[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 294 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 294


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 16, 2005

                                Received

                            January 27, 2006

             Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Calling on the international community to condemn the Laogai, the 
system of forced labor prison camps in the People's Republic of China, 
    as a tool for suppression maintained by the Chinese Government.

Whereas the Laogai is a vast prison labor system in the People's Republic of 
        China and consists of a network of more than 1,000 prisons, camps, and 
        mental institutions in which detainees must work at factories, farms, 
        mines, and other facilities;
Whereas the two major aims of the Laogai are to generate economic resources for 
        the state through free labor and

to ``reform criminals'' through hard labor and political indoctrination;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China relies on the Laogai as 
        a tool for political suppression of pro-democracy activists, Internet 
        dissidents, labor activists, and religious and spiritual believers, 
        including Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and ``house 
        church'' Christians;
Whereas, while the Soviet Gulags no longer exist, the Chinese Laogai is still 
        fully operational, subjecting most of its three million prisoners to 
        forced labor by threatening torture;
Whereas fifty million people have suffered as prisoners in the Laogai since its 
        inception;
Whereas Laogai prisoners are deprived of religious freedom and forced to give up 
        their political views in order to become a ``new socialist person'' and 
        uphold communism and the Chinese Communist Party;
Whereas in recent years, more than 100,000 religious believers have been 
        unjustly and illegally imprisoned in one Laogai camp alone, where they 
        have been beaten, tortured, and often killed;
Whereas Laogai prisoners are forced to work long hours in appalling conditions, 
        including mining asbestos and other toxic chemicals with no protective 
        clothing, tanning hides while standing naked in vats filled with 
        chemicals used for softening of animal skins, and working in mining 
        facilities where explosions and other accidents are a common occurrence;
Whereas it is documented that China's national policy since 1984 has been to 
        extract organs from executed prisoners without prior consent of the 
        prisoners or their family members, setting China apart from every other 
        country in the world;
Whereas there are more than 1,000 instances in which organs are harvested from 
        executed Chinese prisoners every year;
Whereas both Chinese and foreign patients from around the world receive organs 
        transplanted from executed Chinese prisoners;
Whereas Laogai prisoners are required to make confessions of their wrongdoings, 
        which include political and religious views that the Chinese Communist 
        Party wishes to suppress;
Whereas Chinese citizens are not guaranteed due process of law nor even a right 
        to trial;
Whereas many individuals are often convicted and sentenced with no trial at all, 
        or they are convicted with ``evidence'' extracted through torture;
Whereas in one part of the Laogai system known as the Laojiao, or reeducation-
        through-labor, Chinese citizens can be detained for up to three years 
        without any judicial review or formal appearance in the judicial system;
Whereas goods produced by forced labor in the Laogai system continue to be 
        exported to the United States and the world;
Whereas the Chinese Government has continuously encouraged the export of goods 
        produced through the Laogai prison system and relies on forced labor as 
        an integral part of its economy;
Whereas forced labor and torture practices carried out in the Laogai violate 
        international laws, standards, and treaties to which China is party, 
        including the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
        Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and
Whereas China, a member State of the International Labor Organization, also 
        violates many agreements regarding labor conditions and the rights of 
        workers: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) calls on the international community to condemn the 
        Laogai, the system of forced labor prison camps in the People's 
        Republic of China, as a tool for suppression maintained by the 
        Chinese Government;
            (2) calls on the Government of the United States to fully 
        implement United States laws that prohibit the importation of 
        forced labor products made in the Laogai;
            (3) calls on the Government of the United States to take 
        actions to review the implementation of the Memorandum of 
        Understanding on Prison Labor in 1992 and the Statement of 
        Cooperation in 1994 with respect to the Laogai;
            (4) will undertake efforts to join with the European 
        Parliament to urge the introduction of a resolution at the 
        United Nations Human Rights Commission condemning the Laogai 
        and the human rights situation in China;
            (5) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to release information about the Laogai, including the 
        total number of Laogai camps and prisoners throughout China, 
        the exact locations of the camps, and the business production 
        activities taking place at the camps;
            (6) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to release information about the number of executions of 
        prisoners at the camps that are carried out every year, and the 
        extent of the harvesting and transplantation of organs of 
        executed prisoners;
            (7) urges the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        to allow unrestricted visits by international human rights 
        inspectors, including United Nations inspectors, to Laogai 
        camps throughout China; and
            (8) urges the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 
        to continue to investigate the Laogai system in China and to 
        make recommendations for United States policy that will help 
        protect human rights for Chinese citizens.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 16, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.