The following are excerpts of a speech made by Jin Jian, President of the China Penology Society and Vice-President of the China Society for Human Rights Studies at a seminar on prisoners’ human rights organized by the China Penology Society and the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

1. Significance in studying prisoners’ human rights

(1)Guarantee of prisoners’ human rights is a component part of the human rights issue in the whole society.

Prisons are organs exercising criminal punishments and also a window for social civilization. The insurance of prisoners’ human rights has always been the core of human rights and the most sensitive issue in the world. In 1950, the UN Assembly adopted a resolution, deciding to call a congress on the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders once every five years. Up to now, for the 9th time such conferences have been held. The purpose of the congress is to provide a forum to governments and related organizations to discuss how to prevent crimes, how to correct criminals and how to protect the rights of criminals. Related organizations have formulated a series of documents concerning the treatment and rights of criminals. They include the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice. These international documents are of extreme importance in the protection of human rights of criminals and in bringing into depth the international human rights movement.
　　　　　
Jin Jian, president of China Penology Society and vice-president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, delivers a key note speech at the seminar on prisoners’ human rights.


China issued its first white paper on its human rights conditions in 1991. The white paper reviewed the fundamental changes that had taken place in the human rights conditions and told the world China’s principled stand and basic policies concerning human rights. The Information Office of the State Council went on in 1992 to issue another white paper, detailing about how China corrects criminals, the basic principles and the rights of criminals serving their prison terms in an attempt to clear some of the misunderstandings and untrue information spread in the world. Prisoners’ human rights are an important part of the whole human rights issue. In protecting human rights, therefore, we cannot ignore the protection of the rights of criminals; and in studying human rights issue, we can never ignore the study of prisoners’ human rights.

(2)Study of prisoners’ human rights is useful in unifying the understanding of the protection of the rights of criminals.

China has always persisted in the principle of socialist humanitarianism in the management of prisons and has set great store by protecting the rights of criminals. But it is a little more than a decade since Chinese academic circles have started a systematic study of the rights of criminals and there are many obscure or even mistaken views on the concept of human rights, the necessity of the protection of human rights, the contents, basic laws and basic features of prisoners’ human rights. The study of prisoners’ human rights is, therefore, conducive to unifying our understanding of the rights of criminals, enhancing our awareness of the protection of prisoners’ human rights and the conscientiousness in protecting their rights.

(3) Study of prisoners’ human rights is useful in motivating criminals in their prison correction.

To study the issues of prisoners’ human rights is to get clear about the legal status of criminals, ensure their lawful rights and interests. By granting them with humanitarian treatment, it may make criminals feel the care of the state and the society and fire their desire to salvage them so that they would have hopes in correction. At the same time, it means that criminals cannot only be protected by law but also be restricted by law, thus holding up the dignity and power of law. This will have a positive role to play in enhancing their awareness of the law and foster a habit of observing discipline and law and making them more conscious in performing legal obligations and determined to start a new life.

(3) Study of prisoners’ human rights is useful in governing prisons according to law and in building modern civilized prisons.

To run the prisons according to law is the prerequisite for protecting human rights of criminals, as called for by the protection of human rights. To bring the rights of criminals under true protection, it is necessary to run the prisons according to law and keep the prison affairs open. The whole process from acceptance to release must be made transparent and compliant with law. The study of human rights will help improve the law-enforcement and make the prison management more scientific, in a more civilized and standard way. It will no doubt accelerate the pace of building modernized prisons.

2. China has been consistent in protecting the rights of criminals

As early as in 1954, China’s Administrative Council promulgated the Regulations on Reform through Labor, which was one of the earliest laws and regulations promulgated by New China. The Regulations in Section 3, Chapter V, gives a detailed account on the hygienic and food standards. It stipulates that it is forbidden to reduce or appropriate food supply to prison inmates and it is necessary to respect the living habits of criminals of ethnic minorities. It also provides that the actual work hours should usually be 9-10 hours a day and the time for sleep should usually be eight hours and the time for study should also be specified according to actual circumstances, but it should be no less than one hour. It provides that juvenile offenders should have longer time for sleep and study. Prison inmates who do not work outside should have 1-2 hours of outdoor activities. It provides that prisons should have clinics, hospitals and other kinds of medical services, equipped with necessary medical facilities. Prison inmates are required to take bath, cut hair, wash clothes, disinfect and do anti-epidemic activities. The fees for medical service, education, sports and culture and entertainment should also be provided according to the prescribed standards and actual needs.

In 1982, the Ministry of Public Security issued the Detailed Rules on Criminal Correction in Prisons and Reform-through-Labor Teams in compliance with the Criminal Law, the Criminal Procedure Law and the Reform-through-Labor Regulations and the spirit of the eighth national work conference on reform-through-labor. Section 3 of Chapter III of the Rules provides: the government shall ensure criminals serving prison terms of their rights of appeal, defense, free from corporal punishment, maltreatment and humiliation and protection of their legal private property; they have the right to put forward constructive proposals concerning education, labor and daily life and hygienic conditions; they have the right to report and file accusations against police officers for violating rules and regulations of prisons, carrying out corporal punishments, taking bribes and resorting to deception for personal gains.

According to the provisions of the current law, criminals who have not been deprived of their political rights still enjoy the right to vote. The 26th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People’s Congress adopted in 1983 the Provisions for the Direct Election of Deputies to People’s Congresses at or below the County Level. The document clearly provides that criminals who are sentenced to imprisonment, criminal detention and public surveillance without being deprived of political rights may exercise the right to vote. In 1984, the law-subcommittee of the NPC standing committee and the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a joint circular, making clear about the places and method of voting by criminals.

The Prison Law adopted in 1994 is the first of its kind in China. Article 7 of the law provides: “Human dignity of a prisoner shall not be humiliated and his personal safety, lawful property and rights to defense, petition, complaints and accusation as well as other rights which have not been deprived of or restricted according to law shall not be violated.” Article 8 provides: “The State shall ensure the expenditures of a prison for the reform of prisoners. The prisons’ expenditures for the people’s police, for the reform of prisoners, for the living expenses of prisoners, for the administration and installations of the prisons and other special expenses shall be covered by the state budget.”

To prevent police from encroaching upon the rights of criminals, the Prison Law in its Article 14 provides: “The people’s police of a prison shall not commit any of the following acts: (1) to demand, accept or seize money or goods from prisoners or their relatives; (2) to release a prisoner without authorization or through dereliction of duty to cause a prisoner to flee from the prison; (3) to use torture to coerce a confession, or to use corporal punishment or to maltreat a prisoner; (4) to humiliate the human dignity of a prisoner; (5) to beat up or connive at others to beat up a prisoner; (6) to utilize a prisoner to provide labor services for personal gains; (7) to privately deliver a letter or an article for a prisoner in violation of regulations; (8) to illegally surrender the functions and powers to supervise and control prisoners to another person; or (9) other law-breaking acts. If the people’s police of a prison commit any act specified in the preceding paragraph and the case constitutes a crime, the offenders shall be investigated for criminal responsibility; if the case does not constitute a crime, the offenders shall be given administrative sanctions.”

In 1995, the Ministry of Justice put forward the idea of creating modern civilized prisons and set eight standards and almost every standard contains the contents of protecting the right of prison inmates or matters related to the protection of their rights.
　　　　　
The national seminar on honoring prisoners’ human rights was held in Nanjing from September 10 to 12, 2003.


All the above shows the progress made by China in improving the prison conditions and the human rights conditions of prisoners.

Studies of prisoner’s human rights usually cover the following aspects: (1) Personal rights, including the right to life and the right of maintaining normal life and health and the right not to be humiliated and punished corporally and the right of entertainment; (2) civil rights, including the right to personal property, marriage and family; (3) religious and political rights, including freedom of religion and the voting right for those who have not been deprived of their political rights; (4) the right to exchange with people outside the prisons, including the right to communication, meeting with their family members or caretakers; (5) the right to legal assistance, including the right of appeal, defense, accusation and reporting; (6) development rights, including the right to education, labor and putting forward suggestions and criticisms, the right to enjoy reward for meritorious deeds and the right to resettlement and employment after being released; and (7) other rights, including rights of special prison inmates enjoying special rights.

The People’s Procuratorate is a supervision organ, judging whether the ruling of a criminal case, the execution of the ruling and the activities of the prison organs are legal. The People’s Procuratorate at all levels have special organs to supervise the activities of prisons. By the end of 1995, all the prisons in the country had set up procuratorate offices. This is an important measure to ensure human rights in the judicial system.

In addition, in order to accept supervision, all the prisons have carried out the activities of keeping their prison affairs open, letting the prison inmates, their family members and the public know the basis, procedures and results of law enforcement and the way of filing complaints.

3. Problems in the theoretical study of prisoners’ human rights (1) To correctly know the legal status of criminals and handle well the relations between rights and obligations.

It is essential to know that criminals are still citizens of the People’s Republic of China, citizens with the special capacity as criminals. They therefore enjoy the rights endowed by the Constitution and laws but at the same time they are obliged to perform the obligations stipulated in the Constitution and laws. Apart from performing the basic obligations of citizens as prescribed by the Constitution and other laws, they must perform the special obligations as criminals. It is these special obligations that have given them the special capacities and the special conditions of being imprisoned. The special obligations require that criminals must accept criminal punishment and confess their crimes and accept correction. So while stressing the protection of the rights of criminals, it is necessary to demand them to perform their obligations.
　　　　　
Inmates of the Nanjing Prison are reading in the prison’s library.

In handling the relationship between the protection of the rights of criminals and strict enforcement of the law, we must treat criminals as people and should not overstep the limit. The criminals still have personal dignity and the basic rights of citizens and their rights that have not been deprived of or restricted must be protected. While being humane and trying to move criminals by invoking emotions, we should not weaken punishment and corrections. Prisons must force criminals to perform their obligations and observe discipline and obey the management rules and accept education. The punishment and correction of criminals are not only the manifestation of social justice but also the respect of the basic human rights of all the citizens. To punish the evils and publicize the good is the universal value of all human society. There is no country in the world that has given up punishing criminals.

(2) To have a full understanding of the national conditions and handle well the relations between objectives and realities.

Human rights are not isolated. They are closely associated with the historical traditions, economic development, political civilization, cultural progress and the level of morality of the people. On the one hand, China is a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party and the superior social system has provided a good political and social environment for the protection of the rights of criminals. On the other hand, China is a developing country, only in the primary stage of socialism. Although much has been achieved in economic development since the initiation of reform and opening up, the current social productivity is still very low and the material life of the people is far from that of developed western countries. The state, for the time being, is unable to invest much in the modernization of its prisons. In addition, due to the feudalistic influence, some people have a weak sense of law and democracy and the quality of personnel cannot meet the demand of the new situation. It is a process that will take some time to fully protect prisoners’ human rights and there should not be impractical demand in this regard.

Besides, there is a big disparity in regional economic development, especially between the developed coastal areas and the less-developed western part of the country. There should be no uniform standards with regard to the construction of prisons. The standards for the eastern developed areas should be higher than those in the western part. The standards set for building modern civilized prisons may be achieved in a short period of time in some areas but not in others.

But with regard to law observation, civilized management, education and reform, the standards for the whole country should be the same and there should be no double standards. In criminal punishment, it is necessary to emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts and go with the times and undertake innovations and cast away the outdated ideas and traditional ways. It is necessary for us to bring out ideas into line with the requirements of the new periods and keep the ways of thinking and working constantly updated with the development of the times.

(4)To implement the principle of tolerance.

For years, the China Penology Society and the China Society for Human Rights Studies have kept to the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts and persisted in the principle of “letting one hundred flowers bloom and one hundred schools of thought contend.” It has striven to create a dynamic atmosphere of democracy. With the development of the situation and the changes in the composition of prison inmates, there are many complicated problems to touch and explore and there is a need for advanced and predicative studies. For this purpose, it is necessary to liberate the mind, be factual, encourage innovation and allow people with different views to contend.