Prisons in China Safe and StableChina has seen successive sharp drops in the number of escapees from and crimes committed inside prisons and education-through-labor camps in the past three years, Justice Minister Gao Changli said Friday."Chinese prisons and jails are safe and stable thanks to the great professional vigilance of wardens and their political awareness," he said at a ministerial meeting. Especially last year when the nation experienced a great number of major events and encountered many unstable factors, wardens have worked to maintain the safety and stability of prisons and education-through-labor camps, Gao said. Those in custody at these camps are mainly minor offenders who committed offenses but are exempt from prosecution because of their young age or those who have yet to be sentenced. There are 1.4 million inmates serving terms in prisons across the country and another 300,000 held in education-through-labor camps. "Providing effective education and reforming them are an important task for the central authorities" Gao said, stressing that the justice departments must take all necessary measures to prevent incidents in prisons. "Any incidents or possible breakouts must be nipped in the bud, " he said. |
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