Plea For Help From Chinese Prison Factory Found in Saks Fifth Avenue Bag

Locked up in a Chinese prison where he was forced to perform arduous labor, Tohnain Emmanuel Njong enclosed a note pleading for help in a shopping bag he had produced that was marked for export to an English speaking country. In the note, Tahnain declared, “We are ill-treated and work like slaves for 13 hours every day producing these bags in bulk in the prison factory.” A New York City resident discovered the cry for help after purchasing a pair of shoes from Saks Fifth Avenue that were placed in a shopping bag containing the note.

Laogai System

Remembering Tiananmen Square

Please join the Laogai Museum in honoring the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on the 25th anniversary of the slaughter. From May 31-June 4, we will feature photos of the protests and screen the PBS Frontline documentary The Tank Man from 4-6:30 pm at 1734 20th Street NW Washington, DC 20008.

Tiananmen Square Massacre

Petitioners File Lawsuit Against Government for Illegal Detention in 'Black Jail'

A group of petitioners who had been held in an illegal “black jail” filed suit, presumably under the Administrative Litigation Law, against the government officials who kidnapped them in Beijing. Provincial and local governments rely on these makeshift detention facilities, commonly referred to as black jails, to imprison individuals who travel to Beijing to petition central government authorities to investigate abuses of power perpetrated by local officials.

Minister Plenipotentiary of the Japanese Embassy Izumi Visits LRF

On April 21, Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Japanese Embassy in the US Hiroyasu Izumi visited the Laogai Research Foundation. Mr. Izumi and LRF Executive Director Harry Wu engaged in a pleasant discussion about Chinese-Japanese relations, Chinese human rights issues, and China's future development.

Criminal Detentions Rise Following Abolition of Re-education Through Labor

As the South China Morning Post points out, and as the Laogai Research Foundation predicted last year, Chinese authorities have increasingly relied on criminal detention and alternative forms of administrative detention to jail activists following the abolition of re-education-through-labor (RTL) in November 2013.

Beijing Court Sentences Four Activists Associated With the New Citizens Movement

A court in Beijing sentenced four activists on charges of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” on account of their participation in the New Citizens Movement, a loose collection of activists and lawyers who seek to promote the rule of law and have called on government officials to publicly disclose their assets.