SWB
FE/1224 C1/13
life and avoid feelings of depression and apathy resulting from a prolonged monotonous and idle prison life. It also helps them learn productive skills and knowledge of one kind or another so that they can find a job after being released from prison and avoid committing new crimes because of difficulties in making a living. China's policy of reforming criminals through labour is not simply for the purpose of punishment; it is a humanitarian policy conducive to the reform, and the physical and mental health, of the criminals.
By the Chinese law, criminals work for no more than eight hours a day and take time off during holidays and festivals; they are entitled to the same grain, edible oil and non-staple food rations and the same labour and health protection as accorded to workers of state-run enterprises engaged in the same type of work; those who overfulfil their production quotas are given bonuses and those holding technical titles at and above the middle grade are entitled to monthly technical allowances and opportunities of on-the-job vocational and technical training.
Prison labour products are mostly used to meet the needs within the prison system, and only a small quantity enters the domestic market through normal channels. The export of prison products is prohibited. China's foreign trade departments, which handle the export of Chinese commodities in a unified way, have never granted foreign trade rights to reform-through-labour institutions.
7. Education through Labour and the Rights of Those Being Educated Through Labour
The work of education through labour in China is based on the 1957 Decision on Education through Labour and other regulations adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Education through labour is not a criminal but an administrative punishment. Education- through-labour administrative committees have been set up by the people's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities as well as large and medium-sized cities, and the work is under the supervision of the people's procuratorates. It is stipulated that those eligible for education through labour should meet the requirements of relevant laws and regulations. For example, they should be at or above the age of 16 and have upset the public order in a large or medium-sized city but refused to mend their ways despite repeated admonition, or they have committed an offence not serious enough for criminal punishment. The decision to put a person under education-through-labour is made through a strict legal procedure and under a system of legal supervision in order to avoid subjecting the wrong person to the programme.
After the education-through-labour administrative committee has according to related regulations made the decision to put a person on an education-through-labour programme ranging from one to three years, the person and his family members are entitled to be informed abou reasons for the decision and the duration of the programme. If the person takes exception to the decision, he may appeal to the administrative committee or lodge a complaint with the people's court according to the Law of Administrative Procedure. If the education-through-labour institution finds that the person does not conform to the qualifications for the
8 Nov 91
education-through-labour programme or that he should have been sentenced to criminal punishment, it may report the case to the re-education-through-labour administrative committee for review.
Those undergoing education through labour are entitled to civic rights prescribed by the Constitution and the law, except that they must comply with the measures taken according to the regulations on education through labour to restrict some of their rights. For instance, they are not deprived of their political rights and have the right to vote according to law, they have the freedom of correspondence and the right to take time off during festivals and holidays; during the period of education through labour they are allowed to meet with their family members, those who are married can live together with their spouses during visits, and they can be granted leave of absence or go home to visit family members during holidays. Those who have acquitted themselves well while being educated may have their term reduced or be released ahead of time. Every year about 50% of the people undergoing the education-through-labour programme have their term reduced or are released ahead of time.
The education-through-labour institutions follow the policy of educating, persuading and redeeming the offenders, with the emphasis on redeeming Classes are opened, and instructors assigned, in these institutions to conduct systematic ideological, cultural and technical education. Offenders under the education-through-labour programme work no more than six hours every day.
An average of 50,000 people have been brought under the education-through-labour programme annually since it was instituted. The overwhelming majority of those who have been re-educated have turned over a new leaf, and many have become valuable participants in building the country.
According to surveys conducted over the last few years, only 7% of those released from the education-through-labour programme have lapsed into offence or crime. The programme has done what families, workplaces and schools cannot do: To prevent those who have dabbled in crime from committing further anti-social actions and breaking the law and to turn them into constructive members of society. Both the public and family members of the offenders speak highly of the programme for its role in forestalling and reducing crime and maintaining public order.
China's public security and judicial organs have carried out their responsibilities strictly according to law and played an important role in protecting and guaranteeing the citizens' rights and freedoms. That explains why China has long been one of the countries with the lowest incidence of criminal cases and crime rate in the world. In 1990, the incidence of criminal cases and crime rate in China were 2 per thousand and 0.6 per thousand respectively, considerably lower than the figures in some developed Western countries, which ran as high as 60 per thousand ar & 20 per thousand respectively.
V. GUARANTEE OF THE RIGHT TO WORK
A citizen's right to work is the essential condition for his right to subsistence Without the right to work, there will be no guarantee for the right to subsistence. The Constitution and the law provide that citizens have the right to work, rest,