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Reprimand centers show some officials ignore rule of law
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A team of lawyers has urged Henan provincial authorities to provide an explanation over the reprimand education centers where innocent petitioners were confined and maltreated without any legal cause.
Henan has ordered the closure of all such centers in the province after the family of a detainee made it public on Weibo. Zhang Fengmei, 70, had been held for five days at the center in Nanyang City after seeking to file a petition in Beijing, according to a Beijing News report on February 13. The report did not give details of the petition.
Zhang said that while in detention she was watched by up to 10 people, including police officers. She wasn’t even allowed to go to the toilet, but was made to use a bucket in the corner of the room.
No rules in China’s legal system allow the practice, but it was carried out in many places in Henan.
Henan’s public security department, department of justice and bureau of calls and visits (petitioning) jointly issued a rule on September 26, 2009 to cope with petitioners who go to Beijing to file their complaints. The document says “for those who go to Beijing to file abnormal petitions shall be taken to a designated place to accept reprimand, warning and persuasion for at least 24 hours.”
According to pictures taken from the outside, the full name for facilities of the kind is “reprimand education center for abnormal petitions.”
Who is more abnormal?
In an open letter to Henan’s provincial government, the lawyers asked for an official interpretation of what an “abnormal petition” is.
Who, indeed, is behaving abnormally?
The petitioners are usually quite reasonable.
An earlier media report said many villagers in Henan‘s Puyang City had their land illegally seized by Lieutenant General Gu Junshan’s family for real estate development. They went to Beijing to petition for justice but were dispersed by security staff led by Gu‘s wife — a senior police officer stationed in Beijing to intercept them and other petitioners.
Any innocent person’s freedom and other fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution and legally guaranteed. Any officers involved in the illegal practice of “reprimanding petitioners” shall be liable for violating the Constitution and laws.
China has abolished its “re-education through labor” system, which allowed police to sentence petty criminals, drug addicts and some petitioners to up to four years’ confinement in labor camps without going through the courts.
However, the so-called reprimand centers in Henan alert us that camps under different names might grow rampantly since the ground is still fertile. Without a legal basis, they might be operated more secretly in the future, which could be more harmful to our society.
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