Re-education through labor
For the song by Rise Against, see Re-Education (Through Labor). A photograph of Shayang Re-education Through Labor camp in Hubei province, from the archives of the Laogai Museum Re-education through labor ( RTL ; simplified Chinese: 劳动教养 ; traditional Chinese: 勞動教養 ; pinyin: láodòng jiàoyǎng ), abbreviated laojiao (simplified Chinese: 劳教 ; traditional Chinese: 勞教 ; pinyin: láojiào ) was a system of administrative detention in Mainland China. The system was active from 1957 to 2013, and was used to detain persons accused of minor crimes such as petty theft, prostitution, and trafficking illegal drugs, as well as political dissidents, petitioners, and Falun Gong adherents. It was separate from the much larger laogai system of prison labor camps. Sentences under re-education through labor were typically for one to three years, with the possibility of an additional one-year extension. They were issued as a form of administrative punishment by police, rather than through th...