The Supreme People's Procuratorate on Wednesday sent two
prosecutors to join a local prosecution team in investigating
official negligence behind the brick kiln forced labor scandal in
Shanxi Province.
"Our past experiences have shown that dereliction of duty is
always behind major accidents. Prosecutors should learn to
investigate official negligence when major accidents are exposed by
media," an official with the department that examines official
dereliction of duty said.
He said the investigations would concentrate on whether the
local government knew of the existence of the illegal brick kilns
before the slavery scandal came to light, given they have existed
for ten years; whether there was collusion between local officials
and brick kiln owners; whether local officials and police turned a
blind eye to calls for help by parents of child laborers.
"If prosecutors do discover dereliction of duty, we will make a
thorough investigation and deal with it without leniency," said the
official.
The Ministry of Public Security has also sent a team of criminal
investigators and discipline inspectors to the region.
The Ministry said local police in Shanxi were still seeking more
than 20 people in connection with the case.
So far about 160 suspects have been detained in both Shanxi and
Henan.
By Sunday night, about 45,000 policemen had raided more than
8,000 kilns and small coal mines in the two provinces and freed 591
workers, including 51 children.
According to local media reports, many parents of the child
laborers found that their endeavors to rescue their children were
thwarted not just by the illegal employers but also by the
police.
A father, who failed to find his own son but was hoping to
rescue several other kids from his hometown, said local policemen
had refused to help him. "If you find your own kid, just take him
away. Otherwise, keep your nose out of this," a policeman told
him.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)