China to improve re-education through labor system

China's re-education through labor system has long been criticized for enabling the police to jail people without trial. On Monday, the national political and legal work conference announced the country will push forward reforms on the system no later than 2013.

Complaining on the Internet could land people in jail without trial. Ren Jianyu, a former village official in Chongqing, was detained in 2011. Police said the 25-year-old forwarded and commented on more than 100 pieces of what they call "negative information".

A month later, without trial, he was sentenced to two years of re-education through labor for "incitement to subvert state power". After he was freed last November, he immediately sued the Chongqing municipal government. His lawyer says the system is unconstitutional.

Pu Zhiqiang, Ren Jianyu's lawyer, said,"The Constitution says a citizen can't be arrested without the approval of court. The reeducation through labor system allows police to detain people for up to two years without an open trial."

And the government is working to change it.

The political and legal work conference says China will push forward reforms on the re-education through labor system no later than this year.

The meeting points out: if China is to maintain political integrity, social justice and stability, the root lies in the rule of law. Otherwise we will not only fail to solve the problems at the root, but it also will lead to more conflicts.

According to the Ministry of Justice, by the end of 2008, 160 thousand people were held in labor centers nationwide.

Some people say the reform is a long-waited result, won by thousands of people like Ren Jianyu who never stopped fighting for the change. But in our exclusive interview, he dismissed the comment with a shrug.

Ren Jianyu said,"I don't know why the media always want to portray me as a hero. I'm just defending my own rights. If anyone defending his own rights can be a hero, it's a tragedy of society."

Han Peng, Beijing, said," Just recently, Ren lost his case in the final appeal. The Chongqing court says the local government acted legitimately to put him under re-education through labor for inciting to subvert state power. Now with a major signal of reform just sent, critics say that as China builds a society based on the rule of law, it should have specific rules that prevent people from being imprisoned without trial for speaking their mind."