The Chinese Communist Party's "Sixth Penalty"

In the official laws of China, there are only five kinds of penalties: detention, official arrest, limited term in prison, life in prison, and the death penalty. But in the realities of the Chinese Communist system, there is another, more frightening, penalty: re-education through forced labour. Re-education through forced labour is different from prison terms, since it is far more arbitrary, decided entirely by administrative staff. In prison, a person's term may be reduced, but not extended without trial. In contrast, in a forced labour camp, the guards or even other officials outside of the labour camp can extend the terms of the detainees by anywhere between five days to one year.

Many Falun Gong practitioners who completed their term in a forced labour camp were sent to "brainwashing centres." Because they would not bow to pressure, they were often sent to another forced labour camp. Some Falun Gong practitioners were directly sent to prison.

In the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) words, forced labour camps are used to solve "internal problems within the people." Yet the treatment of detainees in labour camps is even worse than those of convicted criminals, who are considered to be the "enemies of the people." In a labour camp, one's only "right" is to obey and do hard labour. If one doesn't have enough to eat, she has to ask for help from her family. If her family doesn't help, then you are going to suffer as it can be guaranteed that the labour camp won't lift as much as a finger. According to them, they have no obligation to provide food.

It is relatively easy to avoid going to prison--one just has to know and obey the laws. However, avoiding been sentenced to a forced labour camp is not so easy. The process for sending someone to a labour camp is simple and entirely decided by the administrative staff. There is no supervision or control mechanism. In one's workplace, if one does not agree with the policies of the CCP, one may be sent to a labour camp. When the labour camps need slave labour, the number of people sent to labour camps may increase as well.

Whenever an important event is to take place in China, the detention centres, labour camps, and prisons get very crowded. This is especially true with the labour camps. The government uses the labour camps as a tool to generate terror. China will be the host of the 2008 Olympic Games, and for this, all the labour camps are already full. The "leaders" in this swift action are Dalian City of Liaoning Province, Fushun City of Liaoning Province, and Beijing. Labour camp detainees are already being transferred from these three places to the Masanjia Labour Camp in Liaoning Province.

In Wafangdian City (Liaoning Province) alone, between June and August of 2007, more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners were illegally arrested and their homes raided. Most of them were sentenced from 1.5 to 2 years in a labour camp. Although the CCP touts its "Humanitarian" Olympics and "Green" Olympics, the reality is that the Beijing Olympics has been stained with blood and haunted by terror.

"Re-education through forced labour" has been a special tool that the Party uses to persecute its people. It has been used mercilessly to torture the Chinese people and twist their conscience. Under the forced labour system, the Chinese people have been frightened and silenced. This illegal penalty is another link in the chain of Chinese Communist Party tyranny that has deprived the Chinese people of all freedom.