Thirty years of China's 'custody and education'
- By Zhang Lulu
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, July 3, 2014
Regional disparity
But as the NPC's 1991 decision has not been abolished, the treatment of offenders -- whether they should be arrested for less than 15 days or kept in custody for at least six months -- varies in different provinces and regions, and has led to different situations for "custody and education" centers in different places.
|
|
| A "custody and education" center in Longyan, Fujian Province in 2010. [Photo/Ministry of Public Security] |
Now there are 90 such centers nationwide, except for Guizhou Province where data is unavailable, according to a report by Southern Metropolitan newspaper. Five provinces and regions do not have such centers, while the other 26 have at least one.
The number of centers demonstrates a regional disparity. Most of them are located in southeastern China, with 13 centers in Guangdong, 10 in Fujian, eight in Guangxi, four in Zhejiang and Shaanxi, three in Hebei and Henan, two in Hainan, and one in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Heilongjiang, Gansu, Xinjiang and Yunnan respectively.
Anhui and Jiangxi said centers have been closed in their provinces since 2005, and the local police were by no means incapacitated in handling the related offenses.
But northern China's Shandong Province still has its two centers. "It is obvious that the 'custody and education' system is declining, and will continue to do so. But as long as the NPC does not amend the laws and the Ministry of Public Security does not issue new regulations, we will continue to carry out the system." a local police officer said.
Should the system be abolished?
Whether the system of "custody and education" should be abolished or not has sparked a wave of debates.
"The most vital problem lies not in moral or legal conflicts, but in public health. Many detainees have sexually transmitted diseases, and some of them continue with prostitution even though they are aware of their disease." A police officer in Jiangsu Province said.
"The 'custody and detention' centers now focus on dealing with such diseases. If such centers were abolished, what about the potential threat that the detainees might pose to the general public? We have to make sure that related policies make a smooth transition. For example, can we force detainees to undergo medical treatment? If they are required to have medical treatment, they can be released once the disease is cured; it does not have to be six months," the police officer continued.
A police officer in Anhui Province with more than 30 years of experience did not think so. "There are no custody and detention centers in our province, and no one has been detained in the past ten years; while some provinces detain several hundreds of people every year. What has been achieved? Has prostitution and whoring been eradicated in the provinces where 'custody and detention' have performed well? Has the phenomenon grown rampant in our province, which has not detained a single person in the past ten years?"
Some NPC deputies proposed scrapping the system at the annual session of the national legislature in March this year. A letter signed by 108 people, including some legal experts, was sent to the NPC Standing Committee, asking for the system to be abolished.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)