Jerome A. Cohen
Today’s New York Times reports over 400 pages of internal Chinese documents about the policy and practice regarding Xinjiang’s internment camps. Bravo for Austin, Chris and the NY Times for a superb job.
I previously raised the issue several times whether Xi Jinping —not merely his principal henchman, Chen Quanguo — should, at least in principle, be recognized as the leading Chinese candidate for the application of Magnitsky Act sanctions by the USG. Here is persuasive supporting evidence. We have always known where the buck stops, but this is ample confirmation.
The documents also confirm how irrelevant the formal criminal justice system is in the People’s Republic of China for most cases involving people — one should say “enemies” rather than “people” — suspected of impure political conduct or even thoughts. The documents, to the extent a quick perusal permits, apparently tell little about the extent to which the formal criminal process is actually used in Xinjiang. We know that it has often been used there to handle the most serious cases, but the majority of detained persons seem to be victimized by the elaborate system of “non-criminal” administrative detentions that the PRC has perfected to an art form in various ways since the 1950s and that is mentioned here. Can one say that “re-education through labor” (RETL) was really abolished in 2013? As Maggie Lewis and I anticipated at the time, it has continued to rear its ugly head in many ways and names throughout the country.
Also note the reference to the continuing need for restrictive “transformation” education even after the hapless detainees are formally released, further evidence of what I call the non-release “release” (NRR) that has increasingly marked both criminal and administrative punishments throughout the PRC under Xi Jinping.