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Peyton Hampton

Honors English II-Apollo

Ms. Goodrich

April 23, 2019

China’s untold Truth

China is the most populated country in the world standing at 1.420 billion people in the

country currently (“Total”). With all of these people living in a densely populated area, the

government has to control them somehow. They do this with the use of black jails; black jails

are a way for the government to strip the right away from people to petition or people who file a

formal complaint against the government. These jails house people unlawfully and against their

will for a mass amount of time ranging from a couple of weeks or as long as months on end

(“China”). Although China voted to accept the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, their use of black jails is a direct violation of articles 5, 9 and 19 (“Universal Declaration

of Human Rights”).

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it states “no one shall be subjected to

arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile” (“United Nations”). This right is clearly violated through the

use of black jails. The Human Rights Watch, which is an organization that tries to investigate,

expose, change cases of human rights abuse (“About us”), stated that the Chinese citizens

“were abducted by individuals who provided no legal justification for detention or any information

about detainees’ eventual destination or possible length of detention” (China). Clearly, these

Chinese officials had no reason to imprison their citizens which is a direct violation of the UDHR

which the Chinese government signed in 1948 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). They

clearly have no regard for the document or their citizens--they only want to silence the voices of
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their people to ensure they will not rebel against the government. They have unfairly and

unjustly arrested these people.

Another element that China blatantly disregards is article 19. It reports, “everyone has

the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions

without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media

and regardless of frontiers” (United Nations). The use of black jails directly goes against this in

every way. A quote from the “Humans Rights Watch says “it is usually petitioners who are

detained in black jails” (China). This goes against the UDHR because Chinese citizens

obviously are not allowed to share their thoughts and opinions which is a direct violation.

Another quote that shows yet another violation of article 19, claims that the people that are most

affected are “citizens from mainly rural areas who come to Beijing and other provincial capitals

seek[ing] redress for abuses ranging from illegal grabs of land and government corruption to

police torture” (China). This means that the government often takes people's land and evicts

them from these households. As already shown, the Chinese Government frequently

disregarded the UDHR.

The worst violation by the Chinese government of the UDHR is article 5. Article 5 utters

“no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”

(United Nations). The victims of black jails are often physically and mentally abused while in

these places (China). A first-hand testimony of the abuse says that a woman resorted to a

three-day hunger strike to compel her captors to allow her access to a doctor” (China). Another

example says that they “could only sleep three hours and they would at any time wake me in

order so that I couldn't run away. I was hungry every day, but couldn’t get enough to

eat”(China). The same person also got “detained for 37 days” and “lost 20 kilograms”(Langfitt)

All of these quotes show the extreme abuse and neglect that people go through while in these
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black jails. Not only are these people neglected physically, but they are also neglected

medically. The government does not discriminate when placing people in jails for example:

"There was no medical treatment [in the black jail]. I'm not very healthy and combined with the

disgusting conditions inside [the facility], I was sick every day, but they wouldn't give me medical

treatment and wouldn't let me go to see a doctor. [A guard] said, ‘You don't want to die here

because your life [to us] isn't worth one cent. [If] I want you dead, you can die [here] as easily as

an ant (China). All of these personal statements give a clear look as to how the Chinese

government violates article 5 of the UDHR.

In conclusion, black jails constitute an unlawful system to detain petitioners as a means

to protect government officials. As shown, China doesn't seem to acknowledge the existence of

these heinous facilities despite all of the evidence that says otherwise. All the things mentioned

in the previous paragraphs are in clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

articles 5, 9, and 19. All of these articles pertain to the unlawful and unjustified imprisonment of

Chinese citizens for expressing their distaste for their own government. The use of Black Jails in

China definitely violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that they promised to abide

by in 1984.
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Works Cited

Total Population by Country 2019,​ worldpopulationreview.com/countries/.

“About Us.” ​Human Rights Watch​, 28 Mar. 2019, www.hrw.org/about-us.

“China 'Black Jails' under Scrutiny.” ​News | Al Jazeera,​

www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2009/11/2009111281953905410.html.

“China: Secret ‘Black Jails’ Hide Severe Rights Abuses.” ​Human Rights Watch​, 17 Apr. 2015,

www.hrw.org/news/2009/11/11/china-secret-black-jails-hide-severe-rights-abuses.

Langfitt, Frank. “For Complainers, A Stint In China's 'Black Jails'.” ​NPR​, NPR, 1 Nov. 2012,

www.npr.org/2012/11/01/163949720/for-complainers-a-stint-in-chinas-black-jails.

Markey, Dell. “What Does Red in Communism Mean?” ​Synonym​, 21 Nov. 2017,

classroom.synonym.com/red-communism-mean-9156.html.

“Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights.

“Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” ​United Nations,​ United Nations,

www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/.