"An Alleyway in Hell"

Map of China

I. Summary

Key Recommendations

II. Methodology

II. Background

China's Broken Petitioning System

The Abolition of Legal "custody and repatriation" and the Emergence of China's Black Jails

China's Black Jails System

Secret Facilities, Spartan Conditions

Police Complicity

Black Jails as "Study Classes"

III. Human Rights Abuses in Black Jails

Illegal Abductions

Physical Violence against Detainees

Denial of Detainees' Access to Medical Treatment

Food and Sleep Deprivation

Child Detainees

Threats to Petitioners

Theft and Extortion

Duration of Detention and Release

VI. Relevant International and Domestic Legal Standards

Petitioning is Protected

Prohibition of Secret Detention

Due Process of Law

Access to Legal Counsel and Family Members

Minimum Standards for Detention Facilities

Prohibition of Corporal Punishment and Torture of Detainees

VII. Recommendations

To The Government of the People's Republic of China

To Governments and International Bodies Funding Chinese Legal Reform or Concerned with Human Rights in China, including the United States, the European Union, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank

VI. Acknowledgements