physical abuse.
  
[Zheng Dajing, Petitioner]:
"After they caught me they pushed me inside, two people were on top of me, holding me and all three of them were holding me down. I couldn't even breathe, they were deliberately trying to hurt me."  

The system is supposed to act as a channel for public discontent, but complaints count against political records and promotion prospects for officials who face intense pressure to limit the flow of petitioners.

On Thursday, just days before U.S. President Barack Obama's first visit to China, Human Rights Watch published a report that director Sophie Richardson says documents wide-ranging abuses in unlawful detention centres that the Chinese government denies exist.

[Sophie Richardson, Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch Asia Div.]:
"We've documented everything from threats of rape and other forms of psychological abuse, to the detention of children in these facilities, some as young as six years old, fairly horrific physical abuse, theft, extortion..."

Ahead of his four-day trip, Obama said he plans to press China on human rights, but Richardson said the administration's actions have so far been disappointing.

[Sophie Richardson, Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch Asia Div.]:
"I think the Obama administration is being tested. It's a first visit to Beijing and I think they're (China) pushing back hard to see just how far they can get, to keep cranking the human rights bar lower, and lower and lower."

Human Rights Watch estimates between seven to 50 "jail" sites in Beijing alone, with local governments paying operators over $40 a day to keep petitioners locked away.