Young life behind bars a mix of hope, despair

Editor's note: China Daily was among a small number of media organizations recently invited to take a tour behind the walls of Beijing Juvenile Correction Center.

Li Ming refused to talk about his past, other than to say what he was convicted of and the length of his sentence. "Robbery, in March 2008," he said. "I was given nine and a half years."

The 22-year-old, a tall, thin man with rimless glasses, was sitting across from reporters in a hall at Beijing Juvenile Correction Center.

Like every other inmate, Li was dressed in a gray uniform with a yellow stripe across the chest, his hair closely cropped. He rubbed his hands nervously as he spoke.

On arrival at the center, in Beijing's southern Daxing district, correctional officer Chen Donghai said all inmates are unofficially color-coded depending on the risk they pose to themselves or others.

Li was classified "red" when he was transferred to the facility due to his aggressive and disobedient attitude.

"He resisted everything," Chen said. "He argued and fought with other inmates; he even injured himself to get to us."

However, Li's behavior began to change once his family became more involved. "My way of thinking changed," Li said in a quiet voice, explaining how Chen had visited his older sisters and urged them to make contact. Now they regularly write letters and visit, to encourage him to look to the future.

"I was touched by Chen's actions," he said. "I realized that the officers were different from what I had thought. They're not cold-blooded. They do care."

Opened in 1955, the detention center is a large complex surrounded by stretches of grass and playgrounds and houses 12,000 offenders.

Roughly 70 percent of inmates committed violent crimes, such as rape, murder or arson, according to Zhu Guanghua, the center's spokesman.

Each province, municipality and autonomous region has just one juvenile correction center, with the only exception being the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China, which has three.

Several government agencies and experts were unable to provide data on how many juveniles are detained nationwide.

Although the Beijing facility has about 200, the rest of the inmates are young men who committed crimes as juveniles and consequently came of age behind bars, or adults convicted of misdemeanors that carry prison terms.

The rate of re-offending among young offenders in China was also unavailable.

Education in prison

As reporters arrived at the Beijing center in the morning, a silent line of inmates stood at the entrance of a building. "They are waiting to go to their workshop," Zhu said.

The center has several courses on offer for young offenders, aimed at correction through education, rather than punishment.

Older inmates can learn new skills, such as gardening, IT, spoken English, cooking and sewing, as part of efforts to prepare them for employment in the outside world, said Wang Cong, who is in charge of education at the facility. For under-18s, teachers are invited to give lessons in Chinese, mathematics and English, so they can attempt to keep up with their peers at school.

Inmates watch television in the evenings, they are required to watch the China Central Television news, and they also have access to two basketball courts and a soccer field.

"We don't put handcuffs on offenders when they are in the center, but if they are hospitalized or for any reason are taken outside (the center's walls), they must be handcuffed," Zhu said.

He led the media group to a spacious, square hall on the third floor of a building in section six, where we interviewed Li.

Large, barred doors blocked the entrances at both sides, one of which led to the inmates' living quarters. Chen Donghai, who runs the block, told us that windows are fixed shut, while two cameras are fitted in each room, including the bathrooms.

Hope for the future

After being briefed by the correctional officers, including on what not to ask the inmates, reporters were introduced to Li and Wang Lin, a 25-year-old who has been at the center since 2006.

Wang, who comes from the capital's Shunyi district, was originally sentenced to 14 years for intentional homicide. Due to good behavior while in detention, he will be released early in two years.

The past 12 months have been particularly rough, he said, as both of his parents died after short illnesses.

"My father died suddenly in September last year," he said. His mother passed away in August. "It was unbelievable. The most my father ever had wrong was a sore back, and my mother never got ill."

Displaying no emotion, Wang described how Chen and other officers had taken him to see his father at home for the last time, and allowed him to care for his mother in hospital until she passed away.

"Correction officers talked with me every day, because I just closed my heart after my dad died," he said, shooting a look at Xu Haichao, an officer who was stood nearby. "He (Xu) bought me snacks, especially on holidays.

"I was depressed and had stopped working as hard, but the police officers didn't give up on me."

Xu was unwilling to talk about his role, only to say: "Wang is no different from other offenders here. His attitude and work efficiency during that time (his father's death) was not good. We paid him extra attention, but we didn't allow him to think he was receiving special treatment".

Wang Lin has been studying sewing at the correction center, making bags and quilts, and officers have helped him secure employment in a workshop ahead of his release. The center also successful requested the district government renovate the family home.

However, the inmate said he is still worried about life on the outside.

"Although I've earned three skill certificates, including computers and gardening, I still have no idea about my future," he said, adding that he will take any job the center can arrange.

Li, who has also received training in sewing and other skills, said he shares the same anxiety about being released, which he expects will happen in four years' time.

"My parents told me some of my classmates have already married and bought their own houses or cars, but I can do nothing and I don't know how to melt back into society," he said.

He intends to help his father run a tire business and hopes to get a better job if he gets the chance to study further.

"Like Chen has told me, no one is a hero when they are born," Li added. "I'm scared, but everyone is afraid before they embark on something new."

The names of inmates have been changed on request from the correction center.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/10/2012 page5)