China's Supreme People's Procuratorate has ordered prosecutors
around the country to intensify a crackdown on official dereliction
of duty of the sort that led to the forced labor scandal last
month.
The order was issued after 33 officials were removed from
government posts for failing to prevent the scandal in the brick
kilns of north China's Shanxi Province.
The notice requires prosecutors to rigorously prosecute
officials in cases of dereliction of duty that results in labor
abuses "so as to safeguard fundamental rights and social
justice".
Authorities are inspecting brick kilns, small mines and
workshops around the country in a crackdown on labor abuses.
The notice said prosecutors should liaise with other departments
to establish a long-term system for preventing a similar
scandal.
They should help raise official capabilities to provide public
services in rural areas so as to protect the interests of rural
labors and minors.
The use of forced laborers hit the headlines after more than 400
parents in central China's Henan Province posted a help letter on
the Internet last month, saying their missing children had been
sold to small brick kilns in Shanxi and Henan as forced
laborers.
By June 22, 359 people, including 12 children, had been rescued
from illegal brick kilns in Shanxi and police had arrested 38
people. Police in Henan rescued 217 people, including 29 children,
and arrested 120 people in a four-day crackdown, in which more than
35,000 police checked 7,500 kilns.
So far, more than 40 kiln bosses and employees have gone on
trial in connection with the forced labor scandal. They face
charges such as forcing people to work in unspeakable conditions
and intentionally injuring other people.
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2007)