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Headlines : Human RightsThe secrets of Beijing’s ‘black jails’
Journalist Aidan Hartley chose to take Beijing’s word at face value when officials said foreign journalists would have unfettered access while covering the Olympics. He was arrested.
He explains to the camera: There is supposed to be no limit on access to talking to the ordinary citizens of Beijing, but she says that here we need permission to talk to the petitioners.
He had gone to check out the infamous “Petitions Office” where disgruntled citizens have a constitutional right to complain about injustices ignored by local magistrates and officials. But nobody was at the office to listen, which is the usual S.O.P. for this office. He also filmed inside a “black jail” where troublesome petitioners are often tossed.
His incredible documentary report, China’s Olympic Lie, aired on Channel4’s Unreported World last October. It is now available on YouTube, where it draws endless negative comments from highly motivated Chinese citizens.
Part 2
Part 3
or see the full length version on Veoh
Republished from The Spectator
I was with a film crew making a documentary for Channel 4. We were inside one of Beijing’s secret ‘black jails’, where the poor and destitute are held without trial or charge. Officially these jails do not exist, since arbitrary arrest and detention are against Chinese law. But in fact there are many of them, and they exist with the full knowledge and backing of the government. My colleagues and I were the first Western TV crew to enter a black jail, and we paid for our temerity: we were assaulted, our camera was smashed, and we were arrested and detained.
The black jails are where ‘petitioners’ end up. There are thousands of petitioners in Beijing, poor Chinese from the provinces who have flooded into the city to seek the help of state officials in settling their grievances — something they have a legal right to do — but who are branded as ‘troublemakers’ by the authorities. The sole reason for locking them up seems to be that they are an eyesore, and spoil Beijing’s image as a modern, harmonious city.
Posted by Beagle17
"RSS here": http://feeds.feedburner.com/GnnBeagle17 Grew up in Nova Scotia. Hold BSc. in Biology and Grad. Diploma Journalism. Moved to Korea in 1997, and Taiwan in 1999. Currently teaching, writing, and doing Web design. Concerned about depleted...
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Oops. I didn’t see the 2nd headline got cut off.
This story didn’t get enough play! I can’t believe that I didn’t even hear of it until today. I keep up on this kind of thing. I have a name for this phenomenon – Sinophilia. It affects people of all political persuasion. When it comes to irrefutable evidence of totalitarian and inhumane state-sponsored actions, China’s always get ignored by the press and public opinion both.
Probably people didn’t like to talk about Goliath either.
Here’s how well this got covered. Three hits in Google News Archive for Beijing black jails
Since their landslide victory, I gotta tell ya Beag, I think the crowd to trash with all your heart is the KMT.
I believe the word “emergency” is not too strong.
I know. A lot of people here are pretty morose about it all. I think even people who voted for the KMT are now thinking, Oh God, what have we done?
There may well be a rebound, and Frank Hsieh of the pro-independence DPP win the presidency, but the chance is slim. And if it did happen, it’s four more years of stale, hot air from the KMT legislature.
RE.: I think even people who voted for the KMT are now thinking, Oh God, what have we done?
That’s a relief. It’s a fact that I’m a Mainland Fan. But I’m not a fan of jacking Taiwan into the Mianland via KMT connectivity. What a ghastly thought.