Chen Pokong, a pro-democracy activist sentenced in October 1993 without trial to two years of “reeducation through labour”, has smuggled out a letter from his prison camp. In it he alleges that prisoners there are often beaten and subjected to conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It is feared that the ill-treatment of prisoners may be continuing at the Guangzhou No 1 Reeducation-Through-Labour Centre, and that Chen Pokong may be punished for smuggling out the letter.
