The conference came into being following cooperation between the English Human Rights organization ”The Rights Practice”, with its Director, Nicola Macbean, and the Chinese authorities and academics. Also contributing to this cooperation scheme is the Norwegian civil ombudsman, through his special advisor, Yeung Fong heung. The seminar was sponsored jointly by FCO Global Fund, and the Norwegian Foreign Department.

The conference's many different themes ranged over a wide field, from dealing with basic questions, such as the purpose of prisons and who ought to be imprisoned, to methods and content associated with how one can establish open, independent forms of control with the different activities and processes of a prison. The last topic is an especially important one for China, who has been strongly criticised for a long time for refusing to allow independent observers into its prisons.

The conference discussions showed that there is considerable openness and tolerance for presenting and discussing ideas and views within the framework of such meetings. The dilemmas become more visible when dealing with questions concerning practical and actual obstacles, such as the establishment of independent supervision. There was, however, complete agreement among participants of the need for reforms within the Chinese prison system.

Five representatives from Europe participated, two from England and one from each of the countries: Italy, Russia and Norway. Representing Norway, Oslo Prison presented some of the key developments within the Norwegian Correctional Services, particularly informing participants of the project to define standards and content in remand custody work. While human rights work focuses mostly on rights perspectives and how one can conduct supervision by ensuring that laws and rules are adhered to, the remand custody project is more concerned with users' perspectives, based on the needs and wishes of the inmates during the different phases of their period of imprisonment.  

One of the features of the conference involved a visit to the prison in Changzhou, some three hours' drive from Shanghai. This prison is regarded as a show-case example within the Chinese prison system. The previous prison director, who was recently promoted to a higher position within Jiangsu province, was the first prison director to have completed a doctorate in criminology. After a short tour of the prison he informed us of the conditions in the prison and about the principles they use to run the prison. We were very surprised to learn that the Chinese approaches towards prison policies and rehabilitation of the inmates are very similar to our own. They even had a Personal Officer scheme! At this particular prison the staff placed significant emphasis on the importance of the staff having good working conditions, and they encouraged employees to apply for further education. Encouraging people to apply for further education does not otherwise appear to be common practice in China. A leading person from the Chinese authorities commented during the conference that the authorities now recognized the need to focus more on the employees in Chinese prisons, who sometimes worked from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock in the evening. Since the manpower situation was also limited the result was often considerable mental stress.

Unfortunately, the visit to the prison was very short, and it only took place in the outside area, immediately inside the prison walls. Therefore, there was no opportunity to look closer at either the workshop or the inmates' living quarters. Neither were we permitted to speak with any of the inmates. The entire tour lasted only approximately 10 minutes. Judging by what we were able to see during the tour of the prison exterior, the prison area was very beautiful; it seemed clean and well maintained, it was open and the buildings had large windows, presumably to allow the light to come in.

After the prison tour we came together for a meeting with the top management of the prison and the previous Director of the prison. The meeting lasted approximately 90 minutes.

Oslo Prison is extremely pleased that Chinese authorities and academics are receptive to our thoughts and ideas concerning methods and strategies we have adopted in our prison. We are more than willing to participate in ongoing discussions in this field. When we describe our principles and methods, we are, at the same time, keen to point out that they are based on a set of values, with a view of human life where everyone, also inmates, have the same value and the same rights as other citizens. The purpose of remand custody is to contribute to reaching conclusions in criminal cases, and the purpose of penal sentences is both to punish, where the instrument is loss of freedom, and also to contribute to ensuring that inmates are given appropriate assistance to enable them to live their lives without resorting to crime after release.

Vegard Karlsen

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In front of Changzhou Prison: Nicola Macbean and Professor Chen, who led the conference, in the middle. Oslo Prison's representative, second from the left.

The conference participants

The conference was held in very beautiful surroundings a few hours drive from Shanghai.

China is experiencing a gigantic economic development, but is still lagging behind when it comes to the development of its prisons.