f*******e 发帖数: 289 | 1 Halloween decorations中发现中国劳改营的信
Halloween decorations carry haunting message of forced labor
http://www.oregonlive.com/happy-valley/index.ssf/2012/12/hallow
The letter came in a box of Halloween decorations purchased at Kmart, but
for a year Julie Keith never knew. It gathered dust in her storage, a
haunting plea for help hidden among artificial skeletons, tombstones and
spider webs.
Keith, a 42-year-old vehicle donation manager at a southeast Portland
Goodwill, at one point considered donating the unopened $29.99 Kmart
graveyard kit. It was one of those accumulated items you never need and
easily forget. But on a Sunday afternoon in October, Keith pulled the orange
and black box from storage. She intended to decorate her home in Damascus
for her daughter's fifth birthday, just days before Halloween.
She ripped open the box and threw aside the cellophane.
That's when Keith found it. Scribbled onto paper and folded into eighths,
the letter was tucked between two Styrofoam headstones.
"Sir:
The letter describes conditions at a forced labor camp in China.
"If you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to
the World Human Right Organization. Thousands people here who are under the
persicution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and
remember you forever."
The graveyard kit, the letter read, was made in unit 8, department 2 of the
Masanjia Labor Camp in Shenyang, China.
Chinese characters broke up choppy English sentences.
"People who work here have to work 15 hours a day without Saturday, Sunday
break and any holidays. Otherwise, they will suffer torturement, beat and
rude remark. Nearly no payment (10 yuan/1 month)."
Ten yuan is equivalent to $1.61.
"People who work here, suffer punishment 1-3 years averagely, but without
Court Sentence (unlaw punishment). Many of them are Falun Gong practitioners
, who are totally innocent people only because they have different believe
to CCPG. They often suffer more punishment than others."
The letter was not signed.
Shocked, Keith sat down as her mind reeled.
Wow, that's daring, she thought. She imagined the desperation the writer
must have felt, the courage he or she must have mustered to slip the letter
into that box. If caught, what would happen?
Like a message in a bottle, the letter traveled more than 5,000 miles over
the Pacific Ocean. It could not be ignored.
***
This package contained a letter folded into eighths and tucked between
styrofoam headstones.
Unsure of where to start, Keith turned to Facebook.
"I found this in a box of Halloween decorations" she typed beneath a photo
of the letter. She wanted to spread the message.
The Facebook post sparked a slew of responses. Her friends had heard of
labor camp horrors. But a letter from one of those camps? Never.
"I'm sure that person feared for his/her life to include that letter in the
products, but it was a chance they were obviously willing to take," one
friend wrote. "We take our freedom for granted!"
"What's weird to me is someone is actually thinking about, and praying
something comes of this ... every day of their life since they sent it out,"
another wrote. "Makes me sad this even happens"
Some friends offered help, others asked for updates.
The anonymous letter evoked skepticism, too. Written largely in English
scrawl, it was almost too bold of an act to seem plausible. Still, U.S.
authorities on China took note.
"We're in no position to confirm the veracity or origin of this," said
Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "I think it is fair
to say the conditions described in the letter certainly conform to what we
know about conditions in re-education through labor camps."
China's re-education through labor is a system of punishment that allows for
detention without trial. Various reports allege followers of the banned
spiritual group, Falun Gong, are sent to the reform camps – claims
supported in the letter – but the facts are difficult to confirm.
Masanjia labor camp is located in the industrialized capital of the Liaoning
Province in northeast China. A Google search of the camp yields pages of
grim results.
"If this thing is the real deal, that's somebody saying please help me,
please know about me, please react," Richardson said. "That's our job."
***
If truly created in a forced labor camp, the Halloween graveyard kit from
Kmart's "Totally Ghoul" product line could bring a blow to the U.S. chain of
discount stores.
Title 19, section 1307 of U.S. Code generally prohibits the importation of
all items "mined, produced or manufactured" in any foreign country by
convict labor, forced labor and/or indentured labor.
After the Oregonian informed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
about the letter, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations began looking into
the case, public affairs officer Andrew Munoz confirmed.
Sears Holdings Corporation, which operates Kmart, released a statement on
the matter:
"Sears Holdings has a Global Compliance Program which helps to ensure that
vendors and factories producing merchandise for our company adhere to
specific Program Requirements, and all local laws pertaining to employment
standards and workplace practices. Failure to comply with any of the Program
Requirements, including the use of forced labor, may result in a loss of
business or factory termination. We understand the seriousness of this
allegation, and will continue to investigate."
Daniel Ruiz, section chief of the National Intellectual Property Rights
Coordination Center's commercial fraud unit, said it would be difficult to
predict the length of an investigation like this, which would involve
American and Chinese authorities. Investigative findings would be released,
he said, only if the agency takes action.
***
Julie Keith now checks the label of everything she buys, down to the
Gingerbread house she purchased for the holidays. Her friends, she said, do
the same.
"If I really don't need it, I won't buy it if it's made in China," she said.
"This has really made me more aware. I hope it would make a difference."
-- Rachel Stark | l******t 发帖数: 55733 | | f*******e 发帖数: 289 | 3 你这个TG走狗看得心虚了吧,把老底都抖出来了。
【在 l******t 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 活摘器官没?打回去重写
| c*****i 发帖数: 11737 | 4 轮子真被摘了器官,大脑,被李大屎摘得
【在 f*******e 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 你这个TG走狗看得心虚了吧,把老底都抖出来了。
| m*****t 发帖数: 2800 | 5 这封信是假的可能性很大。什么“中共政府”的说法,只有海外的华人独轮运才会这样
称呼。
辽宁有不少法轮功是不错,但这类装饰品大都是东莞这些地方才生产的,哪轮到辽宁来
做这种生意呢? |
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