A political prisoner is a person detained—often using extrajudicial processes—by a government because they are perceived to be a threat or challenge to state authority. It is recognized that the suppression of political dissidents is a violation of human rights. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) however, has never acknowledged the concept of a political prisoner.
According to the CCP's Criminal Code, before 1997, such prisoners were labeled as "anti-revolutionaries;" after 1997, those same people were deemed to be "endangering national security." There is no difference except in name.
The above "crimes" were listed in the first article of the CCP's Criminal Law, which shows that, in the CCP's opinion, political prisoners have committed the most serious crimes. The same was true in ancient times when totalitarian rulers viewed "rebellion" or "suspected rebellion" as the number one crime. Thousands of years have passed since then but the CCP still exhibits this mindset.
The CCP doesn't acknowledge the term political prisoner but continuously finds various other terms to label people. The following activities all result in being branded an enemy of the state:
- Democratic activists who criticize the CCP for being dictatorial.
- Internet users who exercise freedom of speech.
- Tibetans who want autonomy and minority protection.
- Falun Gong practitioners and members of underground Christian churches who pursue their religious beliefs.
- Human rights lawyers and environmentalists who reveal the government's illegal activities.
Even civilians who appeal for their basic rights are often imprisoned and sent to forced labor camps despite the fact that China's constitution guarantees the basic civil liberties.
The CCP has used various terms for political prisoners. Besides being labeled as anti-revolutionary or subversive, they can be charged with espionage, leaking state secrets, or having a mental illness. Some offenses such as white-collar crimes and prostitution are also used to incriminate political prisoners.
The eradication of political prisoners is an indication of the degree of civilization attained by a country. Political prisoners do not exist in the majority of countries around the world. China, on the other hand, has imprisoned the most political prisoners of any country.
As long as the CCP dictatorship endures, the Chinese people will protest repression and unfair treatment. Tens of thousand of political prisoners will be continuously generated by the oppressive CCP regime.
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