Fact
File
Re-education
through Labour
"Re-education
through Labour" (RTL) has been used in China since
the mid-1950s as an extra-judicial form of detention.
People
receiving RTL terms have no access to a lawyer, there
is no court hearing, and "sentencing" is usually
decided by the police alone. Under the current system,
people can be detained in an RTL facility for up to four
years.
Those
serving terms of RTL are at high risk of being beaten
or subjected to other forms of torture or ill-treatment,
particularly if they refuse to recant their "crimes".
Mao
Hengfeng is currently held in an RTL facility in Shanghai.
She has petitioned the state authorities for many years
over her coerced abortion, her right to work, and other
basic rights. In April 2004 she was sentenced to 18 months
RTL by the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Mao
Hengfeng has reportedly been subjected to torture and
ill-treatment in the labour camp. In October 2004, she
was suspended from a ceiling and severely beaten. In November
2004 her wrists and ankles were bound with leather straps
and her limbs pulled in opposite directions. This continued
for two days, during which time she was also denied food.
Her
refusal to confess to any "wrongdoing", even
under torture, appears to have influenced a decision in
December 2004 to increase her original sentence by three
months.
Subsequently
she has reportedly been held in solitary confinement for
short periods, and strapped down on her bed for hours
on end. It is also reported that she has been force-fed
with an unidentified substance that is turning her mouth
black.
Source:
Amnesty International.
Plight
of female prisoners in Bangladesh
Rita
Bhowmick
Amiddle-aged
woman from Noakhali has recently been released from jail
after serving years of sentence in a murder case.
Explaining
her experience in jail, the woman says, "The jail
authorities behanvict who served his term at Dhaka Central
Jail, "Male and female prisoners live in separate
wards here. However, there is a door connecting male wards
with those for the female prisoners.
Veteran
male prisoners often bribe guards of the female wards
and coerce them to have sex with them. Some female prisoners
opt for sexual contact with the men in the hope of getting
other facilities.
Jails
in the country are overcrowded. Three hundred to three
hundred fifty female prisoners live in each room, many
times higher than the capacity. While many spend time
outside their rooms, the real problem occurs when they
come back at night to sleep.
A
2004 report says more than 74,000 prisoners are kept in
the country's 64 jails, including more than 2,000 female
inmates. At Dhaka Central Jail were lodged more than 11,000
inmates and over 300 of them women.
In
many police stations of Dhaka city there is no separate
hajat for women and children. In some cases, female detainees
are kept in the offices of male police officers. Women
are subjected to various types of abuse."
In
Dhaka, there are fewer female police officers than their
male counterparts. A police station has only two or three
female officers that is not enough. Some police stations
have to do without female officers. So, male police officers
deal with the female detainees, including arrests, interrogation
and investigation.
Says
Dr. Halida Hanum Khondaker, Executive Director at Confidential
to AIDS Prevention: "There are separate wards or
cells for female inmates in jails. Yet the female inmates
are not safe there. They are victimised by male officials
and supervisors. Such female inmates do not get justice
because of abuses by the law enforcers."
Says
Farida Akhtar, Executive Director at Nari Grantha Prabartana,
"Women are arrested also under Dhaka Metropolitan
Police Ordinance. A female detainee is supposed to be
taken care of by a female police officer. But this rule
is violated, as there is shortage of female police officers.
As a result, female detainees are subjected to abuses
and maltreatment. We have asked the government to appoint
female police officers in police stations. The demand
came especially after the rape and killing of Yasmin by
police in Dinajpur. But our demand has not yet been met.
Says
Law Minister Moudud Ahmed, "There are about 5.50
lakh cases pending in the courts. The process of trial
is slow. There are at least 30 hajatis in a room which
is good for only two female hajatis. At night, the women
just remain standing on their feet as there is no room
for sleeping. But we should not blame only one institution
for this. There are provisions of punishment for violation
of laws."
Most
women held in Dhaka Central Jail had been involved in
crimes like theft, robbery, kidnapping, murder, child
abuse, sex trade, and drug abuse or drug trade. They are
mostly from poor families living in slums.
Says
Moudud Ahmed, "Any abuse of female prisoners in jail
is to be condemned. It is not desirable even though it
happens," he says urging the media to create awareness
against such maltreatment.
Source:
NewsNetwork.
