What were reeducation camps?
Re-education camps (Vietnamese: Trại cải tạo) were prison camps operated by the Communist government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In these camps, the government imprisoned up to 300,000 former military officers, government workers and supporters of the former government of South Vietnam.
What was the point of the laojiao?
LAOJIAO was intended to “reform offenders into law-abiding citizens.” Both systems, however, were based on penal labor.
How many people died in the Laogai camps?
Number of deaths Human rights activist Harry Wu puts the death toll at 15 million.
What does laogai mean in English?
Definition of laogai : the penal system of China consisting of a network of labor camps also : such a labor camp.
Do Laogais still exist?
China’s Laogai prison system was created soon after Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949 and it still exists today in its essential form. The Laogai Research Foundation estimates this system currently comprises over one thousand detention facilities, incarcerating millions of individuals.
What really happens in China’s ‘re-education’ camps?
What Really Happens in China’s ‘Re-education’ Camps. Local governments organize public ceremonies and signings asking ethnic minorities to pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party; they hold mandatory re-education courses and forced dance performances, because some forms of Islam forbid dance.
Why has the US sanctioned China for human rights violations?
The US has announced sanctions against Chinese politicians who it says are responsible for human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. China is accused of mass detentions, religious persecution and forced sterilisation of Uighurs and others.
Can ‘vocational training’ help counter radicalism?
They say “vocational training” is needed to counter radicalism and separatism. Mr Chen, who sits on the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful Politburo, is the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to be hit by US sanctions, the Trump administration says.
What is it like to be in a detention camp?
The camps are also tools of punishment, and of course, a threat. Few detainees are formally charged, much less sentenced. Some are told how long a term they will serve; others are simply held indefinitely. This uncertainty — the arbitrary logic of detention — instills fear in the entire population.