Right now, as the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) take place in Beijing, fifteen lawyers and scholars have satirically proposed that the government establish a “Chinese Re-education Through Labour Day”. This new festival would take place annually on August 3, in commemoration of the day in which the “Re-education through labour” (RTL) system was formally announced.
The scholars hoped that using humor could help bring some new thought to the RTL system, which they would like to abolish. The RTL system is a system of administrative detention that circumvents the legal system and formal trials. In addition to people who commit minor crimes, many political dissidents and petitioners are also put into the RTL system at the whim of the police.
The proposal is very timely, since every year when the NPC and CPPCC convene, many petitioners head to Beijing with the hope of having their local grievances being heard by a national representative. Many, however, are “retrieved” and sent back to their home jurisdiction and some are placed into, or are threatened to be put into RTL.
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