Chinese prison: description, device, features, interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Repeatedly at the official level there was information about the urgent need to reform the penitentiary system in China. This is due to many aspects that are gradually becoming known. The uprisings and strikes in Chinese prisons only confirm the "horror stories" that appear after the release of foreign offenders. They talk about the terrible conditions in which prisoners are kept, torture and beatings, poor food, slave labor and much more. Serving a sentence (even for minor offenses) has nothing to do with re-education, but is a manifestation of the overly punitive nature of China's prisons.

Summary of China's penitentiary system

This country had a cruel system of punishments back in the days of Ancient China, when the emperors developed the principles of managing people. Until the middle of the 20th century, public executions were practiced in the country, there is information that demonstration events were held at a later date. For example, there werecases when, before the eyes of the spectators, several “suicide bombers” were taken out before a sports competition, they were shot, the bodies were removed and some kind of match began. The last case occurred in 2000, when corrupt officials were shot in front of many people after a high-profile case.

The turning point can be called the end of 1949, when the law on Chinese prisons was passed, placing the responsibility on the state to create special departments. Terrible labor discipline and ill-treatment of prisoners (the death rate of prisoners beat all unthinkable records) attracted the UN. It wasn't until 1988 that China adopted the Convention Prohibiting Torture. However, according to eyewitnesses who served their sentences in this country, the torture continues.

Wang Shunan, vice secretary of the Criminological Society in China, interviewed that beatings, corporal punishment and abuse of criminals are prohibited, but are carried out so that prisoners confess guilt, are unable to escape, behave quietly and etc.

What can you go to jail for

Russians have repeatedly been imprisoned in China for violating the visa regime (for example, a work visa was given for activities in one province, and a person worked in another), driving a car while intoxicated, transporting and storing drugs. You can also be imprisoned for violating law and order, for example, for loud songs or defiant behavior.

Capital punishment (the death pen alty) is applied up to 5000 times a year asmen and women over 18 years of age. Previously, it was executions, now criminals are given lethal injections. According to unproven data, the organs of the executed are sold for transplantation. However, it is known for certain that since 2014, permission can be obtained from prisoners for post-mortem organ harvesting. Such a harsh measure of punishment is applied to persons convicted of espionage and treason, robbery, kidnapping. Corrupt officials, murderers and rapists, drug dealers, terrorists, those who illegally sell weapons and counterfeit medicines also fall under capital punishment.

Types of prisons

In fact, Chinese prisons are divided into two main types. The first include places where criminals are kept, who were convicted by the people's court of the country. Prison institutions of this type are female and male, for those who have committed serious crimes and a different degree of severity. The second type is corrective labor colonies for minors. They are also divided by gender and the nature of the crimes.

There is no separate Chinese prison for foreigners, they are most often kept in separate cells (if possible), and the distribution after the pre-trial detention center is the same as the rest. In major cities, there are a limited number of pre-trial detention centers set up according to the European model. There is a different attitude towards prisoners, while it turns out what they are like, whether the consulate will be able to pay for mitigation of punishment or other privileges. Such a fee is in no way considered a bribe, in China a certain system has been formed"showing respect".

There are prisons (there are very few of them) where it is forbidden to work after 21:00, prisoners are even paid a small allowance for work. The "luxurious" penitentiary institutions include Yancheng, which is called the White House and the prison-garden. On its territory there are beautiful lawns and football fields, cells can be compared with three-room apartments, criminals visit the gym and eat well. Political prisoners, former party bosses, are serving their sentences in Yancheng. There is another such prison, Qingsheng, where prisoners can even order ladies of easy virtue into the cells, use phones and watch movies on DVD. Photos of Chinese prisons of this type are often published for viewing by the world community in order to splurge, to deflect reproaches for violating human norms.

Chinese prison structure

The state budget of the country has an article for financing prison institutions (food and maintenance of prisoners, educational and training activities, expenses for prison police, utilities, etc.).

A prison institution is headed by a warden (reported to the Ministry of Justice), deputies, prison police, law enforcement administration, administrative staff.

Prison life

Prisoners who have committed murder, rape and other serious crimes are held separately from the rest. Criminals convicted of fraud suffer the most from torture in Chinese prisons. To themthe prisoners themselves are also treated very badly. In ordinary cells, the area is no more than 17-20 m22, about the same number of people are kept. There are also overloaded "huts", where 28 people huddle on 12 meters.

The reviews say that there is a flooring on the wooden floors in the cells, on it there are mats with thin pillows on which the prisoners sleep. There is a small compartment for washing (but far from everywhere), a hole in the floor, which is a toilet. In China, there is a big problem with clean water, so a strict amount of time is allotted for washing or taking a shower. Most often, it is regulated by 15 minutes, during this period it is necessary not only to perform hygiene procedures, but also to stand in line, have time to undress and dress. In some provinces, instead of a washbasin, criminals use water by opening a battery valve. All water procedures are carried out under the strict supervision of the prison police. There is also a certain amount of time for going to the toilet. The appearance of pardoned suicide bombers, who are long serving their life sentences, is appalling. They have long tangled hair (no combs, no haircuts either), missing front teeth (as a result of beatings and poor nutrition), pale and almost transparent skin.

In the cells, as elsewhere, there is a hierarchy. Only a Chinese can be a "godfather", he has assistants on duty, there is a "weaker sex" who is subjected to sexual violence. Convicted for financial fraud and rape in a bad way. Increase your credibility in the camerayou can for the ability to show and protect yourself.

How the "5 + 1 + 1" system is actually observed

Started in 2010, according to this system, prisoners are given 5 days a week for educational and labor activities, 1 day for training and 1 day for rest. It is assumed that the working day for convicts lasts 8 hours with a break for lunch, and the educational process takes place in specially equipped classrooms. This does not apply to prisons that hold criminals who have committed serious offenses and are on death row.

There are reviews of foreigners (including Russians) about Chinese prisons, which describe the working day from 5 am until late at night. The lights in the cells are not turned off around the clock so that the prisoners can fulfill, or better yet, overfulfill their labor plan. In women's Chinese prisons, for example, knitting sweaters or decorating clothes, shoes with beads, in men's prisons they can assemble car seats, etc. No more than 15 minutes are allotted for lunch, then work continues until a short supper, and then work again to exhaustion. For work, prisoners receive a certain number of points, usually it is given in total per cell. This causes a negative attitude towards those who do not work well and do not cope with the established norm.

Food in most prisons is poor and varies by province. For example, in the southern provinces, prisoners are fed mainly with very thin porridge on the water from rice, and in the northern provinces, rice is most often given.cakes, pastries. Lunches and dinners are mainly represented by vegetable stews with "meat" meatballs. In the reviews of the unfortunate tourists from the series "how I ended up in prison in China" it is written that the food has a vile smell. Many have lost 15-20 kg in weight in a few months.

Prisoners have the right to correspond with relatives no more than once a month. Letters are heavily censored. If they contain seditious information, for example, complaints from prisoners, such letters are not sent, but the prisoner will be able to write a new message not earlier than in a month. Dates are allowed very rarely, but not everywhere.

High security prisons

They resemble concentration camps with all the resulting horrors, they are distinguished by the strictest discipline. Most of them are located in the north of the country or in the northeastern provinces.

One of the largest, designed for 20,000 criminals, is located near the city of Shenyang (in Liaoning province). It consists of blocks that are reserved for newly arrived prisoners, two blocks for "experienced", a Chinese women's prison building and a hospital. Many followers of the banned Falun Gong sect are kept here. There are cases when many of them died under torture in this Chinese prison. The "dangerous" criminals of this penitentiary institution include well-known bloggers in China who were accused of undermining the country's state system.

Nehe, China's maximum security prison, has a very bad reputation,known for numerous suicides of prisoners, cases of severe beatings with a fatal outcome.

The food in such prisons is even worse, many die from exhaustion, poisoning. Such cases usually cause a resonance in society, the Ministry of Justice conducts checks. As a result, nutritional conditions improve slightly for a while, then everything resumes. Dangerous criminals are most often put on leg irons, they can be removed only for exemplary behavior, but not from everyone.

Where the "suicide bombers" await their verdict

Sentenced to capital punishment await their execution in a Chinese rock prison. Is it true? Indeed, there is a prison carved into the rock, it is located near the city of Suifenhe. It has only one input (aka output). The basement, where the cells with especially dangerous criminals are located, is half filled with groundwater. Cameras for "single skaters" measuring a meter by a meter. Prisoners can only warm up during the 12 hours of work, the same amount of time is allotted for "rest".

Chambers at China's death row facility are rapidly being emptied for new arrivals. The time from sentencing to execution sometimes does not exceed 7 days. In very rare cases, the "lucky ones" can replace the death pen alty with life imprisonment. Separate rooms are used for the procedure itself. They can fulfill the last will of the criminal. For example, before the execution to bring him a delicious meal, female criminals often ask to be given beautiful clothes and cosmetics. Then a sign is hung around the neck of the criminal with his name and the number of the article under which he was convicted. Shootings almost everywhere have been replaced by injections, which are carried out in special medical vans. The convict is first injected with an anesthetic, and then poison, death occurs in 1-2 minutes. A special record is made about the fact of death, which is then reported to the people's court that issued the decision.

The transition to the injection form of execution is associated with a lower cost of the procedure compared to execution. But the last type of execution of punishments in some provinces still remained. In such cases, after the execution of the death pen alty, the relatives of the convict receive an invoice for expenses (the so-called "bullet" bill). They resort to execution if the offender is a drug dealer, murderer, rapist. For example, in the winter of 2016, a resident of Kyrgyzstan was executed for smuggling 7 kg of heroin into China.

Conditions for female criminals

The description of the Chinese prison in this case is no different from the previous ones. The most famous is located in the described prison block of Shenyang. Women prisoners (as well as men) are closely monitored. Most of the premises are equipped with cameras and alarms, motion sensors. In case of any violation of the rules, an alarm is triggered, the prison police immediately come in and take action. An audible alert can be used if the woman has not used the toilet on time, is talking loudly, etc.

Dating for female criminals is almost non-existent, with rare exceptionsthey are allowed to see the children. Family visits in a separate room with husbands are completely excluded, probably to prevent pregnancy. There is no leniency towards pregnant women, they are simply sent for abortions, and these are also expenses that the prison administration does not need. Pregnancy is also not a reason to abolish the death pen alty. An abortion is performed at any time, then the sentence is carried out.

While serving a term for any offense, they can be deprived of food and water, sleep, forced to be in an uncomfortable position for a long time. This kind of attitude is not uncommon in prisons. Many cases are known when, during a sharp deterioration in the state of he alth, prisoners were released on a large bail for medical reasons, so as not to spoil the reputation of the prison with another death. In the wild, such unfortunates lived no more than a year, dying of heart failure, tuberculosis and other pathologies. Before they died, they talked about terrible torture: dousing with ice water, beating with electric batons, stretching the body with ropes.

The most incredible facts

Chinese prisons are full of eyewitness stories, mostly foreigners who were released with wide eyes in horror.

• According to some reports, the number of executions in China is directly proportional to the number of transplant operations. Services are mostly used by foreigners. Before execution, prisoners are given drugs that suppress the immune system so that the organ (heart, kidneys, etc.) is better taken root in the body of the recipient.
• In someprovinces abolished anesthesia before lethal injection. This is also additional spending, which the state does not want to go for. Therefore, before death, criminals are simply tied up, gagged and injected with potassium cyanide.
• From hunger, prisoners eat rats. There are gaps in the floor of the cells where these rodents are full. They are caught, skinned, then soaked for several days and eaten raw.
• There is no strict regime of walks in Chinese penitentiaries. There were cases when a ray of light fell into the closet every day for only 12 minutes. The prisoners took turns standing under it. By the way, in the form of compensation for the lack of walks, criminals are given vitamin D daily.
• Each prisoner has a special account where he can keep money. Relatives and friends of the convict can transfer funds.
• There are cases when the time of detention in the pre-trial detention center was about four years (from the moment the crime was committed to the trial).
• In China, unlike Russia, not only traffickers and drug manufacturers are imprisoned, but also drug addicts themselves.
• Prisoners in the presence of the prison police must put their heads down and look at their feet. Before the distribution of rice in some camps, prisoners kneel on one knee, bow their heads, and hold an empty bowl in their outstretched hand.

Summarize

As they say, one does not renounce prison and the bag. Many tourists, including Russians, end up in Chinese prisons (according to reviews), not knowing the laws of this country, by an absurd coincidencecircumstances. There are, of course, real criminals, but there are few such among foreigners. When going to a foreign state, you must definitely familiarize yourself with the laws of this country, respect cultural values and traditions. China has very harsh laws, for example, a person who is under investigation cannot communicate with anyone - neither with relatives, nor with a lawyer. Some spent 2-3 months in a pre-trial detention center until the consulate of their country agreed on a mitigation of punishment or deportation. And this is at best, because many were serving sentences for several years, comparing this time with hell.

On the other hand, the condescending attitude towards criminals adopted in many European countries cannot be fully justified, because among the violators of the law there are also real geeks who should be in such prisons as in China.