| Location | Xinzhou, Shilong, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 23°07′46″N113°47′49″E / 23.1294°N 113.7969°E / 23.1294; 113.7969 |
| Status | Operational |
| Population | Approx. 5,000 (as of 2013) |
| Opened | 1988 |
| Managed by | Guangdong Prison Administrative Bureau |
| Dongguan Prison | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 东莞监狱 | ||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 東莞監獄 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Dongguan Prison (Chinese: 东莞监狱) is located in the Shilong area of Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
According to the Laogai Research Foundation, the Dongguan Prison opened in November 1988 as Shilong Prison, and was given its present name in 1995.[1]
The prison complex was expanded in the subsequent decades, so that it now occupies most of Xinzhou (新洲), an island in the East River upon which the prison is situated.
According to a July 2013 report, the prison received its first foreign inmate in 1996.[2] It holds more than 5,000 inmates from 53 countries, including nearly 500 foreign nationals and some stateless individuals.
Including but not limited to Pakistan, Iran, Uganda,[3] Nepal, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nigeria,[4] Taiwan,[5] New Zealand, Germany, Philippines,[6] Thailand, Malaysia, Ghana, Macau,[7] Nepal, Egypt, Russia.[8]
Prisoners at Dongguan Prison are reportedly forced to work manufacturing goods, and are allegedly routinely beaten. In 2013, former inmates told The Australian Financial Review that they were forced to make disposable headphones sold to major airlines for the equivalent of around £0.85 per month. They said they were beaten, tasered, or put in solitary confinement for failing to achieve production targets.[9]
Similarly, Der Spiegel interviewed several ex-inmates of Dongguan Prison in 2019. They described overcrowded living conditions and sweltering heat in the summertime. A German ex-prisoner said that the prisoners were forced to work nine-hour days, six or seven days a week, manufacturing model Porsche cars, Samsonite-branded luggage locks, and transformers. Several ex-inmates described torture and abuse of prisoners, including the strapping of prisoners to a torture chair for days or weeks, and electric shocks.[10]
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