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Prison chiefs end gay discrimination
Source: Xinhua |
September 23, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has made strides in protecting the human rights of prison inmates in recent years - including scrapping a conduct policy that discriminated against homosexual inmates, according to a judicial official in charge of penal human rights studies.
The Ministry of Justice has rewritten the national code of conduct for prison inmates, ending bans on homosexuality, dyed hair and other lifestyles and practices previously prohibited in prisons.
The revision was made to show respect for the human rights of prison inmates, according to Feng Cangjian, head of the Human Rights in Justice office of the ministry's Institute for Crime Prevention.
Feng said yesterday on the sidelines of the fourth Beijing Forum on Human Rights that a person's sexual orientation should not make them a target for discrimination, whether that person is in prison or not.
But he said that this does not mean that homosexual acts are accepted in prisons.
"Inmates will be left alone if their homosexuality remains 'spiritual,'" Feng said. "But because prison inmates are not free people, they cannot act as freely as the rest of us."
The official said it is an international practice not to discriminate against homosexual inmates, but instead to restrict their behavior.
Feng said prisons in Beijing have also banned officials from ordering inmates to squat with both hands crossed behind their heads, a practice that is commonly used to demoralize inmates who are entering prison for the first time.
Feng said the human rights of death row inmates have been respected, as prison authorities have begun to allow them to meet their immediate relatives before being executed. The use of lethal injections is also being promoted as a more humane alternative to traditional firing squad executions.
The use of lethal injections in China began in 1997 and has replaced execution by firing squad in the provinces of Shandong, Yunnan and Liaoning, according to official statistics.
Challenges still remain in enforcing the changes, as training the country's 300,000 prison officers to keep them up to speed on the changes will take time, Feng said.
He said the ministry will publish a textbook in October educating prison officers about inmates' human rights.
The Ministry of Justice has rewritten the national code of conduct for prison inmates, ending bans on homosexuality, dyed hair and other lifestyles and practices previously prohibited in prisons.
The revision was made to show respect for the human rights of prison inmates, according to Feng Cangjian, head of the Human Rights in Justice office of the ministry's Institute for Crime Prevention.
Feng said yesterday on the sidelines of the fourth Beijing Forum on Human Rights that a person's sexual orientation should not make them a target for discrimination, whether that person is in prison or not.
But he said that this does not mean that homosexual acts are accepted in prisons.
"Inmates will be left alone if their homosexuality remains 'spiritual,'" Feng said. "But because prison inmates are not free people, they cannot act as freely as the rest of us."
The official said it is an international practice not to discriminate against homosexual inmates, but instead to restrict their behavior.
Feng said prisons in Beijing have also banned officials from ordering inmates to squat with both hands crossed behind their heads, a practice that is commonly used to demoralize inmates who are entering prison for the first time.
Feng said the human rights of death row inmates have been respected, as prison authorities have begun to allow them to meet their immediate relatives before being executed. The use of lethal injections is also being promoted as a more humane alternative to traditional firing squad executions.
The use of lethal injections in China began in 1997 and has replaced execution by firing squad in the provinces of Shandong, Yunnan and Liaoning, according to official statistics.
Challenges still remain in enforcing the changes, as training the country's 300,000 prison officers to keep them up to speed on the changes will take time, Feng said.
He said the ministry will publish a textbook in October educating prison officers about inmates' human rights.
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