Abolish labour camps, UN tells Beijing

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, has urged China to abolish the practice of re-education through labour.

On a visit to Beijing, she said that using forced labour as a form of punishment contravened international human rights principles.

The Chinese authorities mainly use this form of punishment -- which can be imposed without a trial -- to sentence petty offenders, but it's also used to lock up political opponents and followers of the outlawed Falungong spiritual movement.

The Chinese government has promised to reform the system as part of the process of ratifying two important UN covenants into Chinese law, but the BBC correspondent in Beijing says that Mrs Robinson's statements are a strong indication that she feels the reforms do not go far enough. Mrs Robinson is attending a seminar on the punishment of minor crimes, the first working event from a memorandum of understanding signed last November.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service