Saturday, December 28, 2013

China Formalizes Labor Camp and One-Child Reforms

China's official news agency says the national legislature has voted to abolish the country's controversial re-education through labor camps and ease its decades-old one-child policy.

The Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that the moves by the rubber-stamp standing committee of the National People's Congress formalized decisions made in November by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Xinhua said, starting Saturday, all those in the labor camps would begin to be freed. However, the article stressed that all penalties imposed before the abolition of the system would remain valid, a prevision aimed at preventing the detainees from filing lawsuits.

Under the notorious system, police could sentence alleged offenders to four years in camps without a trial. It is not clear what will replace the labor camps, which are estimated to hold as many as 190,000 people.

The standing committee also ruled that Chinese couples will now be able to have two children, if one of the parents is an only child.

Previously, a couple could generally have a second child only if both parents were single children. Rights groups have long criticized the one-child policy, which has been in some cases carried out with forced abortions and sterilization campaigns. 

http://www.voanews.com/content/china-formalizes-labor-camp-and-onechild-reforms/1819127.html
28/12/13
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  • -China allows more couples second children

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Saturday resolved to allow couples to have two children if either parent is an only child.
The bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) passed a resolution on family planning, entrusting provincial congresses and their standing committees to make their own calls on implementation.
"They should amend local family planning regulations, or issue a special act, in time, based on evaluation of local demographic situation and in line with the law on population and family planning as well as this resolution," the document said.
Family planning is written into the Constitution as an essential state strategy and any adjustment requires a resolution by the top legislature.
The changes come against a backdrop of steadily declining birth rates and changing demographics, reducing the working population. The birth rate is relatively low and was showing signs of falling further. The rate has dropped to between 1.5 and 1.6 since the 1990s, which means each Chinese woman of child-bearing age gives birth to 1.5 to 1.6 children, on average.
The working population began to drop in 2012 by 3.45 million annually, and it is likely to fall by 8 million each year after 2023, while the population aged 60 and above will reach 400 million and account for quarter of the population by the early 2030s, up from one seventh now.
The government estimates that since the introduction of the rules in the 1970s, the one-child policy has prevented some 400 million births.
However, thousands of families have lost their only child. Children may be born with congenital problems or has become disabled through illness or accident. These events are not just family tragedies but serious social problems.
Briefing lawmakers on Monday, Li Bin, minister in charge of the commission, warned that if the policy persisted, the birth rate would continue to fall, leading to a sharp drop in population after reaching a peak.
There have always been several exceptions to the rules. A couple could have two children if neither parent had siblings or if either comes from an ethnic minority. Rural couples could apply to have a second child if their first was a daughter.
In debating the new policy, lawmakers emphasized the importance of continuing family planning.
"Easing the one-child policy does not mean an end to family planning," said NPC Standing Committee member Chi Wanchun during the panel discussion.
While it is right to adjust policy to new circumstances, it is equally important to ensure sustainable population growth, Chi said.
"China still has a large population. This has not changed. Many of our economic and social problems are rooted in this reality," said Jiang Fan, an NPC deputy and member of the NPC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. "We cannot risk the population growing out of control."

  • The State Council expects the policy change to cause only a slight increase in births.
  • According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the new policy is expected to go into force in some provincial regions in the first quarter of 2014.

 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-12/28/c_133003090.htm
28/12/13

 

3 comments:

  1. La Chine a aboli samedi les camps de rééducation et l'enfant unique....

    La plus haute instance législative chinoise a adopté samedi des motions formalisant l'abolition des camps de rééducation par le travail et assouplissant la politique de contrôle des naissances.

    Ces deux réformes emblématiques avaient été annoncées mi-novembre après une réunion en conclave du Comité central du Parti communiste chinois (PCC). Elles ont été entérinées samedi "par un vote" du comité permanent de l'Assemblée nationale populaire, la chambre d'enregistrement législative des décisions du Parti unique, a rapporté l'agence officielle Chine nouvelle. Apparu en 1957, le système de la rééducation par le travail, ou "laojiao", permet de détenir des personnes sur simple décision de police, et ce jusqu'à quatre ans.

    D'autres formes de détention arbitraire sont possibles

    Objet de multiples abus, très impopulaires et dénoncés par les organisations de défense des droits de l'homme, ces camps sont notamment utilisés par les autorités locales contre les contestataires, les internautes dénonçant la corruption ou les "pétitionnaires" demandant réparation d'un préjudice. Des experts ont cependant mis en garde contre la probable persistance en Chine, sous des noms différents, d'autres formes de détention arbitraire.

    La fin de l'enfant unique

    Le comité permanent de l'ANP a par ailleurs adopté samedi une résolution "autorisant les couples dont l'un des membres est enfant unique à avoir deux enfants". Cela marque un net assouplissement de la politique chinoise de planning familial, dite de l'enfant unique, adoptée il y a trois décennies pour freiner l'accroissement démographique. Actuellement, la loi chinoise interdit aux couples d'avoir plus d'un seul enfant. Des exceptions existaient toutefois jusqu'à présent pour les couples dont les deux membres sont enfants uniques, ainsi que pour les minorités ethniques ou les couples ruraux dont le premier enfant était une fille.

    Belga
    http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_la-chine-abolit-les-camps-de-reeducation-par-le-travail-et-la-politique-de-l-enfant-unique?id=8165826
    28/12/13

    ReplyDelete
  2. China schafft Umerziehungslager ab...


    Chinesische Arbeitslager sollen der Vergangenheit angehören. Der Volkskongress beschloss die Abschaffung des Zwangs-Systems, das seit 1957 existiert. Auch die Lockerung der Ein-Kind-Politik ist jetzt offiziell.

    PekingDer Ständige Ausschuss des chinesischen Nationalen Volkskongresses hat am Samstag offiziell die Abschaffung der Umerziehungslager sowie eine Lockerung der Ein-Kind-Politik beschlossen. Das meldete die amtliche chinesische Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua zum Abschluss der sechstägigen Beratungen des Parlamentsgremiums. Die beiden Reformen waren Mitte November nach einem Treffen des Zentralkomitees der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas angekündigt worden.

    Das System der Umerziehungslager war 1957 eingeführt wurden. Es erlaubte der Polizei, Angeklagte ohne Prozess für bis zu vier Jahre in Arbeitslager zu stecken. Nach einem UN-Bericht waren bis 2009 rund 190.000 Chinesen betroffen. Xinhua hatte vor einigen Tagen gemeldet, das System habe über Jahre hinweg eine wichtige Rolle bei der Aufrechterhaltung der öffentlichen Ordnung und Stabilität gespielt.

    Doch seien in den vergangenen Jahren andere Maßnahmen zur Durchsetzung von Gesetz und Ordnung eingeführt worden. Das System der Umerziehungslager habe daher "seine historische Mission" erfüllt.

    Menschenrechtsaktivisten kritisierten immer wieder die Willkür bei den Einweisungen, von denen unter anderem Regierungskritiker und Verfasser von Petitionen betroffen sind. So wurde im vergangenen Jahr eine Mutter in ein Umerziehungslager geschickt, weil sie sich immer wieder an die Behörden wandte, nachdem ihre minderjährige Tochter entführt und zur Prostitution gezwungen worden war. Kritiker warnten unterdessen, dass es statt der Umerziehungslager künftig andere willkürliche Formen des Strafvollzugs geben werde..........http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/reformen-china-schafft-umerziehungslager-ab/9267492.html
    28/12/13

    ReplyDelete
  3. Addio a figlio unico e campi di lavoro....Svolta Cina, le riforme entrano in vigore....

    Da oggi scompare la norma introdotta nel 1979. Abolita anche la rieducazione forzata: saranno liberati 190 mila reclusi.

    Con la formale approvazione da parte del Comitato Permanente dell’Assemblea Nazionale del Popolo, fulcro del potere legislativo, da oggi in Cina sono in vigore a tutti gli effetti due delle più rilevanti riforme mai varate dalla nascita della Repubblica Popolare: l’allentamento della politica del figlio unico e l’abolizione del cosiddetto “liaojiao”, cioè della rieducazione forzata attraverso l’internamento nei campi di lavoro. Insieme alla graduale riduzione del ricorso alla pena capitale, e ad altre innovazioni, i provvedimenti furono approvati il 12 novembre scorso dal III Plenum del Comitato Centrale del Partito Comunista, e resi noti tre giorni più tardi.



    In sintesi, sotto il profilo demografico d’ora in poi le coppie urbane, al cui interno almeno uno dei genitori non abbia fratelli né sorelle, dopo tre decenni potranno decidere di avere più di un figlio. Ciò quanto meno sulla carta: di fatto, saranno poi i singoli Parlamenti provinciali a fissare tempi e modalità di applicazione della nuova normativa, sulla base della consistenza della popolazione locale e della rispettiva pianificazione. Si valuta comunque che la riforma diverrà concretamente operativa verso la fine del primo trimestre 2014. La politica del figlio unico venne introdotta nel paese nel 1979 per frenare la rapida crescita della popolazione. Eccezioni sono consentite per le minoranze etniche e per le coppie nelle aree rurali, dove è prevista la possibilità di avere un secondo figlio nel caso in cui il primo sia una femmina.



    Quanto ai campi di lavoro, dove si poteva essere segregati fino a quattro anni consecutivi senza bisogno di sottostare a un regolare processo, saranno chiusi e chi vi si trova detenuto attualmente non dovrà scontare la pena residua e sarà pertanto rimesso in libertà: secondo stime dell’Onu, dovrebbero beneficiarne circa 190.000 reclusi. La novità è stata motivata con l’evoluzione e lo sviluppo del sistema legale cinese, che hanno reso «superfluo» il ricorso al “laojiao”, istituito nel 1957 come soluzione rapida e semplice per fare fronte alla micro-criminalità ma ben presto degenerato in abuso su vasta scala.
    http://www.lastampa.it/2013/12/28/esteri/addio-a-figlio-unico-e-campi-di-lavoro-rivoluzione-cina-le-riforme-in-vigore-cMAVPV1kSUju4eFLRt8aXP/pagina.html
    28/12/13

    ReplyDelete

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