E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6 page 11 Re-education through Labour 33. Re-education through Labour (RTL) is one type of administrative detention.35 There is no law underpinning the system of RTL; rather, the regulatory framework is comprised of a patchwork of administrative regulations36 contrary to the 2000 Legislation Law, which states that only the National People’s Congress, and in some cases its Standing Committee, can pass legislation on matters relating to the deprivation of liberty of Chinese citizens.37 According to article 10 of the 1982 Regulations, six categories of petty offenders are identified as not deserving criminal sanctions: counter-revolutionaries or elements who oppose the Communist Party or socialism; those who commit minor offences relating to group crimes of murder, robbery, rape or arson; those who commit minor offences such as hooliganism, prostitution, theft, or fraud; those who gather together to fight, disturb social order, or instigate turmoil; those who have a job but repeatedly refuse to work, and disrupt labour discipline, complain endlessly, as well as disrupt the production order, work order, school and research institute order and people’s normal life; and those who instigate others to commit crimes. Terms for RTL are fixed at between one and three years with the possibility of an extension of one year.38 Decisions on RTL are supposed to be taken by an Administrative Committee comprised of officials from the bureaux of civil affairs, public security and labour. In practice, however, public security officials dominate the decision-making process.39 Political crimes 34. While the crimes of “counter-revolution” and “hooliganism” were removed from China’s CL in 1997, they were replaced with equally vague crimes such as “endangering national security” which is applied to a broad range of offences (arts. 102-123),40 “splitting the State or undermining the unity of the country” (art. 103), “armed rebellion or armed riot” (art. 104), “subverting the State power or overthrowing the socialist system” (art. 105), “espionage” (art. 110) and “stealing, spying, buying or unlawfully supplying State secrets or intelligence to individuals outside the territory of China” (art. 111). The vague definition of these crimes leaves their application open to abuse particularly of the rights to freedom of religion, speech, and assembly.41 35. In the report of its 2004 visit to China, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed concern regarding definitions in criminal law legislation having such vague, imprecise or sweeping elements like “disrupting social order”, “endangering national security”, “violating the unity and integrity of the State”, “subverting public order”, “affecting national security” and the like. The Working Group recommended that these crimes be defined in precise terms and an exception be introduced into the CL to the effect that the peaceful activity in the exercise of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights not be considered criminal.42 To date, this recommendation has not been implemented. Complaints and investigation 36. Legal provisions dealing with the right of detainees to make a complaint include: article 41 (2) of the Chinese Constitution which states: “In case of complaints, charges, or exposures made by citizens, the State organ concerned must deal with them in a responsible