Laogai Research Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Laogai Research Foundation is a human rights NGO located in Washington, DC. The foundation's mission is to "gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai
—China’s extensive system of forced-labor prison camps."
, a former political prisoner in the People's Republic of China. Born in 1937 to a prosperous Shanghai family, Wu fell afoul of the Chinese Communist Party while in college and was deemed a counter-revolutionary rightist during the Anti-Rightist Movement
. Wu was arrested in 1960 and sent to the Laogai, and he was eventually released some 19 years later. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 and began to publicize the systematic human rights abuses inflicted upon the Chinese people by the CCP. Ten years later, his efforts culminated into the founding of the Laogai Research Foundation.
. In 2008, the LRF opened the Laogai Museum
at the foundation's headquarters in Washington. The Dalai Lama
made a notable visit to the Museum in 2009 as part of a meeting with Wu and Kempton. In April of 2011, the LRF celebrated the grand opening of its fully renovated Laogai Museum at its new location in Dupont Circle.
Though the LRF focuses in particular upon the Laogai, it has also conducted investigative work into other human rights violations in China, including oppression of minorities in Tibet
and Xinjiang
, China's one-child policy
, persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners and those affiliated with Charter 08
, and use of executed prisoners' bodies for lucrative organ harvesting
.
The Laogai Research Foundation's extensive archive collection, comprising Chinese and U.S. government documents, personal testimonies from Laogai survivors, video, and press documents will be available online in Fall 2010.
Laogai
Laogai , the abbreviation for Láodòng Gǎizào , which means "reform through labor," is a slogan of the Chinese criminal justice system and has been used to refer to the use of prison labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China . It is estimated that in the last fifty years more than...
—China’s extensive system of forced-labor prison camps."
History
The Laogai Research Foundation was founded in 1992 by Harry WuHarry Wu
Harry Wu is an activist for human rights in the People's Republic of China. Now a resident and citizen of the United States, Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foundation. In 1996 the Columbia Human Rights Law Review awarded Wu its second Award for...
, a former political prisoner in the People's Republic of China. Born in 1937 to a prosperous Shanghai family, Wu fell afoul of the Chinese Communist Party while in college and was deemed a counter-revolutionary rightist during the Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...
. Wu was arrested in 1960 and sent to the Laogai, and he was eventually released some 19 years later. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 and began to publicize the systematic human rights abuses inflicted upon the Chinese people by the CCP. Ten years later, his efforts culminated into the founding of the Laogai Research Foundation.
Current work
The Laogai Research Foundation publishes an annually updated Laogai Handbook, which lists all known information about Laogai activities in China including individual camps' location, size, known inmates, manufactured products, and other statistics. The Foundation also researches American companies' ties to Laogai camps; in 1992, LRF documented Columbus McKinnon Chain Hoist Company's extensive use of Laogai products, a finding which the company's president eventually confirmed while testifying before Congress. In February 2010, the Foundation released a research report proving that China was actively advertising Laogai products and services online, including on Chinese government-sponsored sites, despite the fact that exporting Laogai products is illegal under Chinese law. Importing Laogai products is illegal in the United States, Germany, and Italy. Another recent project of the foundation includes Laogai: The Machinery of Repression in China, a full-length book detailing the history of the Laogai in China, which was edited by LRF Director Nicole Kempton and published in 2009 by Umbrage Editions. Other works have been published in Chinese. In addition, the LRF maintains two active blogs, one in English and one in Chinese, and Kempton maintains her own blog at The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
. In 2008, the LRF opened the Laogai Museum
Laogai Museum
The Laogai Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. which showcases human rights in the People's Republic of China, focusing particularly on the laogai, the Chinese prison system. The creation of the museum was spearheaded by Harry Wu, a well-known Chinese dissident who himself served 19 years in...
at the foundation's headquarters in Washington. The Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
made a notable visit to the Museum in 2009 as part of a meeting with Wu and Kempton. In April of 2011, the LRF celebrated the grand opening of its fully renovated Laogai Museum at its new location in Dupont Circle.
Though the LRF focuses in particular upon the Laogai, it has also conducted investigative work into other human rights violations in China, including oppression of minorities in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China's one-child policy
One-child policy
The one-child policy refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China . The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy...
, persecution of Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
practitioners and those affiliated with Charter 08
Charter 08
Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting name and style from the anti-Soviet Charter 77 issued by dissidents in...
, and use of executed prisoners' bodies for lucrative organ harvesting
Organ harvesting
Organ harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
.
The Laogai Research Foundation's extensive archive collection, comprising Chinese and U.S. government documents, personal testimonies from Laogai survivors, video, and press documents will be available online in Fall 2010.