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38 Hong Kong L.J. 831 (2008)
Rethinking the Re-Education through Labour System in China: Does It Impose Prohibited or Permitted Forced Labour

handle is hein.journals/honkon38 and id is 837 raw text is: RETHINKING THE RE-EDUCATION THROUGH LABOUR SYSTEM IN CHINA: DOES IT IMPOSE PROHIBITED OR PERMITTED FORCED LABOUR? U Haina Lu* China's Re-education through labour (RETL) system has been long criticised for being incompatible with international human rights law. Nevertheless, a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the alleged incompatibility is still missing. This article intends to fill this gap, first by exploring relevant international standards; second, by examining in the light of international standards the following aspects of the RETL system: competent authorities, the legal basis of the RETL system, substantive protection, due process, length of detention and labour conditions under the RETL system. This article also intends to paint an up-to- date picture of the RETL system and to indicate a direction its reform needs to follow in order to meet the requirements of international law. Introduction A human rights concern which has caught the eye of the international soci- ety is the Re-education through labor (lao dong jiao yang) system in China (the RETL hereafter), which imposes compulsory labour on persons under its detention.! While freedom from forced and compulsory labour is recog- nised as a fundamental human right, prison-linked compulsory labour is an acceptable exemption in international law. Whether labour imposed by China's RETL system constitutes prohibited forced labour or an acceptable exemption is not self-evident, although the RETL system has long been criticised by Chinese and international scholars and international society. The International Labor Organization (ILO hereafter) depicts China' RETL system as characterized by the lack of judicial process, severity of Haina Lu is a researcher and PhD candidate in law at the Institute for Human Rights of the Catho- lic University of Leuven (KUL). She completed this article when she was the Sohmen Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong. Special thanks must be given to Dr Helmut Sohmen for his generous sponsorship and Professors Hurst Hannum, Suzannah Linton, Fu Hualing and Paul Lemmens for their support and comments. 1 See for example, Human Rights Watch, Reeducation through Labour in China, available at: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/china-98/laojiao.htm (accessed 10 May 2007); see also Human Rights in China, Reeducation Through Labor: A Summary of Regulatory Issues and Concerns, available at: http://hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=14287&item%5fid=14286 (accessed 10 May 2007).

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