The "re-education-through-labor" system is a distinctive feature of communist countries, and in particular, China's re-education system is one of the most evil and despicable, as China's human rights abuse is second to none in the world. It has been in place for nearly 50 years. According to official statistics, more than 3.5 million people have undergone this kind of re-education in labor camps after the system was first adopted in 1957, but the actual number would be much higher.

China's re-education system is different from its criminal judicial system. The former is an administrative punishment on violations not governed by criminal acts, which can be meted out by public security authorities. In other words, the system enables authorities to arrest and incarcerate anyone at will and deprive people of personal freedom for up to four years.

Re-education doesn't need a trial by court, denying the accused and their lawyers any opportunity for defense or the ability to appeal to a higher court. As people may be arbitrarily sent to a forced labor camp for re-education, officials of the public security bureau can not only initiate a case and conduct an investigation by themselves, but they can also administer punishments at their own discretion.

The procedure for sending people to a forced labor camp is so simple and convenient that it is often employed arbitrarily by dictators and corrupt officials to get revenge against their opponents, suppress democracy or bully people. For instance, it is common that those who appeal to the central government about local officials' illegal acts are often sent to forced labor camps by the same local officials afterwards.

The scope and the number of victims of the re-education system are frightening. The Chinese Communist regime used this system to punish dissidents in the past, but today it is widely used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

The rules governing this system are simply administrative regulations stipulated by the State Council, which oppose the constitution in terms of their legislative procedures; it actually violates the Chinese Constitution and deprives citizens of their personal freedom without trial by court.

In October 1998, the Chinese government signed an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in which Paragraph 1 of Article 9 stipulates: "Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law." China's reeducation-through-labor system violates the international convention it has signed.

The third paragraph of Article 8 also stipulates: "No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labor." However, those in China's forced labor camps are actually slaves. In addition to suffering various cruel tortures, they are forced by the police to work long hours without any reward.

Torture is another common approach taken by communist countries. Some may argue that torture is commonly used by every country, though the degree may differ. Nevertheless, no other country in the world is as audacious as China. It is reported that there have been some torture cases happening in the U.S. regarding police abuse of criminals, but once this kind of case is disclosed, the police involved will definitely be investigated. Torture is a common occurrence in China, however, and it is impossible for Chinese police officers to be prosecuted for inflicting torture.

When investigating a case, Chinese police can arrest anyone at their own discretion regardless of whether they have evidence; the next step is torture and brutal beatings. If the suspect is strong enough to endure the torture and proven to be innocent afterwards, the police don't have to take any responsibility for their mistake. The victim has no place to file a complaint. The only thing he can do is to consider himself out of luck. On the contrary, if the tortured suspect happens to be a criminal and the case is solved, it would be to the police's credit.

If the suspect cannot put up with torture and confesses to false charges, the case will be closed and the police can claim that they have done their job. In a case that does not involve capital punishment, there is a chance to redress the miscarriage of justice. If it does involve capital punishment, however, the victim is destined to be a scapegoat.

As a doctrine of the criminal law in Western society states: "Fruit of the poisonous tree" is inedible even though it may not be poisonous. Following this doctrine, all evidence collected through illegal measures, such as torture or coerced confession, should not be able to be used in court. Holding the ruling power in their hands, the government should not treat good citizens unjustly. However, such a doctrine doesn't apply to the Communist Party, which relies fully on autocracy and violence. Arbitrary and ruthless killing is not uncommon, let alone cases of injustice.

In China, torture is used not only in criminal investigation; it is also widely employed in the management of prisons and forced labor camps. As revealed by the Falun Gong practitioners released from imprisonment, various forms of punishments such as electrical shock, "Tiger Bench," whipping, hammering sharp bamboo sticks beneath the fingernails, "Dead Person's Bed," "Strait Jackets," water dungeon, fire torture, freezing torture, being hung up for beatings and drug injection are frequently used in prisons and forced labor camps.

The collapse of the Chinese Communist Party is inevitable in history. When the party deceases, the labor education system will certainly break up and evaporate. When this time comes, people can leave torture and fear behind them and begin to embrace freedom and democracy.