Laogai
Forced labor for political prisoners in China / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Laogai (Chinese: 劳改), short for laodong gaizao (劳动改造), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Láogǎi is different from láojiào, or re-education through labor, which was the abolished administrative detention system for people who were not criminals but had committed minor offenses, and was intended to "reform offenders into law-abiding citizens".[1] Persons who were detained in the laojiao were detained in facilities that were separate from those which comprised the general prison system of the laogai. Both systems, however, were based on penal labor.
This section needs to be updated. (June 2023) |
Laogai | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 劳改 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 勞改 | ||||||
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Full name | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 劳动改造 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 勞動改造 | ||||||
Literal meaning | reform through labor | ||||||
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Map of China showing alleged locations of laogai camps in the 1990s | |
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Some writers have likened the laogai to slavery.[2][3][4] Some historians have estimated that the system caused tens of millions of deaths.