China plans to kick off a nationwide prison administration
reform program this year after a five-year trial in 14 provinces,
the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday.
The reform, initiated by the ministry in 2003, is aimed at
modifying the country's prison administration method, promoting a
community correction system and improving prison facilities, with
the emphasis on protecting inmates' legal rights, said a statement
issued by the ministry.
As a key part of the reform, China plans to relocate its 700-odd
prisons across the country, from remote and isolated areas to
places near the cities or busy traffic routes, by 2010.
New prisons have been built and some old ones renovated during
the relocation drive and about 300 prisons have finished the move
with facilities greatly improved.
The current layout of prisons developed in the 1950s have caused
much inconvenience to the life of inmates and wardens and also made
it difficult for families to visit them.
The ministry also plans to change the management of prison-run
workshops.
The workshops where the inmates receive re-education through
labor will be state-owned and run by the bureau of prison
administration in local governments instead of the prisons
themselves, in a bid to prevent the prisons from making profits
through the workshops.
The trial on community correction will be expanded as well, said
Wu Aiying, Minister of Justice.
Community correction, another important part of the ongoing
prison system reform, is aimed at preparing convicted criminals for
a smooth return to society and exploring new ways to educate
non-violent criminals.
So far 5,865 communities in 25 out of China's 34 provinces have
accommodated about 151,000 convicts and the reoffending rate
remained at 1 percent, according to the ministry.
This year, the pilot provinces will be asked to select more
communities, from every city and county, for the correction
programs, Wu said.
China started its pilot community correction program in 2003.
The program applies to convicted criminals sentenced to community
service, those that had been given a reprieve, those on parole and
medical parole, especially minors, the elderly, the ill and
pregnant mothers involved in minor crimes.
"When I was convicted, I thought my life was done for. However,
the monthly consultation at the community correction center gave me
the confidence and courage to look ahead again," said Xiaoqiang, a
17-year-old boy sentenced to six months in prison with a year's
reprieve for robbery.
He is taking part in a community correction program in Beijing's
Chaoyang district and became one of the first five teenage
offenders across the country to receive financial assistance of
1,000 yuan for education from a Hong Kong entrepreneur.
"I hope to get a college diploma in three years and find a job,
" he said.
The majority of convicts in China stay behind bars and only 15
percent serve their terms outside prison.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2008)