Dongguan Prison

Dongguan Prison (Chinese: 东莞监狱) is located in the Shilong area of Dongguan, Guangdong, China.

Dongguan Prison
Dongguan Prison is located in Guangdong
Dongguan Prison
Location within Guangdong Province
LocationXinzhou, Shilong, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province
Coordinates23.1294°N 113.7969°E / 23.1294; 113.7969
StatusOperational
PopulationApprox. 5,000 (as of 2013)
Opened1988
Managed byGuangdong Prison Administrative Bureau
Dongguan Prison
Simplified Chinese东莞监狱
Traditional Chinese東莞監獄

History

According to the Laogai Research Foundation, the Dongguan Prison opened in November 1988 as Shilong Prison, and was given its present name in 1995.[1]

The prison complex was expanded in the subsequent decades, so that it now occupies most of Xinzhou (新洲), an island in the East River upon which the prison is situated.

Inmate population

According to a July 2013 report by the Shenzhen-based Daily Sunshine (晶報), Dongguan Prison has a population of around 5,000 inmates. The report stated that nearly 500 of the prisoners were foreigners from various countries. The prison reportedly received its first foreign inmate in 1996.[2]

Living conditions and forced labour

Prisoners at Dongguan Prison are reportedly forced to work manufacturing goods, and are allegedly routinely beaten. In 2013, former inmates told The Australian Financial Review that they were forced to make disposable headphones sold to major airlines for the equivalent of around £0.85 per month. They said they were beaten, tasered, or put in solitary confinement for failing to achieve production targets.[3]

Similarly, Der Spiegel interviewed several ex-inmates of Dongguan Prison in 2019. They described overcrowded living conditions and sweltering heat in the summertime. A German ex-prisoner said that the prisoners were forced to work nine-hour days, six or seven days a week, manufacturing model Porsche cars, Samsonite-branded luggage locks, and transformers. Several ex-inmates described torture and abuse of prisoners, including the strapping of prisoners to a torture chair for days or weeks, and electric shocks.[4]

Notable prisoners
  • Chen Meng – musician jailed for leaking a Chinese government blacklist of overseas dissidents[5]
  • Lau Chun-hin (劉駿軒) – Hong Kong Internet personality[6]
  • James Peng Jiandong – Australian businessman abducted in 1993 from Macau, then a Portuguese territory, by the Chinese government. Transferred to Qingpu Prison in 1997.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. Laogai Handbook, 2007-2008. Laogai Research Foundation. 2008. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-931550-25-3.
  2. "东莞监狱关押近500名外籍犯人 包括普京校友". Daily Sunshine. 21 July 2013.
  3. "Qantas probes Chinese prison headphones allegations". BBC. 26 June 2013.
  4. Dahlcamp, Jürgen; Latsch, Gunther; Schmitt, Jörg (7 March 2019). "Forced Labor and Torture in a Chinese Jail". Der Spiegel.
  5. Chou, Oliver (23 January 1999). "Sick whistle-blower 'untreated' in prison". South China Morning Post.
  6. Chan, Pak-yu (24 March 2019). "網紅劉馬車自稱正式加入ViuTV 網民震怒揚言將會集體投訴". HK01.
  7. Mathewson, Ruth (27 July 1996). "The wife who waits in vain". South China Morning Post.
  8. Chan, Vivien (26 June 1997). "Consulate team visits jailed businessman". South China Morning Post.
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